River rhythmicity: A conceptual means of understanding and leveraging the relational values of rivers

People and Nature

article

Sue Jackson¹  Elizabeth P. Anderson²  Natalia C. Piland²  Solomon Carriere³  Lilia Java⁴  Timothy D. Jardine⁵ 

[1] Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University;Department of Earth and Environment and Institute of Environment, Florida International University;Big Eddy Lodge;Resguardo Indígena Tikuna;School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan

关键词: Amazon River;    flow;    flow regime;    freshwater conservation;    relationality;    river time;    Saskatchewan River;    temporality;   

DOI  :  10.1002/pan3.10335

学科分类：护理学

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

1. River rhythmicity refers to the periodic, recurrent phenomena of a riverscape thatare synchronized with the rise and fall of river water, creating regimes of river time.River rhythmicity can serve as a lens into the temporal dimension of river formationand socio-ecological dynamics that are of great interest to many disciplines.2. In this paper, we introduce river rhythmicity as a conceptual and analyticalframework to unify riparian human communities, academic disciplines and wateragencies in approaching research and management of rivers. We also explorehow the disruptions to riverine rhythms that are experienced by river-dwellingcommunities, and are often visible in river discharge data through time, reconfigure, hinder or sever relationships between people and rivers.3. To ground our discussion in practical, lived experience, we provide brief descriptionsof regimes of river time to demonstrate how rhythmic patterns established with rivers in north-central Canada and Amazonian Colombia shape the lives of two of ourco-authors. By prioritizing holistic accounts of river rhythms, we can elucidate a fullerrange of phenomena and their dynamic interactions, revealing riverscape featuresthat are highly valued by local communities yet not often visible to any one discipline.4. Rhythmicity provides a conceptual framework to help address several challenges facing river conservation and water allocation dilemmas. By emphasizingrelationality, it serves to (a) move beyond a biophysical framing of human-natureconnectedness by demonstrating that dynamic processes and relationships areconstitutive of rivers, not derivative of them; (b) enhance understanding of howthe temporal dimensions of riverine relationships and river dwelling are experienced; (c) highlight the socio-cultural consequences of changes to river time and(d) centre socially embedded relationships with rivers forged from generationsof observations of care and reciprocity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY