Geomorphic Analysis of River Systems – An Approach to Reading the Landscape AN APPROACH TO READING THE LANDSCAPE

Filling a niche in the geomorphology teaching market, this introductory book is built around a 12 week course in fluvial geomorphology.

'Reading the landscape' entails making sense of what a riverscape looks like, how it works, how it has evolved over time, and how alterations to one part of a catchment may have secondary consequences elsewhere, over different timeframes. These place-based field analyses are framed within their topographic, climatic and environmental context. Issues and principles presented in the first part of this book provide foundational understandings that underpin the approach to reading the landscape that is presented in the second half of the book. In reading the landscape, detective-style investigations and interpretations are tied to theoretical and conceptual principles to generate catchment-specific analyses of river character, behaviour and evolution, including responses to human disturbance.

This book has been constructed as an introductory text on river landscapes, providing a bridge and/or companion to quantitatively-framed or modelled approaches to landscape analysis that are addressed elsewhere. Key principles outlined in the book emphasise the importance of complexity, contingency and emergence in interpreting the character, behaviour and evolution of any given system.

The target audience is second and third year undergraduate students in geomorphology, hydrology, earth science and environmental science, as well as river practitioners who use geomorphic understandings to guide scientific and/or management applications.

The primary focus of Kirstie and Gary's research and teaching entails the use of geomorphic principles as a tool with which to develop coherent scientific understandings of river systems, and the application of these understandings in management practice. Kirstie and Gary are co-developers of the River Styles(r) Framework and Short Course that is widely used in river management, decision-making and training.

Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/fryirs/riversystems.

Principles from fluvial geomorphology, defined as the study of the forms, processes and evolutionary trajectories that shape river systems, determine the physical (landscape) template upon which a range of ecosystem processes operates. Viewed in this light, geomorphology presents a fundamental platform with which to develop and apply integrative river science. We explored this theme in a recent co-authored book entitled River Futures (Island Press, 2008). Increasingly, principles from fluvial geomorphology are used as a core component of decision-making and design of conservation and management practices. As such, environmental and natural resource officers are increasingly required to have fluvial geomorphology training.   This textbook will fill a niche in the geomorphology teaching market. While a number of similar books exist (see below) we know of no other textbook that is built around a 12 week course in fluvial geomorphology and which covers the breadth of material we propose for this book. We believe that this product targets a significant niche in the market.   Our pedagogical philosophy focuses on developing mastery skills for reading the landscape - allowing the landscape to speak for itself in efforts to frame our understanding of the inherent diversity of landscape forms and processes as a basis for management efforts. To us, geomorphology is ultimately a field science. As scientists, we are challenged to develop conceptual tools with which to explain and communicate the diversity, complexity and variability of river landscapes. To date, we believe that this approach to fluvial geomorphology has been underexplored or underemphasized in other publications. In this book we will communicate our approach to teach skills to read the landscape as part of an interactive teaching and learning environment. The book will provide a learning tool that documents a way of seeing and thinking about river forms and processes,. In essence, we wish to provide the scaffolding with which to consider some of the more advanced concepts from our Geomorphology and River Management book. To develop this understanding, we will provide a teaching foundation on concepts/principles in fluvial geomorphology.   The book will be written as a user friendly, hands-on guide. It will contain 11 chapters, framed as 1 chapter per week of a university semester/term. Each chapter will be self-contained and relatively short, but well illustrated and linked to material covered elsewhere in the book. To keep the cost down we want to produce the book in large format black and white. A proposed chapter structure is outlined below.

Reading  the landscape entails making sense of what a riverscape looks like, how it works, how it has evolved over time, and how alterations to one part of a catchment may have secondary consequences elsewhere, over different timeframes. These place-based field analyses are framed within their topographic, climatic and environmental context. Issues and principles presented in the first part of this book provide foundational understandings that underpin the approach to reading the landscape that is presented in the second half of the book. In reading the landscape, detective-style investigations and interpretations are tied to theoretical and conceptual principles to generate catchment-specific analyses of river character, behaviour and evolution, including responses to human disturbance.  This book has been constructed as an introductory text on river landscapes, providing a bridge and/or companion to quantitatively-framed or modelled approaches to landscape analysis that are addressed elsewhere. Key principles outlined in the book emphasise the importance of complexity, contingency and emergence in interpreting the character, behaviour and evolution of any given system. The target audience is second and third year undergraduate students in geomorphology, hydrology, earth science and environmental science, as well as river practitioners who use geomorphic understandings to guide scientific and/or management applications. The primary focus of Kirstie and Garys research and teaching entails the use of geomorphic principles as a tool with which to develop coherent scientific understandings of river systems, and the application of these understandings in management practice. Kirstie and Gary are co-developers of the River Styles Framework and Short Course that is widely used in river management, decision-making and training. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/fryirs/riversystems.