Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/26635
Title: Extreme floods and river values: A social-ecological perspective
Contributor(s): Parsons, Melissa  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2019-12
Early Online Version: 2018-09-17
DOI: 10.1002/rra.3355
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/26635
Abstract: The social–ecological status of rivers is particularly pronounced during extreme flood events. Extreme floods are a substantial threat to people, infrastructure, and livelihoods. Efforts to address the threats of extreme floods are aligned largely with social values of flood risk mitigation, flood preparation, and avoidance of loss. However, extreme floods are also a fundamental driver of river ecosystems, aligned with ecological (biophysical) values of event effectiveness, river change, disturbance, biotic response, and heterogeneity. A survey of the public perceptions of extreme floods revealed that participants generally understood the ecological values of extreme floods through concepts of naturalness, climate change, and knowledge production. However, participants had less understanding of how river integrity might influence the response of rivers to extreme floods. Resilience can be used as a framework for uniting the social and ecological values of extreme floods because it embodies a common language of change, disturbance, and adaptation and complements the socially dominated discourse of risk and emergency management. Three strategies are given for river scientists to frame ecological values in parallel with the paradigms of the socially dominated discourse of extreme floods: be prepared to act following an extreme flood disaster, learn and use the language of the flood risk and emergency management sector, and undertake assessments of the ecological values of extreme floods to highlight the threats to those values that may occur with climate change and river modification.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: River Research and Applications, 35(10), p. 1677-1687
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1535-1467
1535-1459
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 040608 Surfacewater Hydrology
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 370704 Surface water hydrology
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 961005 Natural Hazards in Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 190401 Climatological hazards (e.g. extreme temperatures, drought and wildfires)
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Institute for Rural Futures
Journal Article
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

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