Constructed inshore zones as river corridors through urban areas -- the Danube in Vienna: preliminary results

Over the last 125 years, river regulation has considerably changed the ecological conditions of the Austrian Danube and its floodplains such that the system is now very fragmented. Within the municipal areaof Vienna, these changes have been particularly severe: river embankments and a bypass channel (the New Danube), separated from the main river by an artificial island (Danube Island), are the key elements of flood control, and river levels are controlled by the Vienna hydroelectric power plant (Freudenau). During construction of the hydroelectric power plant, the previously straight shoreline of the 21-km longDanube island, with its steep embankments, was restructured by creating shallow water areas, gravel banks, small permanent backwaters andtemporary waters. This paper describes the scheme and the results from the first year of a 4-year monitoring program (Danube Island Monitoring Program, DIMP) investigating the colonization and successional processes of these areas by monitoring relevant indicator groups (vegetation, dragonflies, amphibians, reptiles, waterfowl). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]