Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 18.4
Types of riverscape features and informal variables in the five case studies.
Case
Types of Features
Judgment Items
Types of Respondents
Aim
Number of
Studies
Photographs
1
Wood in streams and
rivers
Aesthetic quality,
naturalness,
danger feeling, and
management needs
2250 students from
10 countries
Test effect of wood
presence on
landscape value
20
2
Restoration works
Aesthetic quality,
typicalness, danger
feeling and
strolling
118 children, local
councilors and
association
members
Test effect of
restoration actions
on landscape value
24
3
Extent of gravel
versus water area
Aesthetic quality,
beneficial uses, and
management needs
127 children, experts,
river managers and
basin inhabitants.
Test effect of water
extent on
landscape value
10
4
Riverscapes
Attractiveness
176 basin residents
Predict aesthetic
perception from
landscape
characters
9
5
Water of floodplain
lakes
Beauty
100 students
Predict aesthetic
perception from
landscape
characters
34
what the local population thinks, but allows apprehend-
ing consensus and divergence of perception. Students
were also surveyed for cross-cultural comparisons and
methodological purposes (are there any differences in
landscape perception, depending on whether the land-
scapes are submitted through photographs or videos).
In terms of cross-cultural comparisons, student sets
cover the same age range and are surveyed by disci-
plines, so that their type of training may not affect the
perception evaluation.
In Figures 18.1 and 18.4, a few examples of photo
sets are shown. The assessment of cross-cultural varia-
tions in the perception of riverscapes with and without
wood was based on a set of 20 photographs, which repre-
sent watercourses running through various physical and
humanised environments (see detail in Piegay et al. 2005,
Chin et al., 2008; Le Lay et al., 2008). Half of the scenes
are characterised by river and stream sections that are
obstructed by wood, while the 10 others are free-flowing,
without large pieces of wood. To evaluate the overall
scenic attractiveness of each picture, respondents rated
four different values perceived for each of the 20 colour
photographs (namely aesthetics, naturalness, danger, and
need for improvement) on Visual Analog Scales rang-
ing from 0 to 10. The questionnaire also included two
qualitative variables for characterising the perception of
danger and the motivation for improving riverscapes.
The perception of landscape changes, after proceed-
ing with a restoration program on the Rh one River
and its floodplain lakes, was studied within the reach
of Pierre-Benite, in the southern suburbs of the city of
Lyon (France). Works were achieved in 1999. The sur-
vey aimed, initially, to compare 12 couples of scenes
(before and after restoration works), presenting two dis-
tinct compartments of the river corridor (12 views of the
channel and 12 views of the floodplain lakes). Second,
it endeavoured to evaluate the possible effect of differ-
ent seasons (12 photographs taken in summer, 12 others
taken in winter). Three groups of respondents were sur-
veyed: school children, association members, and local
elected representatives.
Over the past century, the ecologically diverse, braided
Magra River in Italy has narrowed, incised, and lost
many gravel bars. These evolutions are due in part to
the encroachment of the riparian vegetation, following
the decrease in bedload supply, and channel degradation.
Motivated by the European Water Framework Direc-
tive, river scientists and managers are beginning to plan
projects to preserve and restore this dynamic mosaic of
rare habitats and processes. To support this objective, a
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