Riverscape approaches in practice: perspectives and applications Biological Reviews

Landscape perspectives in riverine ecology have been undertaken increasingly in the last 30 years, leading aquatic ecol- ogists to develop a diverse set of approaches for conceptualizing, mapping and understanding ‘riverscapes ’. Spatiotem- porally explicit perspectives of rivers and their biota nested within the socio-ecological landscape now provide guidingprinciples and approaches in inland fisheries and watershed management. During the last two decades, scienti fic litera- ture on riverscapes has increased rapidly, indicating that the term and associated approaches are serving an important purpose in freshwater science and management. We trace the origins and theoretical foundations of riverscape perspec-tives and approaches and examine trends in the published literature to assess the state of the science and demonstrate howthey are being applied to address recent challenges in the management of riverine ecosystems. We focus on approachesfor studying and visualizing rivers and streams with remote sensing, modelling and sampling designs that enable patterndetection as seen from above (e.g. river channel, floodplain, and riparian areas) but also into the water itself (e.g. aquatic organisms and the aqueous environment). Key concepts from landscape ecology that are central to riverscape