Ural River Basin

Eremkina, Tatiana V.; Yarushina, M. I.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-102612-0.00022-5

Cited by 16 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The Caspian basin encompasses an area of about 3.5 million km 2 [30]. The Caspian Sea, which covers nearly 10% of the basin, lies below sea level and is the largest closed body of saline water in the world [31], with a 6500 km coastline that borders five littoral countries-Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Iran (Figure 1). The sea has an average depth of 180 m and a nominal volume of about 78,000 km 3 and is fed by more than 130 rivers, which deliver an average annual flow of about 290 km 3 .…”

Section: The Caspian Basin As An Environment For Sturgeonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sea has an average depth of 180 m and a nominal volume of about 78,000 km 3 and is fed by more than 130 rivers, which deliver an average annual flow of about 290 km 3 . One river, the Volga, accounts for more than 80% of total inflows [31]. The water balance and level of salinity in the Caspian Sea depend on precipitation, river flow, groundwater, and evaporation, all of which fluctuate substantially over short and lengthy periods of time.…”

Section: The Caspian Basin As An Environment For Sturgeonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The snow-fed Ural River originates in Russia and flows for a total length of 2428 km, 1084 km of which is in Kazakhstan [31]. It has traditionally ranked second after the Volga in terms of Caspian sturgeon reproduction potential and catches, yielding roughly 45% of the number of fish produced by its much larger neighbor; indeed, the Ural's specific productivity, as measured by the number of sturgeon individuals per unit volume of water, is 10 times that of the Volga [28,69,70].…”

Section: Habitatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although both Russia and Kazakhstan contribute habitat to Ural River sturgeon (Figure 3), downstream access to these sites and feeding areas in the Caspian Sea is controlled by Kazakhstan [28]. The upper reaches of the river, as well as most of the Ural's tributaries, lie in Russia, which generates and regulates most of the flows into the river [31]. Naturally reproducing populations of sturgeon thus depend on environmental services provided by both countries and are subject to environmental threats generated in both countries.…”

Section: Transboundary Cooperationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lack of fundamental knowledge about structural changes in populations of Ural sturgeon species due to anthropogenic and other pressures [143] also generates ambiguity. These issues are compounded by a dearth of knowledge about the Ural's hydrobiology, which includes natural predators of sturgeon eggs and larvae, as well as the more than 50 native (and 3 non-native) fish species that coexist with sturgeon in the riverine ecosystem [27,31].…”

Section: The Wicked Nature Of Re-establishing Sturgeon In the Ural Rivermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Re-Establishing Naturally Reproducing Sturgeon Populations in the Caspian Basin: A Wicked Problem in the Ural River

Pueppke,

Nurtazin,

Murzashev

et al. 2023

Water

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Although Eurasia’s Caspian basin once supported the world’s richest and most diverse complex of sturgeon species, recent human activities have decimated populations of these ecologically and economically important fish. All five anadromous Caspian sturgeon species are critically endangered, and the potamodromous sterlet is also threatened. The precipitous decline of these species is due to a combination of factors that includes illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; destruction of feeding and spawning habitat; water pollution; and the environmental consequences of climate change. International efforts are currently underway to re-establish sustained naturally reproducing sturgeon populations in the basin. Here, we update and review the status of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea with emphasis on the northern basin and the inflowing Volga and Ural rivers. We then focus on efforts to restore sturgeon in the Ural, which originates in Russia and flows through Kazakhstan before entering the Caspian Sea. With nearly ideal hydrological conditions for sturgeon, the Ural is the basin’s sole remaining river that allows migrating sturgeon unimpeded access to potentially productive spawning grounds. The challenge of re-establishing sturgeon in the Ural River exhibits the classical characteristics of wicked problems: ambiguous definitions, changing assumptions and unanticipated consequences, tradeoffs and economic dependencies, an incomplete and contradictory knowledge base, and no straightforward pathway toward a final solution. This challenge is examined here for the first time from the perspective of its wicked dynamics, with consideration given to approaches that have proven effective elsewhere in resolving wicked environmental problems.

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Section: The Caspian Basin As An Environment For Sturgeonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Caspian Basin As An Environment For Sturgeonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Habitatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Transboundary Cooperationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Wicked Nature Of Re-establishing Sturgeon In the Ural Rivermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Re-Establishing Naturally Reproducing Sturgeon Populations in the Caspian Basin: A Wicked Problem in the Ural River

Pueppke,

Nurtazin,

Murzashev

et al. 2023

Water

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The Biology and Ecology of Streams and Rivers

Hildrew

Giller

2023

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A major textbook on running waters, promoting understanding of the nature of rivers as ecosystems, and detailing the biodiversity and natural history of their biota. The book takes a primarily biological approach to river ecology, dealing with scientific questions about rivers but referring throughout to possible applications and approaches to management. The notion of a habitat templet refers to the suite of environmental factors that face lotic organisms and the adaptations and traits that enable their survival in such challenging environments. How does the complex, patchy nature of whole-river networks impinge on the population dynamics of lotic organisms and the nature of communities? Species interactions and food web linkages determine the flow of energy and material through communities and lead on to the ecosystem processes of river metabolism (the balance of whole-river primary production and community respiration) and the ecology of nutrients. The book stresses river systems as ‘open’ ecosystems, exchanging energy and materials with the land and with downstream systems. How can rivers be a sustainable part of the natural capital on which we all depend? In a final chapter the book takes a forward-looking view of river ecology, which is progressively devoted to applied questions. The Biology and Ecology of Streams and Rivers seeks to provide knowledge and understanding necessary for their, and our, future. We need to appreciate ‘what rivers do for us’ and reverse the deterioration of running waters in an increasingly thirsty, hungry and changing world.

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Hildrew,

Giller

2023

The Biology and Ecology of Streams and Rivers

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Ural River Basin

Cited by 16 publications

References 7 publications

Re-Establishing Naturally Reproducing Sturgeon Populations in the Caspian Basin: A Wicked Problem in the Ural River

Re-Establishing Naturally Reproducing Sturgeon Populations in the Caspian Basin: A Wicked Problem in the Ural River

The Biology and Ecology of Streams and Rivers

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