The Danube River Basin

Abstract

The Danube is an outstanding river: It links more countries than any other river in the world. The Danube River Basin (DRB) collects waters from the territories of 19 European nations and it forms the international boundaries for eight of these. The river's largely eastward course has served as a corridor for both migration and trade, and a boundary between east and west strongly guarded for thousands of years. The multi-cultural setting makes transboundary issues extremely challenging. In this chapter we characterize and synthesize the natural features of the main river, its 10 major tributaries and the Danube Delta. We present extensive information and data on biodiversity, climate, topography and hydrology. We also describe in detail stressors like land use, sediment regime and (hydro-)morphology alteration, pollution, non-native species introduction or fragmentation by dams and also socio-economic properties. We reflect about their major, adverse consequences for the functioning of river ecosystems in the entire basin. We also introduce river basin authorities such as the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) identified as important and useful platforms for dialogue and debate of appropriate goals and their implementation, involvement of stakeholders and the public, but also as "translators" of scientific results.

Additionally, the chapter contains maps, photographs and data tables that allow in depth analyses of and comparison between physical and biological features of the Danube River Basin and other rivers in Europe.