Ecological Engineering

Thi article highlights the practice and research needs in soil and water bioengineering for reconciling natural hazard control and ecological restoration. Firstly, authors review the definition and development of bioengineering technology, while stressing issues concerning the design, implementation, and monitoring of bioengineering actions. Secondly, they highlight the need to reconcile natural hazard control and ecological restoration by posing novel practice and research questions.

This review article critically examines how contemporary practitioners approach river restoration and challenges for implementing restoration, which include clearly identified objectives, holistic understanding of rivers as ecosystems, and the role of restoration as a social process.

This article aims to introduce new arguments for bioengineering along riverbanks by applying the ecosystem service approach. We focus on major regulating services usually provided by floodplains. Denitrification and phosphorous retention were estimated by applying proxy-based models. Carbon sequestration within vegetation was calculated using biomass equations. The study clearly indicates an increase of ecosystem services by bioengineering measures compared to conventionally fixed riverbanks.

This illustrated Construction Type Manual in 5 European languages compiles 170 construction methods describing techniques which use plants as building materials. This includes preparations necessary before they can be planted and become effective. This is followed by work which allows the plants alone to take over technical, ecological and aesthetic functions. Chapter 7, which is the largest one, contains methods of stabili-zing structures by combining living with non-living materials.

Das Buch „Pflanzen statt Beton“ zeigt auf der Grundlage der Ingenieurbiologie und der Vegetationstechnik die vielfältigen Möglichkeiten der Pflanzenverwendung in den Bereichen „sichern und gestalten.“ Die wesentliche Änderung in der 2. völlig überarbeiteten und erweiterten Auflage ist die Trennung der Sicherungs- und Gestaltungsarbeiten mit Pflanzen in einen Teil A und einen Teil B, die nach vier allgemeinen und anwendungsübergreifenden Kapiteln neu geordnet wurden. Hervorgehoben werden Themen wie z. B. Wirksamkeit von Dachbegrünung, von neuen Arten der Fassaden- und Innenraumbegrünung.