The temporal dynamic of riverine ecosystems and their fish communities and populations has been addressed in ecological theory and management for several decades. A growing number of case studies on the historic development especially of European and North American rivers have been published. Nonetheless, a theoretical debate about the contributions and limits of historical approaches and interdisciplinary co-operation is lacking. This article presents a brief overview of the role of history in river and fish ecology and suggests historical ecology as a scientific field that can offer a framework for future research. Based on case studies compiled in this special issue on the “Historical ecology of riverine fish in Europe”, we draw conclusions on long-term changes of fish communities, on fisheries, aquatic ecosystem management and past habitat alterations and the potential of archaeological remains and written sources to study them. We discuss how modelling of historical fish data can help elucidate the effects of climate change and human influences on rivers and fish. Finally, we account for the necessity to consider appropriate spatial and temporal scales. In conclusion we call for future comparative studies on continental and global scales and methodological development, which can benefit especially from recent advances in marine historical ecology. We suggest that future interdisciplinary studies of ecologists, hydrologists, historians and archaeologists can reveal the history of riverine ecosystems as socio-ecological systems, addressing both their natural dynamics and human dimension. Such an endeavor can also support developing management plans for habitat restoration and conservation against the background of global change.

中文翻译：

---

欧洲河流鱼类的历史生态

几十年来，河流生态系统及其鱼类群落和种群的时间动态已经在生态理论和管理中得到解决。越来越多的关于历史发展的案例研究，尤其是欧洲和北美河流的历史发展已经出版。尽管如此，缺乏关于历史方法和跨学科合作的贡献和局限性的理论辩论。本文简要概述了历史在河流和鱼类生态学中的作用，并建议将历史生态学作为一个科学领域，为未来的研究提供一个框架。根据本期特刊中关于“欧洲河流鱼类的历史生态学”的案例研究，我们得出关于鱼类群落的长期变化、渔业、水生态系统管理和过去的栖息地改变以及考古遗迹和书面资料研究它们的潜力。我们讨论了历史鱼类数据的建模如何帮助阐明气候变化的影响以及人类对河流和鱼类的影响。最后，我们考虑了考虑适当的空间和时间尺度的必要性。总之，我们呼吁未来对大陆和全球尺度以及方法学发展进行比较研究，这尤其可以从海洋历史生态学的最新进展中受益。我们建议，未来生态学家、水文学家、历史学家和考古学家的跨学科研究可以揭示河流生态系统作为社会生态系统的历史，解决它们的自然动态和人类维度。