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Clear waters flowing swiftly down the flanks of mountains have always attracted man. At first glance, mountain streams may appear to be pure and incontaminated, but they are in fact a harsh and higly selective habitat for the organisms which live in them.
In spite of the difficulties they encounter, many animal and plant species are specially adapted to life in mountain streams. But specialization also means vulnerability, and any intervention by man, even on a modest scale, may disturb the delicate ecological equilibria of these environments.
The traditional activities of mountain peoples (farming forestry) have always had limited effects on the mountain stream ecosystem, but they are now practically dying out. In their place, the construction of dams, canals embankments and other such works have had considerable environmental impact, aiming as they do at controlling the flow of natural waters and at suiting only man's needs.
The present volume is devoted to italian mountain streams and torrents, the ways in which their morphology may be change by various events, and their geological, botanical and faunistic aspects.
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