Worldwide, trajectories of deterioration of large rivers’ natural structure and functioning have been described and related to anthropogenic pressures acting at different spatio-temporal scales. However, the variety of methodologies, time-scale resolutions and the lack of standard indicators frequently hinder the comparison of outcomes among rivers in different geographic and climatic regions. Covering between 204 and 36 years, this study applied the same multi-temporal analysis of riverine trajectories (i.e., anthropization, changeless, progression, and regression) in five large river segments within temperate (Rhine River, France and Germany), Mediterranean (Ebro and Tagus Rivers, Spain), and semi-arid climates (Aras and the Zayandeh-rud Rivers, Iran). This transferable GIS-based method includes the assessment of historical balances within natural dynamics (Natural Trajectory Index, NTI), the degree of anthropization (Anthropization Ratio, AR), and the degree of stability (Stability Ratio, SR) in the studied river-floodplain systems.

Results show similarities among the European case studies (i.e., Rhine, Ebro and Tagus rivers) in response to hydromorphological impacts, with percentage increases in human-induced changes (i.e., anthropization), and habitat development (i.e., progression). Apart from the Zayandeh-rud River, that presents a marked tendency toward progression, processes of habitat rejuvenation (i.e., regression) have almost disappeared in all case studies, and riverine forms remain unchanged. The differences found between the European and the Asian case studies are considered related to the aims and methods of engineering choices for historical river management, with a long history of river reprofiling and impounding in European rivers, while Iranian regulation is relatively recent, and involves extensive inter-basin water transfers.

在世界范围内，大河流自然结构和功能的恶化轨迹已被描述，并与作用在不同时空尺度的人为压力相关。然而，方法论、时间尺度分辨率的多样性和标准指标的缺乏常常阻碍不同地理和气候区域河流结果的比较。本研究涵盖 204 至 36 年，对温带（莱茵河、法国和德国）、地中海（埃布罗河）五个大河段的河流轨迹（即人类化、不变、进展和回归）应用了相同的多时相分析。和塔霍河，西班牙）和半干旱气候（阿拉斯河和扎扬德鲁德河，伊朗）。这种基于 GIS 的可转移方法包括评估所研究河流的自然动态历史平衡（自然轨迹指数，NTI）、人类化程度（人类化比率，AR）和稳定程度（稳定比率，SR）。洪泛区系统。

结果显示，欧洲案例研究（即莱茵河、埃布罗河和塔霍河）对水貌影响的响应具有相似性，人类引起的变化（即人类化）和栖息地开发（即进展）的百分比增加。除了表现出明显的进展趋势的 Zayandeh-rud 河外，在所有案例研究中，生境恢复过程（即退化）几乎消失，河流形态保持不变。欧洲和亚洲案例研究之间发现的差异被认为与历史河流管理的工程选择的目标和方法有关，欧洲河流的河流改造和蓄水历史悠久，而伊朗的监管相对较新，涉及广泛跨流域调水。