{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,9]],"date-time":"2026-05-09T17:09:42Z","timestamp":1778346582896,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,28]],"date-time":"2025-03-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743120000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Forest Research Centre (CEF)"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Data"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Freshwater habitats and biota are among the most threatened worldwide. In Europe, significant efforts are being taken to counteract detrimental human impacts on nature. In line with these efforts, the MERLIN project funded by the H2020 program focuses on mainstreaming ecosystem restoration for freshwater-related environments at the landscape scale. Additionally, the Dammed Fish project focuses on one of the main threats affecting European Networks\u2014artificial fragmentation of the river. Meeting the objectives of both projects to work on a large, pan-European scale, we developed a novel spatial database for river units. These spatial units, named River Restoration Units (R2Us), abide by river network functioning while creating the possibility of aggregating multiple data sources with varying resolutions to size-wise comparable units. To create the R2U, we set a methodological framework that departs from the Catchment Characterization and Modelling\u2014River and Catchment Database v2.1 (CCM2)\u2014together with the capabilities of the River Network Toolkit (v2) software (RivTool) to implement a seven-step methodological procedure. This enabled the creation of 11,557 R2U units in European sea outlet river basins along with their attributes. Procedure outputs were associated with spatial layers and then reorganized to create a relational database with normalized data. Under the MERLIN project, R2Us have been used as the spatial analysis unit for a large-scale analysis using multiple input datasets (e.g., ecosystem services, climate, and European Directive reporting data). This database will be valuable for river management and conservation planning, being particularly well suited for large-scale restoration planning in accordance with European Nature legislation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/data10040046","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,28]],"date-time":"2025-03-28T13:36:49Z","timestamp":1743169009000},"page":"46","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["River Restoration Units: Riverscape Units for European Freshwater Ecosystem Management"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3707-601X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gon\u00e7alo","family":"Duarte","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Research Centre, Associate Laboratory TERRA, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6191-7320","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angeliki","family":"Peponi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Research Centre, Associate Laboratory TERRA, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre of Geographical Studies, Associate Laboratory TERRA, University of Lisbon, Rua Branca Edm\u00e9e Marques, 1600-276 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5917-7893","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro","family":"Segurado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Research Centre, Associate Laboratory TERRA, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6795-5130","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tamara","family":"Leite","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Research Centre, Associate Laboratory TERRA, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8974-7834","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Florian","family":"Borgwardt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Christian Doppler Laboratory for Meta Ecosystem Dynamics in Riverine Landscapes, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, Austria"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0568-1234","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Funk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Christian Doppler Laboratory for Meta Ecosystem Dynamics in Riverine Landscapes, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, Austria"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2597-8692","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sebastian","family":"Birk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universit\u00e4tsstrasse 5, D-45141 Essen, Germany"},{"name":"Centre for Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universit\u00e4tsstrasse 5, D-45141 Essen, Germany"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3900-1460","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Teresa","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Research Centre, Associate Laboratory TERRA, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2502-5533","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paulo","family":"Branco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Research Centre, Associate Laboratory TERRA, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"R960","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2019.08.002","article-title":"Multiple threats imperil freshwater biodiversity in the Anthropocene","volume":"29","author":"Dudgeon","year":"2019","journal-title":"Curr. 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