River regulation in Central Europe pushed away the endangered sand martin
River regulation in Central Europe pushes original inhabitants off their banks. An example is the endangered sand martin. They originally nested on river banks regularly deteriorated by spring floods. The birds would dig tunnels in the walls.
However, watercourse regulation gradually took away the birds’ natural nesting grounds. For example, numerous river banks were reinforced with concrete, and their straightening and deepening removed high river banks.
After the regulation of most of the watercourses, sand …