Understanding temporality in the lives of rivers and riverine human communities through seasonal calendars

Rivers and societies coevolve and emerge through continued engagement over space and time, acting in conjunction to produce dynamic riverscapes. Research on flow regimes has advanced understanding of the temporal dimensions of ecohydrological relationships but has largely neglected the social structures and human experience of time spent living in relation with rivers. We highlight seasonal calendars as a means of creatively organizing and visually representing the temporal dimensions of rivers, which, in both research and practical conservation actions, tend to receive less attention than spatial dimensions. Through 3 case studies relating to major rivers in Australia and South America, we show how seasonal calendars articulate conceptualizations of river time by riparian human communities. Seasonal calendars produced with the participation of local communities can enhance transdisciplinary knowledge production and promote collaboration among different communities of practice—including researchers, conservation practitioners, policymakers, Indigenous peoples, and local communities. Our cases demonstrate that calendars are a tool for articulating and analyzing the many ways that Indigenous people and local communities understand, value, utilize, and shape their biodiverse riverscapes.