Thepressureandimpactonlargerivershaveincreasedgreatlyinrecentyears,asaconsequenceoftheirexploitationtomeetvarioushumanneeds.Largeriversareparticularlyexposedtoproblemsofmultipleuses,oftenwithconflictingaims.Attheglobalscaleriversystemsareincreasinglyalteredbydams,leadingtointerruptionofcontinuityandadisruptedsedimentregime,whichresultsinfar-reachingproblems.Thesechallengespointalsototheneedformoreintegratedmanagementapproachesandconsiderationofcatchment-riverinteractionsemphasizinglandusemanagementandeffectsoftheseuses.Attheglobalscale,thereiscurrentlynooverviewassessmentofthecurrentstatusoftheworld’slargerivers,theconflictingdemandsonsuchrivers,andlikelyfutureanthropogenicimpacts,aswellasthepotentialforrestoration,improvementsinintegratedmanagementandtheassociatedproblemscausedbytheirmultipleuses.ThespecialissueintheInternationalJournalofSedimentResearchon"Sedimentloadsandprocessesinlargerivers"aimstoprovideaglobalforumforawide-rangingdiscussionofkeyissuesrelatedtoresearchonlargeriversandtotheireffectiveandsustainablemanagement,involvingbothscientistsanddecisionmakers.Thesequenceofpapersinthespecialissuehighlightsthecurrentsituationindifferentriversystemswithregardtomorphodynamicreactionsof
