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Yan Z, Li P, Li Z, Xu Y, Zhao C, Cui Z. Effects of land use and slope on water quality at multi-spatial scales: a case study of the Weihe River Basin. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:57599-57616. [PMID: 36971941 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-25956-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Exploring the impact of land use and slope on basin water quality can effectively contribute to the protection of the latter at the landscape level. This research concentrates on the Weihe River Basin (WRB). Water samples were collected from 40 sites within the WRB in April and October 2021. A quantitative analysis of the relationship between integrated landscape pattern (land use type, landscape configuration, slope) and basin water quality at the sub-basin, riparian zone, and river scales was conducted based on multiple linear regression analysis (MLR) and redundancy analysis (RDA). The correlation between water quality variables and land use was higher in the dry season than in the wet season. The riparian scale was the best spatial scale model to explain the relationship between land use and water quality. Agricultural and urban lands had a strong correlation with water quality, which was most affected by land use area and morphological indicators. In addition, the greater the area and aggregation of forest land and grassland, the better the water quality, while urban land presented larger areas with poorer water quality. The influence of steeper slopes on water quality was more remarkable than that of plains at the sub-basin scale, while the impact of flatter areas was greater at the riparian zone scale. The results indicated the importance of multiple time-space scales to reveal the complex relationship between land use and water quality. We suggest that watershed water quality management should focus on multi-scale landscape planning measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zixuan Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, No.5, South Jinhua Road, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China
- State Key Laboratory of National Forestry Administration On Ecological Hydrology and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China
| | - Peng Li
- State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, No.5, South Jinhua Road, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China.
- State Key Laboratory of National Forestry Administration On Ecological Hydrology and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China.
| | - Zhanbin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, No.5, South Jinhua Road, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China
- State Key Laboratory of National Forestry Administration On Ecological Hydrology and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China
| | - Yaotao Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, No.5, South Jinhua Road, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China
- State Key Laboratory of National Forestry Administration On Ecological Hydrology and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China
| | - Chenxu Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, No.5, South Jinhua Road, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China
| | - Zhiwei Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, No.5, South Jinhua Road, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China
- State Key Laboratory of National Forestry Administration On Ecological Hydrology and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, 710048, Shaanxi, China
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Sotomayor G, Romero J, Ballari D, Vázquez RF, Ramírez-Morales I, Hampel H, Galarza X, Montesinos B, Forio MAE, Goethals PLM. Occurrence Prediction of Riffle Beetles (Coleoptera: Elmidae) in a Tropical Andean Basin of Ecuador Using Species Distribution Models. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12030473. [PMID: 36979164 PMCID: PMC10045380 DOI: 10.3390/biology12030473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
Genera and species of Elmidae (riffle beetles) are sensitive to water pollution; however, in tropical freshwater ecosystems, their requirements regarding environmental factors need to be investigated. Species distribution models (SDMs) were established for five elmid genera in the Paute river basin (southern Ecuador) using the Random Forest (RF) algorithm considering environmental variables, i.e., meteorology, land use, hydrology, and topography. Each RF-based model was trained and optimised using cross-validation. Environmental variables that explained most of the Elmidae spatial variability were land use (i.e., riparian vegetation alteration and presence/absence of canopy), precipitation, and topography, mainly elevation and slope. The highest probability of occurrence for elmids genera was predicted in streams located within well-preserved zones. Moreover, specific ecological niches were spatially predicted for each genus. Macrelmis was predicted in the lower and forested areas, with high precipitation levels, towards the Amazon basin. Austrelmis was predicted to be in the upper parts of the basin, i.e., páramo ecosystems, with an excellent level of conservation of their riparian ecosystems. Austrolimnius and Heterelmis were also predicted in the upper parts of the basin but in more widespread elevation ranges, in the Heterelmis case, and even in some areas with a medium level of anthropisation. Neoelmis was predicted to be in the mid-region of the study basin in high altitudinal streams with a high degree of meandering. The main findings of this research are likely to contribute significantly to local conservation and restoration efforts being implemented in the study basin and could be extrapolated to similar eco-hydrological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gonzalo Sotomayor
- Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Cuenca, Av. 12 de abril S/N, Cuenca, Azuay 010203, Ecuador
| | - Jorge Romero
- Instituto de Estudios del Régimen Seccional del Ecuador (IERSE), Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca 010204, Ecuador
| | - Daniela Ballari
- Instituto de Estudios del Régimen Seccional del Ecuador (IERSE), Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca 010204, Ecuador
| | - Raúl F Vázquez
- Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Cuenca, Av. 12 de abril S/N, Cuenca, Azuay 010203, Ecuador
- Laboratorio de Ecología Acuática (LEA), Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad de Cuenca, Av. 12 de abril S/N, Cuenca 010203, Ecuador
| | | | - Henrietta Hampel
- Laboratorio de Ecología Acuática (LEA), Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad de Cuenca, Av. 12 de abril S/N, Cuenca 010203, Ecuador
| | - Xavier Galarza
- Instituto de Estudios del Régimen Seccional del Ecuador (IERSE), Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca 010204, Ecuador
| | - Bolívar Montesinos
- Ministerio del Ambiente, Agua y Transición Ecológica, Dirección Zonal 6, Cuenca 010104, Ecuador
| | - Marie Anne Eurie Forio
- Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Peter L M Goethals
- Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
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Effects of Different Types of Agricultural Land Use on the Occurrence of Common Aquatic Bugs (Nepomorpha, Heteroptera) in Habitats with Slow Flowing Water in Bulgaria, Southeast Europe. DIVERSITY 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/d15020292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
Abstract
Agricultural activities can have a significant impact on aquatic organisms, including aquatic insects. Most of the aquatic Heteroptera are known as moderately tolerant to low oxygen and high nutrient concentrations. Nevertheless, the complex effects of agriculture (source of both pesticides and nutrient loads) on this group are still unclear. Therefore, the relationship between six agricultural land use classes and the occurrence of common aquatic bugs in Bulgaria was studied. In order to avoid detection bias, presence-only models were applied; Maxent algorithm was used. According to the results, land use practices connected to arable land (annual crops) have stronger influence on the occurrence of the selected aquatic Heteroptera species than those connected to perennial crops (vineyards and fruit trees). Higher sensitivity to the effects of agriculture was indicated for species preferring microhabitats without macrophyte vegetation, Aphelocheirus aestivalis (Fabricius, 1794) and Micronecta griseola Horváth, 1899, compared to species preferring macrophyte dominated sites, Nepa cinerea Linnaeus, 1758, Ilyocoris cimicoides (Linnaeus, 1758) and Sigara striata (Linnaeus, 1758).
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Zhang L, Qu J, Gui D, Liu Q, Ahmed Z, Liu Y, Qi Z. Analysis of desertification combating needs based on potential vegetation NDVI-A case in the Hotan Oasis. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:1036814. [PMID: 36589049 PMCID: PMC9796996 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1036814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Combating desertification is vital for arresting land degradation and ensuring sustainable development of the global ecological environment. This study has analyzed the current desertification status and determined its control needs based on the difference between potential normalized difference vegetation index (PNDVI) and actual normalized difference vegetation index (ANDVI) in the Hotan desertoasis. The MaxEnt model, combined with the distribution point data of natural vegetation with long-term stable normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and 24 environmental factors was used to predict the PNDVI spatial distribution of different vegetation coverage grades and compared it with ANDVI. Excluding the areas of intense human activity such as arable land, the simulation results show that PNDVI with high, medium, and low vegetation cover was mainly distributed in the southwest and southeast of Hotan Oasis, in the midstream and downstream of Kalakash River and Yulong Kashi River, and the desert or Gobi area outside the oasis, respectively. The distribution of PNDVI with high, medium, and low vegetation cover accounted for 6.80%, 7.26%, and 9.17% of Hotan oasis, respectively. The comparison between ANDVI and PNDVI shows that 18.04% (ANDVI < PNDVI, about 3900 km2) of the study area is still suffering from desertification, which is mainly distributed in the desert-oasis ecotone in Hotan. The findings of this study implied that PNDVI could be used to assess the desertification status and endorsement of desertification control measures in vulnerable ecosystems. Hence, PNDVI can strengthen the desertification combating efforts at regional and global scales and may serve as a reference point for the policymakers and scientific community towards sustainable land development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
- Cele National Station of Observation and Research for Desert Grassland Ecosystem in Xinjiang, Cele, Xinjiang, China
- University of Cinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jia Qu
- Xinjiang University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
| | - Dongwei Gui
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
- Cele National Station of Observation and Research for Desert Grassland Ecosystem in Xinjiang, Cele, Xinjiang, China
| | - Qi Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
| | - Zeeshan Ahmed
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
- Cele National Station of Observation and Research for Desert Grassland Ecosystem in Xinjiang, Cele, Xinjiang, China
| | - Yi Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
- Cele National Station of Observation and Research for Desert Grassland Ecosystem in Xinjiang, Cele, Xinjiang, China
| | - Zhiming Qi
- McGill University, Department of Bioresource Engn, Saitne Anne De Bellevue, PQ, Canada
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Dobson B, Barry S, Maes-Prior R, Mijic A, Woodward G, Pearse WD. Predicting catchment suitability for biodiversity at national scales. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 221:118764. [PMID: 35752096 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 06/11/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Biomonitoring of water quality and catchment management are often disconnected, due to mismatching scales. Considerable effort and money are spent each year on routine reach-scale surveying across many sites, particularly in countries like the UK, where nationwide sampling has been conducted using standardised techniques for many decades. Most of these traditional freshwater biomonitoring schemes focus on pre-defined indicators of organic pollution to compare observed vs expected subsets of common macroinvertebrate indicator species. Other taxa, including many threatened species, are often ignored due to their rarity, as are many invasive species, which are seen as undesirable despite becoming increasingly common and widespread in freshwaters, especially in urban ecosystems. Both these types of taxa are often monitored separately for reasons related to biodiversity concerns rather than for gauging water quality. Repurposing such data could therefore provide important new biomonitoring tools that can help catchment managers to directly link the water quality they aim to control with the biodiversity they are trying to protect. Here we used extensive data held in the England Non-Native and Rare/Protected species records that track these two groups of species as a proof-of-concept for linking catchment scale management of freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity to a range of potential drivers across England. We used national land use (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology land cover map) and water quality indicator (Environment Agency water quality data archive) datasets to predict, at the catchment scale, the presence or absence of 48 focal threatened or invasive species of concern routinely sampled by the English Environment Agency, with a median accuracy of 0.81 area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. A variety of water quality indicators and land-use types were useful in predictions, highlighting that future biomonitoring schemes could use such complementary measures to capture a wider spectrum of drivers and responses. In particular, the percentage of a catchment covered by freshwater was the single most important metric, reinforcing the need for space/habitat to support biodiversity, but we were also able to resolve a range of key environmental drivers for particular focal species. We show how our method could inform new catchment management approaches, by highlighting how key relationships can be identified and how to understand, visualise and prioritise catchments that are most suitable for restoration or water quality interventions. The scale of this work, in terms of number of species, drivers and locations, represents a significant step towards forging a new approach to catchment management that enables managers to link drivers they can control (water quality and land use) to the biota they are trying to protect (biodiversity).
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Affiliation(s)
- Barnaby Dobson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London.
| | - Saoirse Barry
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London
| | - Robin Maes-Prior
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London
| | - Ana Mijic
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London
| | - Guy Woodward
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Campus, Imperial College London, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, U.K
| | - William D Pearse
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Campus, Imperial College London, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, U.K
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Palt M, Le Gall M, Piffady J, Hering D, Kail J. A metric-based analysis on the effects of riparian and catchment landuse on macroinvertebrates. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 816:151590. [PMID: 34774935 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Revised: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Woody riparian vegetation along rivers and streams provides multiple functions beneficial for aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. They retain fine sediments, nutrients and pesticides, improve channel hydromorphology, control water temperature and primary production through shading and provide leaves, twigs and large wood. In a recent conceptual model (Feld et al., 2018), woody riparian functions were considered either independent from large-scale landuse stressors (e.g. shading, input of organic matter), or dependent on landuse at larger spatial scales (e.g. fine sediment, nutrient and pesticide retention). We tested this concept using high-resolution data on woody riparian vegetation cover and empirical data from 1017 macroinvertebrate sampling sites in German lowland and mountain streams. Macroinvertebrate metrics indicative for individual functions were used as response variables in structural equation models (SEM), representing the hierarchical structure between the different considered stressors at different spatial scales: catchment, upstream riparian, local riparian and local landuse cover along with hydromorphology and water quality. The analysis only partly confirmed the conceptual model: Biotic integrity and water quality were strongly related to large-scale stressors as expected (absolute total effect 0.345-0.541), but against expectations, fine sediments retention, considered scale-dependent in the conceptual model, was poorly explained by large-scale stressors (absolute total effect 0.027-0.231). While most functions considered independent from large-scale landuse were partly explained by riparian landuse cover (absolute total effect 0.023-0.091) they also were nonetheless affected by catchment landuse cover (absolute total effect 0.017-0.390). While many empirical case studies at smaller spatial scales clearly document the positive effects of restoring woody riparian vegetation, our results suggest that most effects of riparian landuse cover are possibly superimposed by larger-scale stressors. This does not negate localized effects of woody riparian vegetation but helps contextualize limitations to successful restoration measures targeting the macroinvertebrate community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Palt
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany.
| | | | - Jérémy Piffady
- INRAE, UR RiverLy, EcoFlowS, F-69625 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Daniel Hering
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany; Centre of Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Jochem Kail
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
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Comparative assessment of piscine beta diversity profile and key determinant environmental factors in two freshwater rivers of variable spatial scale in Dooars, West Bengal, India. Trop Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s42965-021-00171-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Nematollahi S, Fakheran S, Kienast F, Jafari A. Application of InVEST habitat quality module in spatially vulnerability assessment of natural habitats (case study: Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran). ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2020; 192:487. [PMID: 32621254 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-020-08460-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
There has been a growing pressure of human activities, especially road network, on natural habitats of the world, which has led to habitat degradation and loss of ecosystem services. To mitigate the impacts of human activities, appropriate studies quantifying ecosystem services and assessing ecological impacts of road network are essential. The main goal of this study was modeling habitat quality and habitat degradation of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province in the southwestern part of Iran, which is among the most important habitats for wild sheep (Ovis orientalis) classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. In this study, we used the habitat quality module of the InVEST software (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs), which was driven from land use/cover data, information on anthropogenic threats, and expert knowledge. We tested the reliability of the habitat quality values by comparing them with the distribution map of wild sheep obtained from the Department of the Environment. Then, to have a more comprehensive assessment of the roads' effects on the natural habitats of this province, considering ecosystem services model, the Spatial Road Disturbance Index (SPROADI) was applied as a landscape index. The results of this study revealed that the east and north eastern parts of the study area which were among the most suitable habitats for wild sheep were highly affected by road network. Overall, findings of our study provided useful information on the spatially explicit distribution of habitat quality and degradation which were a valuable input for conservation planning and enhancing ecosystem services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shekoufeh Nematollahi
- Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Sima Fakheran
- Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran.
| | - Felix Kienast
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Ali Jafari
- Department of Natural Resources and Earth Sciences, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, 88186-34141, Iran
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Baldan D, Piniewski M, Funk A, Gumpinger C, Flödl P, Höfer S, Hauer C, Hein T. A multi-scale, integrative modeling framework for setting conservation priorities at the catchment scale for the Freshwater Pearl Mussel Margaritifera margaritifera. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 718:137369. [PMID: 32109815 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Revised: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 02/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The identification and prioritization of sites for conservation actions to protect biodiversity in lotic systems is crucial when economic resources or available areas are limited. Challenges include the incorporation of multi-scale interactions, and the application of species distribution models (SDMs) to rare organism with multiple life stages. To support the planning of conservation actions for the highly endangered Freshwater Pearl Mussel Margaritifera margaritifera (FPM), this paper aims at developing an ecohydrological modeling cascade including a hydrological model (SWAT) and a hydraulic model (HEC-RAS). Building on hydrology and hydraulics, Random Forest models for potential risk to juveniles due to sand accumulation, SDMs for adults habitat niche, and a landscape connectivity assessment of dispersal potential were developed. The feasibility of such models integration was tested in the Aist catchment (630 km2) in Austria. The potential FPM habitat and the sand accumulation risk for the whole catchment were predicted with good accuracy. Results show that while the potentially suitable habitats for adults FPM cover 34% of the river network, only few habitat patches can maximize the dispersal potential (4% of the river network) and even less are showing limited impact of accumulations (3.5% of river network). No habitat patch that meets all the three criteria is available, suggesting approaches that target the patch-specific critical life stage-factors are promising for conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damiano Baldan
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, Gregor Mendel Straße 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria; WasserClusterLunz - Biologische Station GmbH, Dr. Carl Kupelwieser Promenade 5, 3293 Lunz am See, Austria.
| | - Mikolaj Piniewski
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Andrea Funk
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, Gregor Mendel Straße 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria; WasserClusterLunz - Biologische Station GmbH, Dr. Carl Kupelwieser Promenade 5, 3293 Lunz am See, Austria
| | - Clemens Gumpinger
- Consultants in Aquatic Ecology and Engineering, Blattfisch e.U., Gabelsbergerstraße 7, 4600 Wels, Austria
| | - Peter Flödl
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Sediment Research and Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research, Muthgasse 107, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Sarah Höfer
- Consultants in Aquatic Ecology and Engineering, Blattfisch e.U., Gabelsbergerstraße 7, 4600 Wels, Austria; Christian Doppler Laboratory for Sediment Research and Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research, Muthgasse 107, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Christoph Hauer
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Sediment Research and Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research, Muthgasse 107, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Hein
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, Gregor Mendel Straße 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria; WasserClusterLunz - Biologische Station GmbH, Dr. Carl Kupelwieser Promenade 5, 3293 Lunz am See, Austria.
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Nelson Mwaijengo G, Msigwa A, Njau KN, Brendonck L, Vanschoenwinkel B. Where does land use matter most? Contrasting land use effects on river quality at different spatial scales. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 715:134825. [PMID: 31864783 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2019] [Revised: 10/02/2019] [Accepted: 10/03/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the influence of land-use activities on river quality has been a key focus of river monitoring programs worldwide. However, defining which land-use spatial scale is relevant remains elusive. In this study, therefore, we contrasted the influence of land use on river quality using three types of land-use estimators, namely circular buffers around a monitoring site, circular buffers upstream of the monitoring site and the entire watershed area upstream of the monitoring site. The land-use percentage compositions within the Usa-Kikuletwa River catchment in northeastern Tanzania were quantified using Landsat-8 satellite images with a maximum mapping resolution of 30 m. Redundancy analysis models and generalized linear models were used to evaluate the influence of land use on macroinvertebrate assemblages and physico-chemical water quality at different spatial scales in the dry and wet seasons. Overall, a substantial fraction of variation in physico-chemical water quality, macroinvertebrate taxon richness, Chao-1 and TARISS (Tanzania River Scoring System) score could be explained by land use of the entire watershed area upstream of the monitoring site in the dry and wet seasons. However, macroinvertebrate abundances showed strong links with more local land-use patterns within 100 m and 2 km radii. Circular buffers upstream of monitoring sites were more informative for macroinvertebrate assemblages than circular buffers around the monitoring sites. However, the latter did correlate well with physico-chemical water quality variables. Land-use variables correlated across spatial scales (i.e., 100 m up to 2 km radii), but not with the land use in the entire watershed area above the monitoring site. Our results indicate that physico-chemical water quality variables and macroinvertebrates may respond differently to land-uses at different scales. More importantly, our results illustrate that the choice regarding spatial land-use metrics can bias conclusions of environmental impact studies in river systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grite Nelson Mwaijengo
- Animal Ecology, Global Change and Sustainable Development, KU Leuven, Ch. Deberiotstraat 32 - Box 2439, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Department of Water, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), P. O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
| | - Anna Msigwa
- Department of Water, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), P. O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania; Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, Brussels 1050, Belgium
| | - Karoli Nicholas Njau
- Department of Water, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), P. O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania
| | - Luc Brendonck
- Animal Ecology, Global Change and Sustainable Development, KU Leuven, Ch. Deberiotstraat 32 - Box 2439, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Water Research Group, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa
| | - Bram Vanschoenwinkel
- Department of Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, Brussels 1050, Belgium; Centre for Environmental Management, University of the Free State, Mandela Drive, P.O. Box 339, 9300 Bloemfontein, South Africa
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11
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Riaz M, Kuemmerlen M, Wittwer C, Cocchiararo B, Khaliq I, Pfenninger M, Nowak C. Combining environmental DNA and species distribution modeling to evaluate reintroduction success of a freshwater fish. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2020; 30:e02034. [PMID: 31680362 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Revised: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Active species reintroduction is an important conservation tool when aiming for the restoration of biological communities and ecosystems. The effective monitoring of reintroduction success is a crucial factor in this process. Here, we used a combination of environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques and species distribution models (SDMs) to evaluate the success of recent reintroductions of the freshwater fish Alburnoides bipunctatus in central Germany. We built SDMs without and with eDNA presence data to locate further suitable reintroduction sites and potentially overlooked populations of the species. We successfully detected eDNA of A. bipunctatus at all reintroduction sites, as well as several adjacent sites mostly in downstream direction, which supports the success of reintroduction efforts. eDNA-based species detection considerably improved SDMs for A. bipunctatus, which allowed to identify species presence in previously unknown localities. Our results confirm the usefulness of eDNA techniques as standard tool to monitor reintroduced fish populations. We propose that combining eDNA with SDMs is a highly effective approach for long-term monitoring of reintroduction success in aquatic species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Riaz
- Conservation Genetics Group, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Straße 9, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Mathias Kuemmerlen
- Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling, Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 133, 8600, Duebendorf, Switzerland
| | - Claudia Wittwer
- Conservation Genetics Group, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Berardino Cocchiararo
- Conservation Genetics Group, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Imran Khaliq
- Department of Zoology, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan
| | - Markus Pfenninger
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Molecular Ecology Group, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Institute for Molecular and Organismic Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 7, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Carsten Nowak
- Conservation Genetics Group, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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12
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Schmidt H, Radinger J, Teschlade D, Stoll S. The role of spatial units in modelling freshwater fish distributions: Comparing a subcatchment and river network approach using MaxEnt. Ecol Modell 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2020.108937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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13
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14
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Assessing the Vulnerability of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates to Climate Warming in a Mountainous Watershed: Supplementing Presence-Only Data with Species Traits. WATER 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/w11040636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Mountainous running water ecosystems are vulnerable to climate change with major changes coming from warming temperatures. Species distribution will be affected and some species are anticipated to be winners (increasing their range) or losers (at risk of extinction). Climate change vulnerability is seldom integrated when assessing threat status for lists of species at risk (Red Lists), even though this might appear an important addition in the current context. The main objective of our study was to assess the potential vulnerability of Ephemeroptera (E), Plecoptera (P) and Trichoptera (T) species to global warming in a Swiss mountainous region by supplementing Species Distribution Models (SDMs) with a trait-based approach, using available historical occurrence and environmental data and to compare our outcomes with the Swiss National Red List. First, we used nine different modelling techniques and topographic, land use, climatic and hydrological variables as predictors of EPT species distribution. The shape of the response curves of the species for the environmental variables in the nine modelling techniques, together with three biological and ecological traits were used to assess the potential vulnerability of each species to climate change. The joint use of SDMs and trait approach appeared complementary and even though discrepancies were highlighted between SDMs and trait analyses, groups of potential “winners” and “losers” were raised out. Plecoptera appeared as the most vulnerable group to global warming. Divergences between current threat status of species and our results pointed out the need to integrate climate change vulnerability in Red List assessments.
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15
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Kuemmerlen M, Reichert P, Siber R, Schuwirth N. Ecological assessment of river networks: From reach to catchment scale. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 650:1613-1627. [PMID: 30308847 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2018] [Revised: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 09/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly under threat as they are confronted with multiple anthropogenic impairments. This calls for comprehensive management strategies to counteract, or even prevent, long-term impacts on habitats and their biodiversity, as well as on their ecological functions and services. The basis for the efficient management and effective conservation of any ecosystem is sufficient knowledge on the state of the system and its response to external influence factors. In freshwater ecosystems, state information is currently drawn from ecological assessments at the reach or site scale. While these assessments are essential, they are not sufficient to assess the expected outcome of different river restoration strategies, because they do not account for important characteristics of the whole river network, such as habitat connectivity or headwater reachability. This is of particular importance for the spatial prioritization of restoration measures. River restoration could be supported best by integrative catchment-scale ecological assessments that are sensitive to the spatial arrangement of river reaches and barriers. Assessments at this scale are of increasing interest to environmental managers and conservation practitioners to prioritize restoration measures or to locate areas worth protecting. We present an approach based on decision support methods that integrates abiotic and biotic ecological assessments at the reach-scale and aggregates them spatially to describe the ecological state of entire catchments. This aggregation is based on spatial criteria that represent important ecological catchment properties, such as fish migration potential, resilience, fragmentation and habitat diversity in a spatially explicit way. We identify the most promising assessment criteria from different alternatives based on theoretical considerations and a comparison with biological indicators. Potential applications are discussed, particularly for supporting the strategic, long-term planning and spatial prioritization of restoration measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Kuemmerlen
- Eawag, Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling, Ueberlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland.
| | - Peter Reichert
- Eawag, Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling, Ueberlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland
| | - Rosi Siber
- Eawag, Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling, Ueberlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland
| | - Nele Schuwirth
- Eawag, Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling, Ueberlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland
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16
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Irving K, Kuemmerlen M, Kiesel J, Kakouei K, Domisch S, Jähnig SC. A high-resolution streamflow and hydrological metrics dataset for ecological modeling using a regression model. Sci Data 2018; 5:180224. [PMID: 30398476 PMCID: PMC6219418 DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2018.224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2017] [Accepted: 08/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Hydrological variables are among the most influential when analyzing or modeling stream ecosystems. However, available hydrological data are often limited in their spatiotemporal scale and resolution for use in ecological applications such as predictive modeling of species distributions. To overcome this limitation, a regression model was applied to a 1 km gridded stream network of Germany to obtain estimated daily stream flow data (m3 s-1) spanning 64 years (1950-2013). The data are used as input to calculate hydrological indices characterizing stream flow regimes. Both temporal and spatial validations were performed. In addition, GLMs using both the calculated and observed hydrological indices were compared, suggesting that the predicted flow data are adequate for use in predictive ecological models. Accordingly, we provide estimated stream flow as well as a set of 53 hydrological metrics at 1 km grid for the stream network of Germany. In addition, we provide an R script where the presented methodology is implemented, that uses globally available data and can be directly applied to any other geographical region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie Irving
- Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie University Berlin, Takustraße 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Mathias Kuemmerlen
- Department Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modeling, Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Jens Kiesel
- Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany.,Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Kiel, Germany
| | - Karan Kakouei
- Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie University Berlin, Takustraße 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Sami Domisch
- Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Sonja C Jähnig
- Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
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17
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Abstract
According to the European Commission, green infrastructure (GI) is conceived as a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas. This definition highlights three important issues: environment protection, ecosystems multifunctionality and ecological connectivity. Building upon a methodology that identifies a Sardinian regional GI in relation to four values (conservation value, natural value, recreational value and landscape value), this study aims at assessing the suitability of areas situated within and outside protected areas’ boundaries to be included in the above-mentioned Sardinian regional GI. In relation to conservation value, outcomes reveal a higher suitability of patches situated within protected areas to be included in the regional GI, whereas in relation to the other three values, the behavioral patterns are less evident. These results suggest specific policy recommendations such as mitigation of land-taking processes, increase of Natura 2000 Network’s size, accurate identification of landscape goods, and improved accessibility to sites characterized by outstanding natural beauty.
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18
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Kakouei K, Kiesel J, Domisch S, Irving KS, Jähnig SC, Kail J. Projected effects of Climate-change-induced flow alterations on stream macroinvertebrate abundances. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:3393-3409. [PMID: 29607034 PMCID: PMC5869304 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Global change has the potential to affect river flow conditions which are fundamental determinants of physical habitats. Predictions of the effects of flow alterations on aquatic biota have mostly been assessed based on species ecological traits (e.g., current preferences), which are difficult to link to quantitative discharge data. Alternatively, we used empirically derived predictive relationships for species' response to flow to assess the effect of flow alterations due to climate change in two contrasting central European river catchments. Predictive relationships were set up for 294 individual species based on (1) abundance data from 223 sampling sites in the Kinzig lower-mountainous catchment and 67 sites in the Treene lowland catchment, and (2) flow conditions at these sites described by five flow metrics quantifying the duration, frequency, magnitude, timing and rate of flow events using present-day gauging data. Species' abundances were predicted for three periods: (1) baseline (1998-2017), (2) horizon 2050 (2046-2065) and (3) horizon 2090 (2080-2099) based on these empirical relationships and using high-resolution modeled discharge data for the present and future climate conditions. We compared the differences in predicted abundances among periods for individual species at each site, where the percent change served as a proxy to assess the potential species responses to flow alterations. Climate change was predicted to most strongly affect the low-flow conditions, leading to decreased abundances of species up to -42%. Finally combining the response of all species over all metrics indicated increasing overall species assemblage responses in 98% of the studied river reaches in both projected horizons and were significantly larger in the lower-mountainous Kinzig compared to the lowland Treene catchment. Such quantitative analyses of freshwater taxa responses to flow alterations provide valuable tools for predicting potential climate-change impacts on species abundances and can be applied to any stressor, species, or region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karan Kakouei
- Department of Ecosystem Research Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) Berlin Germany.,Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy Free University of Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Jens Kiesel
- Department of Ecosystem Research Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) Berlin Germany.,Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management Institute for Natural Resource Conservation Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel Kiel Germany
| | - Sami Domisch
- Department of Ecosystem Research Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) Berlin Germany
| | - Katie S Irving
- Department of Ecosystem Research Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) Berlin Germany.,Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy Free University of Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Sonja C Jähnig
- Department of Ecosystem Research Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) Berlin Germany
| | - Jochem Kail
- Department of Aquatic Ecology University of Duisburg-Essen Essen Germany
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19
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Oeding S, Taffs KH, Cox B, Reichelt-Brushett A, Sullivan C. The influence of land use in a highly modified catchment: Investigating the importance of scale in riverine health assessment. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2018; 206:1007-1019. [PMID: 30029335 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2017] [Revised: 11/08/2017] [Accepted: 12/03/2017] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Riverine landscapes are studied at varying scales, investigating the complex cause-effect pathways between rivers and their physical, chemical and biological attributes. Policy development, management and planning are often formulated and applied at the regional or catchment scale, however the ecological evidence required to inform at this scale is typically collected from the much smaller scale. This research was aimed at determining if patterns in diatom and macroinvertebrate community composition can be attributed to a specific/single land use in a catchment with multiple land uses. The impacts of forest, macadamia, grazing, sugar cane and urban land uses in the Richmond River Catchment of Northern NSW, Australia were investigated at 20 micro-catchment scale sites. A total of 124 diatom species from 43 genera, along with 92 families and three sub-families of macroinvertebrates, were collected and used to calculate the Richmond River Diatom Index (RRDI), AUSRIVAS and SIGNAL2 scores. Statistical analyses showed distinct groupings of land use categories providing evidence of cause-effect pathways attributed to individual land uses. The RRDI, AUSRIVAS and SIGNAL2 scores all showed distinctions between land use categories, though they were clearer in the RRDI. The RRDI indicated that the grazing sites had the poorest health of the land use categories, followed by sugar cane and urban while the macadamia and forest sites were relatively healthy. Signal 2 scores showed similar trends to the RRDI, while the AURIVAS scores did not present clear trends, particularly in the edge habitat of macadamia land use sites. The results indicated that riparian vegetation and instream habitat play an important role in attenuating inputs and that rehabilitation efforts could potentially improve water quality at a micro-catchment scale and subsequently, result in river health improvement at the catchment scale. The research collected at this micro-catchment scale presents new evidence that further informs and affects decisions made at the catchment scale, where policy and planning is developed and implemented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sue Oeding
- School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia.
| | - Kathryn H Taffs
- School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
| | - Brendan Cox
- School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
| | - Amanda Reichelt-Brushett
- School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia; Marine Ecology Research Centre, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
| | - Caroline Sullivan
- School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
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20
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Berger E, Haase P, Kuemmerlen M, Leps M, Schäfer RB, Sundermann A. Water quality variables and pollution sources shaping stream macroinvertebrate communities. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 587-588:1-10. [PMID: 28190575 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Revised: 01/18/2017] [Accepted: 02/04/2017] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
In 2015, over 90 percent of German rivers failed to reach a good ecological status as demanded by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Deficits in water quality, mainly from diffuse pollution such as agricultural run-off, but also from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), have been suggested as important drivers of this decline in ecological quality. We modelled six macroinvertebrate based metrics indicating ecological quality for 184 streams in response to a) PCA-derived water quality gradients, b) individual water quality variables and c) catchment land use and wastewater exposure indices as pollution drivers. The aim was to evaluate the relative importance of key water quality variables and their sources. Indicator substances (i.e. carbamazepine and caffeine indicating wastewater exposure; herbicides indicating agricultural run-off) represented micropollutants in the analyses and successfully related water quality variables to pollution sources. Arable and urban catchment land covers were strongly associated with reduced ecological quality. Electric conductivity, oxygen concentration, caffeine, silicate and toxic units with respect to pesticides were identified as the most significant in-stream predictors in this order. Our results underline the importance to manage diffuse pollution, if ecological quality is to be improved. However, we also found a clear impact of wastewater on ecological quality through caffeine. Thus, improvement of WWTPs, especially preventing the release of poorly treated wastewater, will benefit freshwater communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Berger
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany; Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Faculty of Biology, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Peter Haase
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany; University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Biology, Department of River and Floodplain Ecology, Essen, Germany
| | - Mathias Kuemmerlen
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany
| | - Moritz Leps
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany
| | - Ralf Bernhard Schäfer
- Quantitative Landscape Ecology, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany
| | - Andrea Sundermann
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany; Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Faculty of Biology, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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21
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Constructing Ecological Networks Based on Habitat Quality Assessment: A Case Study of Changzhou, China. Sci Rep 2017; 7:46073. [PMID: 28393879 PMCID: PMC5385553 DOI: 10.1038/srep46073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2016] [Accepted: 03/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Fragmentation and reduced continuity of habitat patches threaten the environment and biodiversity. Recently, ecological networks are increasingly attracting the attention of researchers as they provide fundamental frameworks for environmental protection. This study suggests a set of procedures to construct an ecological network. First, we proposed a method to construct a landscape resistance surface based on the assessment of habitat quality. Second, to analyze the effect of the resistance surface on corridor simulations, we used three methods to construct resistance surfaces: (1) the method proposed in this paper, (2) the entropy coefficient method, and (3) the expert scoring method. Then, we integrated habitat patches and resistance surfaces to identify potential corridors using graph theory. These procedures were tested in Changzhou, China. Comparing the outputs of using different resistance surfaces demonstrated that: (1) different landscape resistance surfaces contribute to how corridors are identified, but only slightly affect the assessment of the importance of habitat patches and potential corridors; (2) the resistance surface, which is constructed based on habitat quality, is more applicable to corridor simulations; and (3) the assessment of the importance of habitat patches is fundamental for ecological network optimization in the conservation of critical habitat patches and corridors.
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22
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Gavish Y, Marsh CJ, Kuemmerlen M, Stoll S, Haase P, Kunin WE. Accounting for biotic interactions through alpha‐diversity constraints in stacked species distribution models. Methods Ecol Evol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.12731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yoni Gavish
- School of Biology Faculty of biological Science University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT UK
| | - Charles J. Marsh
- School of Biology Faculty of biological Science University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT UK
| | - Mathias Kuemmerlen
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Clamecystr. 12 D‐63571 Gelnhausen Germany
- Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling Ueberlandstrasse 133 8600 Duebendorf Switzerland
| | - Stefan Stoll
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Clamecystr. 12 D‐63571 Gelnhausen Germany
- Institute for Environmental Sciences University of Koblenz‐Landau Fortstr. 7 76829 Landau Germany
| | - Peter Haase
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Clamecystr. 12 D‐63571 Gelnhausen Germany
- University of Duisburg‐Essen Faculty of Biology Universitätsstr. 5 45141 Essen Germany
| | - William E. Kunin
- School of Biology Faculty of biological Science University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT UK
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23
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Charbonnel A, Laffaille P, Biffi M, Blanc F, Maire A, Némoz M, Sanchez-Perez JM, Sauvage S, Buisson L. Can Recent Global Changes Explain the Dramatic Range Contraction of an Endangered Semi-Aquatic Mammal Species in the French Pyrenees? PLoS One 2016; 11:e0159941. [PMID: 27467269 PMCID: PMC4965056 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2016] [Accepted: 07/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Species distribution models (SDMs) are the main tool to predict global change impacts on species ranges. Climate change alone is frequently considered, but in freshwater ecosystems, hydrology is a key driver of the ecology of aquatic species. At large scale, hydrology is however rarely accounted for, owing to the lack of detailed stream flow data. In this study, we developed an integrated modelling approach to simulate stream flow using the hydrological Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Simulated stream flow was subsequently included as an input variable in SDMs along with topographic, hydrographic, climatic and land-cover descriptors. SDMs were applied to two temporally-distinct surveys of the distribution of the endangered Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) in the French Pyrenees: a historical one conducted from 1985 to 1992 and a current one carried out between 2011 and 2013. The model calibrated on historical data was also forecasted onto the current period to assess its ability to describe the distributional change of the Pyrenean desman that has been modelled in the recent years. First, we found that hydrological and climatic variables were the ones influencing the most the distribution of this species for both periods, emphasizing the importance of taking into account hydrology when SDMs are applied to aquatic species. Secondly, our results highlighted a strong range contraction of the Pyrenean desman in the French Pyrenees over the last 25 years. Given that this range contraction was under-estimated when the historical model was forecasted onto current conditions, this finding suggests that other drivers may be interacting with climate, hydrology and land-use changes. Our results imply major concerns for the conservation of this endemic semi-aquatic mammal since changes in climate and hydrology are expected to become more intense in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anaïs Charbonnel
- Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
- CNRS, UMR 5245, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, INP, UPS, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
- * E-mail: (AC); (LB)
| | - Pascal Laffaille
- CNRS, UMR 5245, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, INP, UPS, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), ENSAT, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Marjorie Biffi
- CNRS, UMR 5245, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, INP, UPS, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Frédéric Blanc
- Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
| | - Anthony Maire
- CNRS, UMR 5245, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, INP, UPS, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Mélanie Némoz
- Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
| | - José Miguel Sanchez-Perez
- CNRS, UMR 5245, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, INP, UPS, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), ENSAT, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Sabine Sauvage
- CNRS, UMR 5245, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, INP, UPS, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), ENSAT, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Laëtitia Buisson
- CNRS, UMR 5245, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, INP, UPS, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
- * E-mail: (AC); (LB)
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Pletterbauer F, Graf W, Schmutz S. Effect of biotic dependencies in species distribution models: The future distribution of Thymallus thymallus under consideration of Allogamus auricollis. Ecol Modell 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2016.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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25
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Woznicki SA, Nejadhashemi AP, Abouali M, Herman MR, Esfahanian E, Hamaamin YA, Zhang Z. Ecohydrological modeling for large-scale environmental impact assessment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 543:274-286. [PMID: 26595397 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.11.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2015] [Revised: 11/04/2015] [Accepted: 11/08/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Ecohydrological models are frequently used to assess the biological integrity of unsampled streams. These models vary in complexity and scale, and their utility depends on their final application. Tradeoffs are usually made in model scale, where large-scale models are useful for determining broad impacts of human activities on biological conditions, and regional-scale (e.g. watershed or ecoregion) models provide stakeholders greater detail at the individual stream reach level. Given these tradeoffs, the objective of this study was to develop large-scale stream health models with reach level accuracy similar to regional-scale models thereby allowing for impacts assessments and improved decision-making capabilities. To accomplish this, four measures of biological integrity (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa (EPT), Family Index of Biotic Integrity (FIBI), Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI), and fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)) were modeled based on four thermal classes (cold, cold-transitional, cool, and warm) of streams that broadly dictate the distribution of aquatic biota in Michigan. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate streamflow and water quality in seven watersheds and the Hydrologic Index Tool was used to calculate 171 ecologically relevant flow regime variables. Unique variables were selected for each thermal class using a Bayesian variable selection method. The variables were then used in development of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) models of EPT, FIBI, HBI, and IBI. ANFIS model accuracy improved when accounting for stream thermal class rather than developing a global model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean A Woznicki
- Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - A Pouyan Nejadhashemi
- Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
| | - Mohammad Abouali
- Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Matthew R Herman
- Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Elaheh Esfahanian
- Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Yaseen A Hamaamin
- Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA; Department of Civil Engineering, University of Sulaimani, Sulaimani, KRG, Iraq
| | - Zhen Zhang
- Physical Sciences Division, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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26
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Stefanidis K, Panagopoulos Y, Mimikou M. Impact assessment of agricultural driven stressors on benthic macroinvertebrates using simulated data. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 540:32-42. [PMID: 26311349 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2015] [Revised: 08/04/2015] [Accepted: 08/04/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Agricultural land use poses a significant threat to the ecological integrity of rivers in Europe. Particularly in the Mediterranean, water abstraction and nutrient application are anthropogenic pressures that have a significant impact on aquatic habitats and biodiversity. In this article, we assessed the effects of agricultural management practices on benthic macroinvertebrates in a large river basin of central Greece using simulated data based on the application of SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool) model. Physicochemical and hydrological output variables of the model were used as predictors of the ASPT (Average Score Per Taxon) metric based on a correlated component regression analysis (CCR) built on empirical data. The estimation of ASPT was performed for the wet and dry seasons within a 20-year period for a total of 47 subbasins under the baseline conditions and after implementing three management scenarios that reduced: a) irrigation water applied to crops by 30%, b) chemical fertilization applied to crops by 30% and c) both irrigation and fertilization by 30%. The results revealed that application of the reduced irrigation resulted to a slight increase of the simulated dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration (DIN), which in turn decreased the mean ASPT in 21 of the 47 subbasins implying a negative effect on the macroinvertebrate communities. On the contrary, the reduction of fertilization as well as the combined scenario decreased both the simulated DIN and phosphate concentration causing an increase of the mean ASPT for a total of 40 of the 47 subbasins. Based on these results, we suggest that the best management option is a combined practice of deficit irrigation and fertilization reduction since it improved water quality, increased ASPT values and saved a considerable amount of water. Overall, this work demonstrates a simple methodology that can efficiently assess the effects of agricultural management practices on biotic indicators.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Stefanidis
- Laboratory of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), 5, Iroon Politechniou Street, 15780 Zografou, Athens, Greece.
| | - Y Panagopoulos
- Laboratory of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), 5, Iroon Politechniou Street, 15780 Zografou, Athens, Greece
| | - M Mimikou
- Laboratory of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), 5, Iroon Politechniou Street, 15780 Zografou, Athens, Greece
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27
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Terrado M, Sabater S, Chaplin-Kramer B, Mandle L, Ziv G, Acuña V. Model development for the assessment of terrestrial and aquatic habitat quality in conservation planning. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 540:63-70. [PMID: 25836757 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.03.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2015] [Revised: 03/17/2015] [Accepted: 03/17/2015] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
There is a growing pressure of human activities on natural habitats, which leads to biodiversity losses. To mitigate the impact of human activities, environmental policies are developed and implemented, but their effects are commonly not well understood because of the lack of tools to predict the effects of conservation policies on habitat quality and/or diversity. We present a straightforward model for the simultaneous assessment of terrestrial and aquatic habitat quality in river basins as a function of land use and anthropogenic threats to habitat that could be applied under different management scenarios to help understand the trade-offs of conservation actions. We modify the InVEST model for the assessment of terrestrial habitat quality and extend it to freshwater habitats. We assess the reliability of the model in a severely impaired basin by comparing modeled results to observed terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity data. Estimated habitat quality is significantly correlated with observed terrestrial vascular plant richness (R(2)=0.76) and diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates (R(2)=0.34), as well as with ecosystem functions such as in-stream phosphorus retention (R(2)=0.45). After that, we analyze different scenarios to assess the suitability of the model to inform changes in habitat quality under different conservation strategies. We believe that the developed model can be useful to assess potential levels of biodiversity, and to support conservation planning given its capacity to forecast the effects of management actions in river basins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Terrado
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Emili Grahit 101, Girona E-17003, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Sergi Sabater
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Emili Grahit 101, Girona E-17003, Catalonia, Spain; Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Girona E-17071, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Becky Chaplin-Kramer
- The Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA.
| | - Lisa Mandle
- The Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA.
| | - Guy Ziv
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.
| | - Vicenç Acuña
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Emili Grahit 101, Girona E-17003, Catalonia, Spain.
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Domisch S, Amatulli G, Jetz W. Near-global freshwater-specific environmental variables for biodiversity analyses in 1 km resolution. Sci Data 2015; 2:150073. [PMID: 26647296 PMCID: PMC4672682 DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2015.73] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2015] [Accepted: 11/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The lack of freshwater-specific environmental information at sufficiently fine spatial grain hampers broad-scale analyses in aquatic biology, biogeography, conservation, and ecology. Here we present a near-global, spatially continuous, and freshwater-specific set of environmental variables in a standardized 1 km grid. We delineate the sub-catchment for each grid cell along the HydroSHEDS river network and summarize the upstream climate, topography, land cover, surface geology and soil to each grid cell using various metrics (average, minimum, maximum, range, sum, inverse distance-weighted average and sum). All variables were subsequently averaged across single lakes and reservoirs of the Global lakes and Wetlands Database that are connected to the river network. Monthly climate variables were summarized into 19 long-term climatic variables following the ‘bioclim’ framework. This new set of variables provides a basis for spatial ecological and biodiversity analyses in freshwater ecosystems at near global extent, yet fine spatial grain. To facilitate the generation of freshwater variables for custom study areas and spatial grains, we provide the ‘r.stream.watersheds’ and ‘r.stream.variables’ add-ons for the GRASS GIS software.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sami Domisch
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Giuseppe Amatulli
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Walter Jetz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
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29
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Leps M, Tonkin JD, Dahm V, Haase P, Sundermann A. Disentangling environmental drivers of benthic invertebrate assemblages: The role of spatial scale and riverscape heterogeneity in a multiple stressor environment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2015; 536:546-556. [PMID: 26245536 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2015] [Revised: 07/17/2015] [Accepted: 07/17/2015] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
It is broadly acknowledged that freshwater ecosystems are affected by multiple stressors, but the relative importance of individual stressors in impairing riverine communities remains unclear. We investigated the impacts of multiple stressors, incorporating in-stream water quality, riparian and catchment land use and stream morphology, on riverine benthic invertebrate communities, while considering the spatial scales of factors and the heterogeneity of riverscapes. We performed a stepwise regression procedure linking 21 abiotic and 20 community metrics using Generalized Linear Models on data from 1018 river sites spread across Germany. High impact stressors (e.g., nutrients and water temperature) were identified for various community metrics. Both the combination of relevant stressors and their explanatory value differed significantly across streams of different sizes and ecoregions. In large rivers, the riparian land use was less important in determining community structure compared to lower order streams. Thus, possible mitigating effects of revegetated riparian buffer strips are likely to be overwhelmed by the influence of catchment-wide land use. Our results indicated substantial variability in stressors for the range of metrics studied, providing insight into potential target parameters for effective ecosystem management. To achieve long lasting successes in managing, protecting and restoring running waters, it is of vital importance to recognize the heterogeneity of riverscapes and to consider large-scale influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Leps
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany.
| | - Jonathan D Tonkin
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany
| | - Veronica Dahm
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Biology, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Universitätsstraße 5, 45141 Essen, Germany
| | - Peter Haase
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany
| | - Andrea Sundermann
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany
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30
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Schmalz B, Kuemmerlen M, Kiesel J, Cai Q, Jähnig SC, Fohrer N. Impacts of land use changes on hydrological components and macroinvertebrate distributions in the Poyang lake area. ECOHYDROLOGY 2015; 8:1119-1136. [DOI: 10.1002/eco.1569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- B. Schmalz
- Department of Hydrology and Water Resources ManagementInstitute for Natural Resource ConservationChristian‐Albrechts‐Universität zu Kiel Olshausenstr. 75 24118 Kiel Germany
| | - M. Kuemmerlen
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK‐F) Senckenberganlage 25 60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany
- Department of River Ecology and ConservationSenckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Clamecystr. 12 63571 Gelnhausen Germany
| | - J. Kiesel
- Department of Hydrology and Water Resources ManagementInstitute for Natural Resource ConservationChristian‐Albrechts‐Universität zu Kiel Olshausenstr. 75 24118 Kiel Germany
| | - Q. Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of HydrobiologyChinese Academy of Sciences 7 Donghu Nanlu Wuhan 430072 China
| | - S. C. Jähnig
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK‐F) Senckenberganlage 25 60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany
- Department of River Ecology and ConservationSenckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Clamecystr. 12 63571 Gelnhausen Germany
- Department of Ecosystem ResearchLeibniz‐Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) Müggelseedamm 301 12587 Berlin Germany
| | - N. Fohrer
- Department of Hydrology and Water Resources ManagementInstitute for Natural Resource ConservationChristian‐Albrechts‐Universität zu Kiel Olshausenstr. 75 24118 Kiel Germany
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31
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Kuemmerlen M, Schmalz B, Cai Q, Haase P, Fohrer N, Jähnig SC. An attack on two fronts: predicting how changes in land use and climate affect the distribution of stream macroinvertebrates. FRESHWATER BIOLOGY 2015; 60:1443-1458. [DOI: 10.1111/fwb.12580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Kuemmerlen
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation; Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt; Gelnhausen Germany
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F); Frankfurt am Main Germany
| | - Britta Schmalz
- Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management; Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel; Kiel Germany
| | - Qinghua Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology; Institute of Hydrobiology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Wuhan China
| | - Peter Haase
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation; Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt; Gelnhausen Germany
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F); Frankfurt am Main Germany
| | - Nicola Fohrer
- Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management; Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel; Kiel Germany
| | - Sonja C. Jähnig
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation; Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt; Gelnhausen Germany
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F); Frankfurt am Main Germany
- Department of Ecosystem Research; Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries; Berlin Germany
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32
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Schmalz B, Zhang Q, Kuemmerlen M, Cai Q, Jähnig S, Fohrer N. Modelling spatial distribution of surface runoff and sediment yield in a Chinese river basin without continuous sediment monitoring. HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL 2015:1-24. [DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2014.967245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
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Tonkin JD, Shah DN, Kuemmerlen M, Li F, Cai Q, Haase P, Jähnig SC. Climatic and Catchment-Scale Predictors of Chinese Stream Insect Richness Differ between Taxonomic Groups. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0123250. [PMID: 25909190 PMCID: PMC4409210 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2014] [Accepted: 02/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Little work has been done on large-scale patterns of stream insect richness in China. We explored the influence of climatic and catchment-scale factors on stream insect (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera; EPT) richness across mid-latitude China. We assessed the predictive ability of climatic, catchment land cover and physical structure variables on genus richness of EPT, both individually and combined, in 80 mid-latitude Chinese streams, spanning a 3899-m altitudinal gradient. We performed analyses using boosted regression trees and explored the nature of their influence on richness patterns. The relative importance of climate, land cover, and physical factors on stream insect richness varied considerably between the three orders, and while important for Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera, latitude did not improve model fit for any of the groups. EPT richness was linked with areas comprising high forest cover, elevation and slope, large catchments and low temperatures. Ephemeroptera favoured areas with high forest cover, medium-to-large catchment sizes, high temperature seasonality, and low potential evapotranspiration. Plecoptera richness was linked with low temperature seasonality and annual mean, and high slope, elevation and warm-season rainfall. Finally, Trichoptera favoured high elevation areas, with high forest cover, and low mean annual temperature, seasonality and aridity. Our findings highlight the variable role that catchment land cover, physical properties and climatic influences have on stream insect richness. This is one of the first studies of its kind in Chinese streams, thus we set the scene for more in-depth assessments of stream insect richness across broader spatial scales in China, but stress the importance of improving data availability and consistency through time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D. Tonkin
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Deep Narayan Shah
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Mathias Kuemmerlen
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Fengqing Li
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Qinghua Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, P.R. China
| | - Peter Haase
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sonja C. Jähnig
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Department of Ecosystem Research, Berlin, Germany
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Chen C, Börnick H, Cai Q, Dai X, Jähnig SC, Kong Y, Krebs P, Kuenzer C, Kunstmann H, Liu Y, Nixdorf E, Pang Z, Rode M, Schueth C, Song Y, Yue T, Zhou K, Zhang J, Kolditz O. Challenges and opportunities of German-Chinese cooperation in water science and technology. ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SCIENCES 2015; 73:4861-4871. [DOI: 10.1007/s12665-015-4149-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
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