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Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, von Schiller D, Pace G, Gómez-Gener L, Pascoal C. Multiple stressors alter greenhouse gas concentrations in streams through local and distal processes. Glob Chang Biol 2024; 30:e17301. [PMID: 38687496 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Streams are significant contributors of greenhouse gases (GHG) to the atmosphere, and the increasing number of stressors degrading freshwaters may exacerbate this process, posing a threat to climatic stability. However, it is unclear whether the influence of multiple stressors on GHG concentrations in streams results from increases of in-situ metabolism (i.e., local processes) or from changes in upstream and terrestrial GHG production (i.e., distal processes). Here, we hypothesize that the mechanisms controlling multiple stressor effects vary between carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), with the latter being more influenced by changes in local stream metabolism, and the former mainly responding to distal processes. To test this hypothesis, we measured stream metabolism and the concentrations of CO2 (pCO2) and CH4 (pCH4) in 50 stream sites that encompass gradients of nutrient enrichment, oxygen depletion, thermal stress, riparian degradation and discharge. Our results indicate that these stressors had additive effects on stream metabolism and GHG concentrations, with stressor interactions explaining limited variance. Nutrient enrichment was associated with higher stream heterotrophy and pCO2, whereas pCH4 increased with oxygen depletion and water temperature. Discharge was positively linked to primary production, respiration and heterotrophy but correlated negatively with pCO2. Our models indicate that CO2-equivalent concentrations can more than double in streams that experience high nutrient enrichment and oxygen depletion, compared to those with oligotrophic and oxic conditions. Structural equation models revealed that the effects of nutrient enrichment and discharge on pCO2 were related to distal processes rather than local metabolism. In contrast, pCH4 responses to nutrient enrichment, discharge and temperature were related to both local metabolism and distal processes. Collectively, our study illustrates potential climatic feedbacks resulting from freshwater degradation and provides insight into the processes mediating stressor impacts on the production of GHG in streams.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel von Schiller
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals (BEECA), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca de l'Aigua (IdRA), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Giorgio Pace
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) / Aquatic Research Network (ARNET), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - Lluís Gómez-Gener
- Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cláudia Pascoal
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) / Aquatic Research Network (ARNET), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
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2
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Lourenço J, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Carvalho F, Cássio F, Pascoal C, Pace G. Non-interactive effects drive multiple stressor impacts on the taxonomic and functional diversity of atlantic stream macroinvertebrates. Environ Res 2023; 229:115965. [PMID: 37105281 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Freshwaters are considered among the most endangered ecosystems globally due to multiple stressors, which coincide in time and space. These local stressors typically result from land-use intensification or hydroclimatic alterations, among others. Despite recent advances on multiple stressor effects, current knowledge is still limited to manipulative approaches minimizing biological and abiotic variability. Thus, the assessment of multiple stressor effects in real-world ecosystems is required. Using an extensive survey of 50 stream reaches across North Portugal, we evaluated taxonomic and functional macroinvertebrate responses to multiple stressors, including marked gradients of nutrient enrichment, flow reduction, riparian vegetation structure, thermal stress and dissolved oxygen depletion. We analyzed multiple stressor effects on two taxonomic (taxon richness, Shannon-diversity) and two trait-based diversity indices (functional richness, functional dispersion), as well as changes in trait composition. We found that multiple stressors had additive effects on all diversity metrics, with nutrient enrichment identified as the most important stressor in three out of four metrics, followed by dissolved oxygen depletion and thermal stress. Taxon richness, Shannon-diversity and functional richness responded similarly, whereas functional dispersion was driven by changes in flow velocity and thermal stress. Functional trait composition changed along a major stress gradient determined by nutrient enrichment and oxygen depletion, which was positively correlated with organisms possessing fast-living strategies, aerial respiration, adult phases, and gathering-collector feeding habits. Overall, our results reinforce the need to consider complementary facets of biodiversity to better identify assembly processes in response to multiple stressors. Our data suggest that stressor interactions may be less frequent in real-word streams than predicted by manipulative experiments, which can facilitate mitigation strategies. By combining an extensive field survey with an integrative consideration of multiple biodiversity facets, our study provides new insights that can help to better assess and manage rivers in a global change context.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Lourenço
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) / Aquatic Research Network (ARNET) Associate Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
| | - C Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/Tulipán s/n, 28933, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain
| | - F Carvalho
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) / Aquatic Research Network (ARNET) Associate Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - F Cássio
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) / Aquatic Research Network (ARNET) Associate Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - C Pascoal
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) / Aquatic Research Network (ARNET) Associate Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - G Pace
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) / Aquatic Research Network (ARNET) Associate Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
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3
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Granados V, Arias-Real R, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Obrador B, Butturini A. Multiple drying aspects shape dissolved organic matter composition in intermittent streams. Sci Total Environ 2022; 852:158376. [PMID: 36049684 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Water availability is a fundamental driver of biogeochemical processing in highly dynamic ecosystems such as intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES), which are recognized as the most common fluvial ecosystem globally. Because of their global extent, IRES have a remarkable contribution to organic matter processing, which is expected to intensify as climate change and water extraction expand IRES extension. Nevertheless, the effect of the complexity of the drying process on river biogeochemistry remains unclear. This study investigated how drying aspects affect the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration and composition in 35 streams along a wide flow-intermittence gradient in the NE Iberian Peninsula. To do that, four drying aspects: annual drying duration, annual frequency, duration of the last drying event, and time since the last drying event were characterized. Results showed that DOC concentration and the contribution of humic-like compounds were positively associated with intensifying drying conditions. In addition, protein-like compounds decreased over the drying gradient. More specifically, changes in DOC concentration were driven mainly by annual drying duration, whereas annual drying frequency and the duration of the last drying event jointly explained dissolved organic matter composition. These results suggest that the quantity and composition of dissolved organic matter in streams respond differently to the temporal aspects of the drying process. Our study can help to better anticipate changes in organic matter in the context of climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica Granados
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rebeca Arias-Real
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Biological Invasions Group, Department of Integrative Ecology, Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), Av. Américo Vespucio, 26, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092 Seville, Spain
| | - Biel Obrador
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Andrea Butturini
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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4
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Laini A, Guareschi S, Bolpagni R, Burgazzi G, Bruno D, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Miranda R, Mondy C, Várbíró G, Cancellario T. biomonitoR: an R package for managing ecological data and calculating biomonitoring indices. PeerJ 2022. [DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The monitoring of biological indicators is required to assess the impacts of environmental policies, compare ecosystems and guide management and conservation actions. However, the growing availability of ecological data has not been accompanied by concomitant processing tools able to facilitate data handling and analysis. Multiple common challenges limit the usefulness of biomonitoring information across ecosystems and biological groups. Biomonitoring data analysis is currently constrained by time-consuming steps for data preparation and a data processing environment with limited integration in terms of software, biological groups, and protocols. We introduce biomonitoR, a package for the R programming language that addresses technical challenges for the management of ecological data and metrics calculation. biomonitoR implements most of the biological indices currently used or proposed in different fields of ecology and water resource management. Its combination of customizable functions aims to support a transferable and comprehensive biomonitoring workflow in a user-friendly environment. biomonitoR represents a versatile toolbox with five main assets: (i) it checks taxonomic information against reference datasets allowing for customization of trait and sensitivity scores; (ii) it supports heterogeneous taxonomic resolution allowing computations at multiple taxonomic levels; (iii) it calculates multiple biological indices, including metrics for both broad and stressor-specific ecological assessments; (iv) it enables user-friendly data visualization, helping both decision-making processes and data interpretation; and (v) it allows working with an interactive web application straight from R. Overall, biomonitoR can benefit the wide biomonitoring community, including environmental private consultants, ecologists and natural resource managers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Laini
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy
| | - Simone Guareschi
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Sevilla, Spain
- Geography and Environment, Loughborough University, Loughborough, United Kingdom
| | - Rossano Bolpagni
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Gemma Burgazzi
- Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany
| | - Daniel Bruno
- Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Zaragoza, Spain
| | | | - Rafael Miranda
- Department of Environmental Biology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Cédric Mondy
- French Agency for Biodiversity (OFB), Vincennes, France
| | - Gábor Várbíró
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Tommaso Cancellario
- Department of Environmental Biology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- Water Research Institute, National Research Council (CNR), Verbania, Italy
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5
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Lupon A, Rodríguez-Lozano P, Bartrons M, Anadon-Rosell A, Batalla M, Bernal S, Bravo AG, Capdevila P, Cañedo-Argüelles M, Catalán N, Genua-Olmedo A, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Feio MJ, Lucati F, Onandia G, Poblador S, Rotchés-Ribalta R, Sala-Bubaré A, Sánchez-Montoya MM, Sebastián M, Zufiaurre A, Pastor A. Towards women-inclusive ecology: Representation, behavior, and perception of women at an international conference. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0260163. [PMID: 34890389 PMCID: PMC8664204 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Conferences are ideal platforms for studying gender gaps in science because they are important cultural events that reflect barriers to women in academia. Here, we explored women’s participation in ecology conferences by analyzing female representation, behavior, and personal experience at the 1st Meeting of the Iberian Society of Ecology (SIBECOL). The conference had 722 attendees, 576 contributions, and 27 scientific sessions. The gender of attendees and presenters was balanced (48/52% women/men), yet only 29% of the contributions had a woman as last author. Moreover, men presented most of the keynote talks (67%) and convened most of the sessions. Our results also showed that only 32% of the questions were asked by women, yet the number of questions raised by women increased when the speaker or the convener was a woman. Finally, the post-conference survey revealed that attendees had a good experience and did not perceive the event as a threatening context for women. Yet, differences in the responses between genders suggest that women tended to have a worse experience than their male counterparts. Although our results showed clear gender biases, most of the participants of the conference failed to detect it. Overall, we highlight the challenge of increasing women’s scientific leadership, visibility and interaction in scientific conferences and we suggest several recommendations for creating inclusive meetings, thereby promoting equal opportunities for all participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Lupon
- Integrative Freshwater Ecology Group, Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Blanes, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Pablo Rodríguez-Lozano
- Department of Geography, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Mireia Bartrons
- Aquatic Ecology Group, University of Vic—Central University of Catalonia (Uvic-UCC), Vic, Spain
| | - Alba Anadon-Rosell
- Landscape Ecology and Ecosystem Dynamics, Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- CREAF, E08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain
| | | | - Susana Bernal
- Integrative Freshwater Ecology Group, Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Blanes, Spain
| | - Andrea G. Bravo
- Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pol Capdevila
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles
- FEHM-Lab, Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Institut de Recerca de l’Aigua (IdRA), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Núria Catalán
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, LSCE, CNRS-UMR 8212, Gif Sur Yvette, France
| | - Ana Genua-Olmedo
- Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | | | - Maria João Feio
- Department of Life Sciences, MARE-Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Federica Lucati
- Integrative Freshwater Ecology Group, Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Blanes, Spain
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gabriela Onandia
- Research Platform Data Analysis and Simulation, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, Germany
| | - Sílvia Poblador
- Plants and Ecosystems (PLECO), Biology Department, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | | | - Anna Sala-Bubaré
- Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sports Sciences Blanquerna, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain
| | - María Mar Sánchez-Montoya
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, International Excellence Campus for Higher Education and Research of the University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
- Department of Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Marta Sebastián
- Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Aitziber Zufiaurre
- CREAF, E08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain
- Área de Biodiversidad, Gestión Ambiental de Navarra-Nafarroako Ingurumen Kudeaketa (GAN-NIK), Pamplona-Iruñea, Navarra
| | - Ada Pastor
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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6
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Sebastián-González E, Morales-Reyes Z, Botella F, Naves-Alegre L, Pérez-García JM, Mateo-Tomás P, Olea PP, Moleón M, Barbosa JM, Hiraldo F, Arrondo E, Donázar JA, Cortés-Avizanda A, Selva N, Lambertucci SA, Bhattacharjee A, Brewer AL, Abernethy EF, Turner KL, Beasley JC, DeVault TL, Gerke HC, Rhodes OE, Ordiz A, Wikenros C, Zimmermann B, Wabakken P, Wilmers CC, Smith JA, Kendall CJ, Ogada D, Frehner E, Allen ML, Wittmer HU, Butler JRA, du Toit JT, Margalida A, Oliva-Vidal P, Wilson D, Jerina K, Krofel M, Kostecke R, Inger R, Per E, Ayhan Y, Sancı M, Yılmazer Ü, Inagaki A, Koike S, Samson A, Perrig PL, Spencer EE, Newsome TM, Heurich M, Anadón JD, Buechley ER, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Elbroch LM, Sánchez-Zapata JA. Functional traits driving species role in the structure of terrestrial vertebrate scavenger networks. Ecology 2021; 102:e03519. [PMID: 34449876 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Species assemblages often have a non-random nested organization, which in vertebrate scavenger (carrion-consuming) assemblages is thought to be driven by facilitation in competitive environments. However, not all scavenger species play the same role in maintaining assemblage structure, as some species are obligate scavengers (i.e., vultures) and others are facultative, scavenging opportunistically. We used a database with 177 vertebrate scavenger species from 53 assemblages in 22 countries across five continents to identify which functional traits of scavenger species are key to maintaining the scavenging network structure. We used network analyses to relate ten traits hypothesized to affect assemblage structure with the "role" of each species in the scavenging assemblage in which it appeared. We characterized the role of a species in terms of both the proportion of monitored carcasses on which that species scavenged, or scavenging breadth (i.e., the species "normalized degree"), and the role of that species in the nested structure of the assemblage (i.e., the species "paired nested degree"), therefore identifying possible facilitative interactions among species. We found that species with high olfactory acuity, social foragers, and obligate scavengers had the widest scavenging breadth. We also found that social foragers had a large paired nested degree in scavenger assemblages, probably because their presence is easier to detect by other species to signal carcass occurrence. Our study highlights differences in the functional roles of scavenger species and can be used to identify key species for targeted conservation to maintain the ecological function of scavenger assemblages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Sebastián-González
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, E-03202, Spain.,Department of Ecology, University of Alicante, Cra. San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, E-03690, Spain
| | - Zebensui Morales-Reyes
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, E-03202, Spain
| | - Francisco Botella
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, E-03202, Spain
| | - Lara Naves-Alegre
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, E-03202, Spain
| | - Juan M Pérez-García
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, E-03202, Spain.,Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Life Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Lleida, E-25002, Spain
| | - Patricia Mateo-Tomás
- Biodiversity Research Institute, University of Oviedo -Spanish National Research Council- Principality of Asturias, Mieres, E-33600, Spain.,Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, Coimbra, 3000-456, Portugal
| | - Pedro P Olea
- Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, E-28049, Spain.,Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, E-28049, Spain
| | - Marcos Moleón
- Department of Zoology, University of Granada, Granada, E-18071, Spain
| | - Jomar Magalhães Barbosa
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, E-03202, Spain
| | - Fernando Hiraldo
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, Seville, E-41092, Spain
| | - Eneko Arrondo
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, E-03202, Spain.,Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, Seville, E-41092, Spain
| | - José A Donázar
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, Seville, E-41092, Spain
| | - Ainara Cortés-Avizanda
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Avd. Americo Vespucio 26, Seville, E-41092, Spain.,Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Seville, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, Seville, E-41012, Spain
| | - Nuria Selva
- Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, PL-31-120, Poland
| | - Sergio A Lambertucci
- Grupo de Investigaciones en Biología de la Conservación, Laboratorio Ecotono, INIBIOMA, CONICET - Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche, 8400, Argentina
| | - Aishwarya Bhattacharjee
- Department of Biology, Queens College, City University of New York, Queens, New York, 10010, USA.,Biology Program, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York, 10010, USA
| | - Alexis L Brewer
- Department of Biology, Queens College, City University of New York, Queens, New York, 10010, USA.,Biology Program, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York, 10010, USA
| | - Erin F Abernethy
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331, USA
| | - Kelsey L Turner
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, 29802, USA
| | - James C Beasley
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, 29802, USA
| | - Travis L DeVault
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, 29802, USA
| | - Hannah C Gerke
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, 29802, USA
| | - Olin E Rhodes
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, 29802, USA
| | - Andrés Ordiz
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, NO-1432, Norway
| | - Camilla Wikenros
- Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Riddarhyttan, 73993, Sweden
| | - Barbara Zimmermann
- Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Evenstad, 2318, Norway
| | - Petter Wabakken
- Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Evenstad, 2318, Norway
| | - Christopher C Wilmers
- Center for Integrated Spatial Research, Environmental Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95064, USA
| | - Justine A Smith
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA
| | - Corinne J Kendall
- North Carolina Zoo, 4401 Zoo Parkway, Asheboro, North Carolina, 27205, USA
| | - Darcy Ogada
- The Peregrine Fund, 5668 Flying Hawk Lane, Boise, Idaho, 83709, USA
| | - Ethan Frehner
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA
| | - Maximilian L Allen
- Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, 61801, USA
| | - Heiko U Wittmer
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand
| | | | - Johan T du Toit
- Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322-5230, USA
| | - Antoni Margalida
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Life Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Lleida, E-25002, Spain.,Institute for Game and Wildlife Research, IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ciudad Real, E-13071, Spain
| | - Pilar Oliva-Vidal
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Life Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Lleida, E-25002, Spain
| | - David Wilson
- The Biodiversity Consultancy, Cambridge, CB2 1SJ, United Kingdom
| | - Klemen Jerina
- Department of Forestry, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SI-1000, Slovenia
| | - Miha Krofel
- Department of Forestry, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SI-1000, Slovenia
| | | | - Richard Inger
- Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, TR10 9FE, United Kingdom
| | - Esra Per
- Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Gazi University, Teknikokullar, Ankara, 06560, Turkey.,DEDE Nature Team, İvedik Organize Sanayi Bölgesi 1122.cad. 1473.Sok. No:4-6-8 Yenimahalle, Ankara, 06374, Turkey
| | - Yunus Ayhan
- DEDE Nature Team, İvedik Organize Sanayi Bölgesi 1122.cad. 1473.Sok. No:4-6-8 Yenimahalle, Ankara, 06374, Turkey
| | - Mehmet Sancı
- DEDE Nature Team, İvedik Organize Sanayi Bölgesi 1122.cad. 1473.Sok. No:4-6-8 Yenimahalle, Ankara, 06374, Turkey
| | - Ünsal Yılmazer
- DEDE Nature Team, İvedik Organize Sanayi Bölgesi 1122.cad. 1473.Sok. No:4-6-8 Yenimahalle, Ankara, 06374, Turkey
| | - Akino Inagaki
- Department of Environment Conservation, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-0054, Japan
| | - Shinsuke Koike
- Department of Environment Conservation, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-0054, Japan
| | - Arockianathan Samson
- Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, Government Arts College, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, 643002, India
| | - Paula L Perrig
- Grupo de Investigaciones en Biología de la Conservación, Laboratorio Ecotono, INIBIOMA, CONICET - Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche, 8400, Argentina.,Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Emma E Spencer
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Thomas M Newsome
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Marco Heurich
- Department of Visitor Management and National Park Monitoring, Bavarian Forest National Park, Freyunger Straße 2, Grafenau, 94481, Germany.,Wildlife Ecology and Management, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Straße 4, Freiburg, 79106, Germany
| | - José D Anadón
- Department of Biology, Queens College, City University of New York, Queens, New York, 10010, USA.,Biology Program, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York, 10010, USA.,Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y el Medio Natural, Universidad de Zaragoza, Huesca, E-50009, Spain
| | - Evan R Buechley
- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, Washington, D.C., 20013, USA.,HawkWatch International, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84106, USA
| | | | - L Mark Elbroch
- Panthera, 8 West 40th Street, New York, New York, 10018, USA
| | - José A Sánchez-Zapata
- Department of Applied Biology, Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, E-03202, Spain
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7
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Pace G, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Henriques R, Boeing F, Cássio F, Pascoal C. Remote sensing depicts riparian vegetation responses to water stress in a humid Atlantic region. Sci Total Environ 2021; 772:145526. [PMID: 33581545 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Revised: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Riparian areas in the Cantabrian Atlantic ecoregion (northwest Portugal) play a key role in soil formation and conservation, regulation of nutrient and water cycle, creation of landscape aesthetic value and the preservation of biodiversity. The maintenance of their ecological integrity is crucial given the ever increase in multiple anthropogenic (water demand and agriculture) and climatic pressures (droughts and extreme events). We developed a transferable remote sensing approach, taking advantage of the latest freely available technologies (Sentinel-2 and Copernicus Land products), to detect intra-annual and inter-annual changes in riparian vegetation productivity at the river basin scale related to water stress. This study has used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to investigate riparian vegetation productivity dynamics on three different vegetation types (coniferous, broadleaved and grassland) over the past 5 years (2015-2019). Our results indicated that inter-annual seasonality differed between drier (2017) and wetter (2016) years. We found that intra-annual dynamics of NDVI were influenced by the longitudinal river zonation. Our model ranked first (r2m = 0.73) showed that the productivity of riparian vegetation during the dry season was positively influenced by annual rainfall and by the type of riparian vegetation. The emergent long lags between climatic variation and riparian plant productivity provides opportunities to forecast early warnings of climatically-driven impacts. In addition, the different average productivity levels among vegetation types should be considered when assessing climatic impacts on riparian vegetation. Future applications of Sentinel 2 products could seek to distinguish riparian areas that are likely to be more vulnerable to changes in the annual water balance from those that are more resistant under longer-term changes in climate.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Pace
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
| | - C Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - R Henriques
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minho, Institute of Earth Sciences (ICT), Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - F Boeing
- Department of Computational Hydrosystems, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany
| | - F Cássio
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - C Pascoal
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
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8
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Spears BM, Chapman DS, Carvalho L, Feld CK, Gessner MO, Piggott JJ, Banin LF, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Solheim AL, Richardson JA, Schinegger R, Segurado P, Thackeray SJ, Birk S. Making waves. Bridging theory and practice towards multiple stressor management in freshwater ecosystems. Water Res 2021; 196:116981. [PMID: 33770676 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.116981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Despite advances in conceptual understanding, single-stressor abatement approaches remain common in the management of fresh waters, even though they can produce unexpected ecological responses when multiple stressors interact. Here we identify limitations restricting the development of multiple-stressor management strategies and address these, bridging theory and practice, within a novel empirical framework. Those critical limitations include that (i) monitoring schemes fall short of accounting for theory on relationships between multiple-stressor interactions and ecological responses, (ii) current empirical modelling approaches neglect the prevalence and intensity of multiple-stressor interactions, and (iii) mechanisms of stressor interactions are often poorly understood. We offer practical recommendations for the use of empirical models and experiments to predict the effects of freshwater degradation in response to changes in multiple stressors, demonstrating this approach in a case study. Drawing on our framework, we offer practical recommendations to support the development of effective management strategies in three general multiple-stressor scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan M Spears
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, UK.
| | - Daniel S Chapman
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, UK; Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
| | | | - Christian K Feld
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Aquatic Ecology and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Mark O Gessner
- Department of Experimental Limnology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Alte Fischerhütte 2, 16775 Stechlin, Germany; Department of Ecology, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), Ernst-Reuter-Platz 1, 10587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jeremy J Piggott
- School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | | | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - Anne Lyche Solheim
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway
| | - Jessica A Richardson
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, UK; UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK
| | - Rafaela Schinegger
- Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria
| | - Pedro Segurado
- Forest Research Centre (CEF), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon. Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
| | | | - Sebastian Birk
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Aquatic Ecology and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, 45117 Essen, Germany
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9
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Sarremejane R, Cid N, Stubbington R, Datry T, Alp M, Cañedo-Argüelles M, Cordero-Rivera A, Csabai Z, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Heino J, Forcellini M, Millán A, Paillex A, Pařil P, Polášek M, Tierno de Figueroa JM, Usseglio-Polatera P, Zamora-Muñoz C, Bonada N. DISPERSE, a trait database to assess the dispersal potential of European aquatic macroinvertebrates. Sci Data 2020; 7:386. [PMID: 33177529 PMCID: PMC7658241 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-020-00732-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Dispersal is an essential process in population and community dynamics, but is difficult to measure in the field. In freshwater ecosystems, information on biological traits related to organisms' morphology, life history and behaviour provides useful dispersal proxies, but information remains scattered or unpublished for many taxa. We compiled information on multiple dispersal-related biological traits of European aquatic macroinvertebrates in a unique resource, the DISPERSE database. DISPERSE includes nine dispersal-related traits subdivided into 39 trait categories for 480 taxa, including Annelida, Mollusca, Platyhelminthes, and Arthropoda such as Crustacea and Insecta, generally at the genus level. Information within DISPERSE can be used to address fundamental research questions in metapopulation ecology, metacommunity ecology, macroecology and evolutionary ecology. Information on dispersal proxies can be applied to improve predictions of ecological responses to global change, and to inform improvements to biomonitoring, conservation and management strategies. The diverse sources used in DISPERSE complement existing trait databases by providing new information on dispersal traits, most of which would not otherwise be accessible to the scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romain Sarremejane
- School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG11 8NS, UK.
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Núria Cid
- INRAE, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS70077, 69626, Villeurbanne, Cedex, France
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Rachel Stubbington
- School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG11 8NS, UK
| | - Thibault Datry
- INRAE, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS70077, 69626, Villeurbanne, Cedex, France
| | - Maria Alp
- INRAE, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS70077, 69626, Villeurbanne, Cedex, France
| | - Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Adolfo Cordero-Rivera
- ECOEVO Lab, E.E. Forestal, Univesidade de Vigo, Campus A Xunqueira, 36005, Pontevedra, Spain
| | - Zoltán Csabai
- Department of Hydrobiology, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6, H7624, Pécs, Hungary
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 61137, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - Jani Heino
- Finnish Environment Institute, Freshwater Centre, Paavo Havaksen Tie 3, FI-90570, Oulu, Finland
| | - Maxence Forcellini
- INRAE, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS70077, 69626, Villeurbanne, Cedex, France
| | - Andrés Millán
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, Biology Faculty, Murcia University, Campus de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain
| | - Amael Paillex
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Sciences, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
- ECOTEC Environment SA, 1203, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Petr Pařil
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 61137, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Marek Polášek
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 61137, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - José Manuel Tierno de Figueroa
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Avenida Fuente Nueva, s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Philippe Usseglio-Polatera
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, UMR 7360, LIEC, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux, F-57070, Metz, France
| | - Carmen Zamora-Muñoz
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Avenida Fuente Nueva, s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Núria Bonada
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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10
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Granados V, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Arias-Real R, Obrador B, Harjung A, Butturini A. The interruption of longitudinal hydrological connectivity causes delayed responses in dissolved organic matter. Sci Total Environ 2020; 713:136619. [PMID: 31958729 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2019] [Revised: 01/07/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Hydrology is the main driver of dissolved organic matter (DOM) dynamics in intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams. However, it is still unclear how the timing and the spatial variation in flow connectivity affect the dynamics of DOM and inorganic solutes. This study focuses on the impact of flow cessation on the temporal and spatial heterogeneity of DOM quantity and quality along an intermittent stream. We monitored a headwater intermittent stream at high spatial and temporal frequencies during a summer drying episode and analysed dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and its spectroscopic properties, inorganic solutes and dissolved CO2. The drying period determined the disruption of the fluvial continuum with a recession of stream continuum at a rate of ~60 m/d and the gradual formation of a patched system of isolated pools of different sizes. Our results showed that the period of time that had elapsed since isolated pool formation (CI-days) was an essential factor for understanding how drying shaped the biogeochemistry of the fluvial system. Overall, drying caused a high DOC concentration and an increase in the humic-like fluorescence signal. Additionally, solutes showed contrasting responses to hydrological disconnection. Electrical conductivity, for instance, is a clear "sentinel" of the fragmentation process because it starts to increase before the hydrological disruption occurs. In contrast, DOC, most spectroscopic DOM descriptors and CO2 showed delayed responses of approximately 5-21 days after the formation of isolated pools. Furthermore, the spatial location and volume of each isolated pool seemed to exert a significant impact on most variables. In contrast, the temperature did not follow a clear pattern. These findings indicate that the fragmentation of longitudinal hydrological connectivity does not induce a single biogeochemical response but rather stimulates a set of solute-specific responses that generates a complex biogeochemical mosaic in a single fluvial unit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica Granados
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal; Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
| | - Rebeca Arias-Real
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Biel Obrador
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Astrid Harjung
- Department of Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Andrea Butturini
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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11
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Moleón M, Sánchez-Zapata JA, Donázar JA, Revilla E, Martín-López B, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Getz WM, Morales-Reyes Z, Campos-Arceiz A, Crowder LB, Galetti M, González-Suárez M, He F, Jordano P, Lewison R, Naidoo R, Owen-Smith N, Selva N, Svenning JC, Tella JL, Zarfl C, Jähnig SC, Hayward MW, Faurby S, García N, Barnosky AD, Tockner K. Rethinking megafauna. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20192643. [PMID: 32126954 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Concern for megafauna is increasing among scientists and non-scientists. Many studies have emphasized that megafauna play prominent ecological roles and provide important ecosystem services to humanity. But, what precisely are 'megafauna'? Here, we critically assess the concept of megafauna and propose a goal-oriented framework for megafaunal research. First, we review definitions of megafauna and analyse associated terminology in the scientific literature. Second, we conduct a survey among ecologists and palaeontologists to assess the species traits used to identify and define megafauna. Our review indicates that definitions are highly dependent on the study ecosystem and research question, and primarily rely on ad hoc size-related criteria. Our survey suggests that body size is crucial, but not necessarily sufficient, for addressing the different applications of the term megafauna. Thus, after discussing the pros and cons of existing definitions, we propose an additional approach by defining two function-oriented megafaunal concepts: 'keystone megafauna' and 'functional megafauna', with its variant 'apex megafauna'. Assessing megafauna from a functional perspective could challenge the perception that there may not be a unifying definition of megafauna that can be applied to all eco-evolutionary narratives. In addition, using functional definitions of megafauna could be especially conducive to cross-disciplinary understanding and cooperation, improvement of conservation policy and practice, and strengthening of public perception. As megafaunal research advances, we encourage scientists to unambiguously define how they use the term 'megafauna' and to present the logic underpinning their definition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcos Moleón
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain.,Department of Zoology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | | | - José A Donázar
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | - Eloy Revilla
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | | | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- FEHM-Lab-IRBIO, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Wayne M Getz
- Department of ESPM, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.,School of Mathematical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | | | - Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz
- School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.,Mindset Interdisciplinary Centre for Environmental Studies, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Larry B Crowder
- Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Standford, CA, USA
| | - Mauro Galetti
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil.,Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
| | - Manuela González-Suárez
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Division, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Fengzhi He
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Pedro Jordano
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | - Rebecca Lewison
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | | | - Norman Owen-Smith
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Nuria Selva
- Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
| | - Jens-Christian Svenning
- Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.,Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Bioscience, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - José L Tella
- Department of Conservation Biology, Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | - Christiane Zarfl
- Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sonja C Jähnig
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany
| | - Matt W Hayward
- College of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, UK.,Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.,Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.,School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
| | - Søren Faurby
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden.,Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Nuria García
- Department of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Paleontology, Quaternary Ecosystems, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Anthony D Barnosky
- Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Klement Tockner
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Austrian Science Fund FWF, Vienna, Austria
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12
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Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Arribas P, Naselli-Flores L, Bennas N, Finocchiaro M, Millán A, Velasco J. Evaluating anthropogenic impacts on naturally stressed ecosystems: Revisiting river classifications and biomonitoring metrics along salinity gradients. Sci Total Environ 2019; 658:912-921. [PMID: 30583186 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Revised: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 12/16/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Naturally stressed ecosystems hold a unique fraction of biodiversity. However, they have been largely ignored in biomonitoring and conservation programmes, such as the EU Water Framework Directive, while global change pressures are threatening their singular values. Here we present a framework to classify and evaluate the ecological quality of naturally stressed rivers along a water salinity gradient. We gathered datasets, including aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages and environmental information, for 243 river locations across the western Mediterranean to: a) gauge the role of natural stressors (salinity) in driving aquatic community richness and composition; b) make river classifications by encompassing the wide range of environmental and biological variation exhibited by Mediterranean rivers; c) provide effective biomonitoring metrics of ecological quality for saline rivers. Our results showed that water salinity played a pivotal role in explaining the community richness and compositional changes in rivers, even when considering other key and commonly used descriptors, such as elevation, climate or lithology. Both environmental and biologically-based classifications included seven river types: three types of freshwater perennial rivers, one freshwater intermittent river type and three new saline river types. These new saline types were not included in previous classifications. Their validation by independent datasets showed that the saline and freshwater river types represented differentiable macroinvertebrate assemblages at family and species levels. Biomonitoring metrics based on the abundance of indicator taxa of each saline river type provided a much better assessment of the ecological quality of saline rivers than other widely used biological metrics and indices. Here we demonstrate that considering natural stressors, such as water salinity, is essential to design effective and accurate biomonitoring programmes for rivers and to preserve their unique biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Paula Arribas
- Grupo de Ecología y Evolución en islas, Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología, IPNA-CSIC, Av. Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, 3, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
| | - Luigi Naselli-Flores
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Sezione di Botanica e Ecologia Vegetale, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Nard Bennas
- Laboratoire "Ecologie, Biodiversité et Environnement", Département de Biologie, Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Tétouan, Morocco.
| | | | - Andrés Millán
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
| | - Josefa Velasco
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
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13
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Arribas P, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Botella-Cruz M, Cañedo-Argüelles M, Antonio Carbonell J, Millán A, Pallarés S, Velasco J, Sánchez-Fernández D. Insect communities in saline waters consist of realized but not fundamental niche specialists. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 374:rstb.2018.0008. [PMID: 30509910 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Considering how organisms adapt to stress is essential if we are to anticipate biological responses to global change in ecosystems. Communities in stressful environments can potentially be assembled by specialists (i.e. species that only occur in a limited range of environmental conditions) and/or generalist species with wider environmental tolerances. We review the existing literature on the salinity tolerance of aquatic insects previously identified as saline specialists because they were exclusively found in saline habitats, and explore if these saline realized niche specialists are also specialists in their fundamental niches or on the contrary are fundamental niche generalist species confined to the highest salinities they can tolerate. The results suggest that species inhabiting saline waters are generalists in their fundamental niches, with a predominant pattern of high survival in freshwater-low salinity conditions, where their fitness tends to be similar or even higher than in saline waters. Additionally, their performance in freshwater tends to be similar to related strictly freshwater species, so no apparent trade-off of generalization is shown. These results are discussed in the framework of the ecological and evolutionary processes driving community assembly across the osmotic stress gradient, and their potential implications for predicting impacts from saline dilution and freshwater salinization.This article is part of the theme issue 'Salt in freshwaters: causes, ecological consequences and future prospects'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Arribas
- Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología (IPNA-CSIC), 38206 La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - María Botella-Cruz
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM-LAB), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de l'Aigua (IdRA), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | | | - Andrés Millán
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Susana Pallarés
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales (ICAM), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain
| | - Josefa Velasco
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - David Sánchez-Fernández
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain .,Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales (ICAM), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain
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14
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Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Sánchez-Fernández D, Cañedo-Argüelles M, Millán A, Velasco J, Acosta R, Fortuño P, Otero N, Soler A, Bonada N. Do all roads lead to Rome? Exploring community trajectories in response to anthropogenic salinization and dilution of rivers. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 374:rstb.2018.0009. [PMID: 30509911 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abiotic stress shapes how communities assemble and support ecological functions. However, it remains unclear whether artificially increasing or decreasing stress levels would lead to communities assembling predictably along a single axis of variation or along multiple context-dependent trajectories of change. In response to stress intensity alterations, we hypothesize that a single trajectory of change occurs when trait-based assembly prevails, while multiple trajectories of change arise when dispersal-related processes modify colonization and trait-filtering dynamics. Here, we tested these hypotheses using aquatic macroinvertebrates from rivers exposed to gradients of natural salinity and artificially diluted or salinized ion contents. Our results showed that trait-filtering was important in driving community assembly in natural and diluted rivers, while dispersal-related processes seemed to play a relevant role in response to salinization. Salinized rivers showed novel communities with different trait composition, while natural and diluted communities exhibited similar taxonomic and trait compositional patterns along the conductivity gradient. Our findings suggest that the artificial modification of chemical stressors can result in different biological communities, depending on the direction of the change (salinization or dilution), with trait-filtering, and organism dispersal and colonization dynamics having differential roles in community assembly. The approach presented here provides both empirical and conceptual insights that can help in anticipating the ecological effects of global change, especially for those stressors with both natural and anthropogenic origins.This article is part of the theme issue 'Salt in freshwaters: causes, ecological consequences and future prospects'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM-Lab), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain .,Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - David Sánchez-Fernández
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales (ICAM), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain.,Departmento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM-Lab), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,Institut de Recerca de l'Aigua (IdRA), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Andrés Millán
- Departmento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Josefa Velasco
- Departmento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Raúl Acosta
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM-Lab), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,Institut de Recerca de l'Aigua (IdRA), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Pau Fortuño
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM-Lab), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Neus Otero
- Grup de recerca MAiMA, Departament de Mineralogia, Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada, Facultat de Ciéncies de la Terra), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Albert Soler
- Grup de recerca MAiMA, Departament de Mineralogia, Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada, Facultat de Ciéncies de la Terra), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Núria Bonada
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM-Lab), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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15
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Velasco J, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Botella-Cruz M, Sánchez-Fernández D, Arribas P, Carbonell JA, Millán A, Pallarés S. Effects of salinity changes on aquatic organisms in a multiple stressor context. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 374:20180011. [PMID: 30509913 PMCID: PMC6283958 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Under global change, the ion concentration of aquatic ecosystems is changing worldwide. Many freshwater ecosystems are being salinized by anthropogenic salt inputs, whereas many naturally saline ones are being diluted by agricultural drainages. This occurs concomitantly with changes in other stressors, which can result in additive, antagonistic or synergistic effects on organisms. We reviewed experimental studies that manipulated salinity and other abiotic stressors, on inland and transitional aquatic habitats, to (i) synthesize their main effects on organisms' performance, (ii) quantify the frequency of joint effect types across studies and (iii) determine the overall individual and joint effects and their variation among salinity-stressor pairs and organism groups using meta-analyses. Additive effects were slightly more frequent (54%) than non-additive ones (46%) across all the studies (n = 105 responses). However, antagonistic effects were dominant for the stressor pair salinity and toxicants (44%, n = 43), transitional habitats (48%, n = 31) and vertebrates (71%, n = 21). Meta-analyses showed detrimental additive joint effects of salinity and other stressors on organism performance and a greater individual impact of salinity than the other stressors. These results were consistent across stressor pairs and organism types. These findings suggest that strategies to mitigate multiple stressor impacts on aquatic ecosystems should prioritize restoring natural salinity concentrations.This article is part of the theme issue 'Salt in freshwaters: causes, ecological consequences and future prospects'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josefa Velasco
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Grup de Recerca Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - María Botella-Cruz
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - David Sánchez-Fernández
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales (ICAM), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain
| | - Paula Arribas
- Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología (IPNA-CSIC), c/Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 3, 38206 La Laguna, Islas Canarias, Spain
| | | | - Andrés Millán
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Susana Pallarés
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales (ICAM), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain
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Feld CK, Fernandes MR, Ferreira MT, Hering D, Ormerod SJ, Venohr M, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C. Evaluating riparian solutions to multiple stressor problems in river ecosystems - A conceptual study. Water Res 2018; 139:381-394. [PMID: 29673937 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Revised: 03/22/2018] [Accepted: 04/06/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Rivers are among the most sensitive of all ecosystems to the effects of global change, but options to prevent, mitigate or restore ecosystem damage are still inadequately understood. Riparian buffers are widely advocated as a cost-effective option to manage impacts, but empirical evidence is yet to identify ideal riparian features (e.g. width, length and density) which enhance ecological integrity and protect ecosystem services in the face of catchment-scale stressors. Here, we use an extensive literature review to synthesise evidence on riparian buffer and catchment management effects on instream environmental conditions (e.g. nutrients, fine sediments, organic matter), river organisms and ecosystem functions. We offer a conceptual model of the mechanisms through which catchment or riparian management might impact streams either positively or negatively. The model distinguishes scale-independent benefits (shade, thermal damping, organic matter and large wood inputs) that arise from riparian buffer management at any scale from scale-dependent benefits (nutrient or fine sediment retention) that reflect stressor conditions at broader (sub-catchment to catchment) scales. The latter require concerted management efforts over equally large domains of scale (e.g. riparian buffers combined with nutrient restrictions). The evidence of the relationships between riparian configuration (width, length, zonation, density) and scale-independent benefits is consistent, suggesting a high certainty of the effects. In contrast, scale-dependent effects as well as the biological responses to riparian management are more uncertain, suggesting that ongoing diffuse pollution (nutrients, sediments), but also sources of variability (e.g. hydrology, climate) at broader scales may interfere with the effects of local riparian management. Without concerted management across relevant scales, full biological recovery of damaged lotic ecosystems is unlikely. There is, nevertheless, sufficient evidence that the benefits of riparian buffers outweigh potential adverse effects, in particular if located in the upstream part of the stream network. This supports the use of riparian restoration as a no-regrets management option to improve and sustain lotic ecosystem functioning and biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian K Feld
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Biology-Department of Aquatic Ecology and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, 45117 Essen, Germany.
| | - Maria Rosário Fernandes
- Forest Research Centre (CEF), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Maria Teresa Ferreira
- Forest Research Centre (CEF), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Daniel Hering
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Biology-Department of Aquatic Ecology and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Steve J Ormerod
- Cardiff University, Water Research Institute, Biosi 2 (Room 6.04), Cardiff, CF10 3AX, United Kingdom
| | - Markus Venohr
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Department of Ecosystem Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Str. 7, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Cardiff University, Water Research Institute, Biosi 2 (Room 6.04), Cardiff, CF10 3AX, United Kingdom; University of Barcelona, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, FEM Research Group-IRBIO, Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
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17
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Herrero A, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Vigiak O, Lutz S, Kumar R, Gampe D, Huber-García V, Ludwig R, Batalla R, Sabater S. Multiple stressor effects on biological quality elements in the Ebro River: Present diagnosis and predicted responses. Sci Total Environ 2018; 630:1608-1618. [PMID: 29554777 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2017] [Revised: 02/02/2018] [Accepted: 02/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Multiple abiotic stressors affect the ecological status of water bodies. The status of waterbodies in the Ebro catchment (NE Spain) is evaluated using the biological quality elements (BQEs) of diatoms, invertebrates and macrophytes. The multi-stressor influence on the three BQEs was evaluated using the monitoring dataset available from the catchment water authority. Nutrient concentrations, especially total phosphorus (TP), affected most of the analyzed BQEs, while changes in mean discharge, water temperature, or river morphology did not show significant influences. Linear statistical models were used to evaluate the change of water bodies' ecological status under different combinations of future socioeconomic and climate scenarios. Changes in land use, rainfall, water temperature, mean discharge, TP and nitrate concentrations were modeled according to the future scenarios. These revealed an evolution of the abiotic stressors that could lead to a general decrease in the ecosystem quality of water bodies within the Ebro catchment. This deterioration was especially evidenced on the diatoms and invertebrate biological indices, mainly because of the foreseen increase in TP concentrations. Water bodies located in the headwaters were seen as the most sensitive to future changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Herrero
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), H(2)O Building, C/Emili Grahit, 101, 17003 Girona, Spain; Fluvial Dynamics Research Group (RIUS), University of Lleida, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Freshwater Ecology and Management group, Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Olga Vigiak
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Directorate D - Sustainable Resources, Ispra, Italy; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Department of Geography, Munich, Germany
| | - Stefanie Lutz
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department Catchment Hydrology, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Rohini Kumar
- UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Computational Hydrosystems, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - David Gampe
- Department of Geography, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Ralf Ludwig
- Department of Geography, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
| | - Ramon Batalla
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), H(2)O Building, C/Emili Grahit, 101, 17003 Girona, Spain; Fluvial Dynamics Research Group (RIUS), University of Lleida, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain; Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Sergi Sabater
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), H(2)O Building, C/Emili Grahit, 101, 17003 Girona, Spain; GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain
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18
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Bussi G, Whitehead PG, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Ledesma JLJ, Ormerod SJ, Couture RM. Modelling the effects of climate and land-use change on the hydrochemistry and ecology of the River Wye (Wales). Sci Total Environ 2018; 627:733-743. [PMID: 29426198 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2017] [Revised: 12/27/2017] [Accepted: 01/28/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Interactions between climate change and land use change might have substantial effects on aquatic ecosystems, but are still poorly understood. Using the Welsh River Wye as a case study, we linked models of water quality (Integrated Catchment - INCA) and climate (GFDL - Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and IPSL - Institut Pierre Simon Laplace) under greenhouse gas scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) to drive a bespoke ecosystem model that simulated the responses of aquatic organisms. The potential effects of economic and social development were also investigated using scenarios from the EU MARS project (Managing Aquatic Ecosystems and Water Resources under Multiple Stress). Longitudinal position along the river mediated response to increasing anthropogenic pressures. Upland locations appeared particularly sensitive to nutrient enrichment or potential re-acidification compared to lowland environments which are already eutrophic. These results can guide attempts to mitigate future impacts and reiterate the need for sensitive land management in upland, temperate environments which are likely to become increasingly important to water supply and biodiversity conservation as the effects of climate change intensify.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianbattista Bussi
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK.
| | - Paul G Whitehead
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Catchment Research Group, Cardiff University, School of Biosciences, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK; Freshwater Ecology and Management Group, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), University of Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - José L J Ledesma
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjelms väg 9, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Steve J Ormerod
- Catchment Research Group, Cardiff University, School of Biosciences, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
| | - Raoul-Marie Couture
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Gaustadalléen 21, Oslo 0349, Norway; Ecohydrology Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo G1S1W2, Canada
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19
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Feld CK, Segurado P, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C. Analysing the impact of multiple stressors in aquatic biomonitoring data: A 'cookbook' with applications in R. Sci Total Environ 2016; 573:1320-1339. [PMID: 27499499 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2016] [Revised: 06/29/2016] [Accepted: 06/29/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Multiple stressors threaten biodiversity and ecosystem integrity, imposing new challenges to ecosystem management and restoration. Ecosystem managers are required to address and mitigate the impact of multiple stressors, yet the knowledge required to disentangle multiple-stressor effects is still incomplete. Experimental studies have advanced the understanding of single and combined stressor effects, but there is a lack of a robust analytical framework, to address the impact of multiple stressors based on monitoring data. Since 2000, the monitoring of Europe's waters has resulted in a vast amount of biological and environmental (stressor) data of about 120,000 water bodies. For many reasons, this data is rarely exploited in the multiple-stressor context, probably because of its rather heterogeneous nature: stressors vary and are mixed with broad-scale proxies of environmental stress (e.g. land cover), missing values and zero-inflated data limit the application of statistical methods and biological indicators are often aggregated (e.g. taxon richness) and do not respond stressor-specific. Here, we present a 'cookbook' to analyse the biological response to multiple stressors using data from biomonitoring schemes. Our 'cookbook' includes guidance for the analytical process and the interpretation of results. The 'cookbook' is accompanied by scripts, which allow the user to run a stepwise analysis based on his/her own data in R, an open-source language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. Using simulated and real data, we show that the recommended procedure is capable of identifying stressor hierarchy (importance) and interaction in large datasets. We recommend a minimum number of 150 independent observations and a minimum stressor gradient length of 75% (of the most relevant stressor's gradient in nature), to be able to reliably rank the stressor's importance, detect relevant interactions and estimate their standardised effect size. We conclude with a brief discussion of the advantages and limitations of this protocol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian K Feld
- Aquatic Ecology and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, University Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany.
| | - Pedro Segurado
- Forest Research Centre (CEF), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal.
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Catchment Research Group, Cardiff University, School of Biosciences, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK.
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20
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Bruno D, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Velasco J, Sánchez-Fernández D. Functional redundancy as a tool for bioassessment: A test using riparian vegetation. Sci Total Environ 2016; 566-567:1268-1276. [PMID: 27277207 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2016] [Revised: 05/25/2016] [Accepted: 05/26/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
There is an urgent need to track how natural systems are responding to global change in order to better guide management efforts. Traditionally, taxonomically based metrics have been used as indicators of ecosystem integrity and conservation status. However, functional approaches offer promising advantages that can improve bioassessment performance. In this study, we aim to test the applicability of functional redundancy (FR), a functional feature related to the stability, resistance and resilience of ecosystems, as a tool for bioassessment, looking at woody riparian communities in particular. We used linear mixed-effect models to investigate the response of FR and other traditional biomonitoring indices to natural (drought duration) and anthropogenic stress gradients (flow regulation and agriculture) in a Mediterranean basin. Such indices include species richness, a taxonomic index, and the Riparian Quality Index, which is an index of ecological status. Then, we explored the ability of FR and the other indices to discriminate between different intensities of human alteration. FR showed higher explanatory capacity in response to multiple stressors, although we found significant negative relationships between all the biological indices (taxonomic, functional and ecological quality) and stress gradients. In addition, FR was the most accurate index to discriminate among different categories of human alteration in both perennial and intermittent river reaches, which allowed us to set threshold values to identify undisturbed (reference condition), moderately disturbed and highly disturbed reaches in the two types of river. Using these thresholds and the best-fitting model, we generated a map of human impact on the functional redundancy of riparian communities for all the stretches of the river network. Our results demonstrate that FR presents clear advantages over traditional methods, which suggests that it should be part of the biomonitoring toolbox used for environmental management so as to obtain better predictions of ecosystem response to environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Bruno
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Facultad de Biología, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Regional 'Campus Mare Nostrum', 30100 Murcia, Spain.
| | - C Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Facultad de Biología, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Regional 'Campus Mare Nostrum', 30100 Murcia, Spain; Catchment Research Group, Cardiff University, School of Biosciences, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
| | - J Velasco
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Facultad de Biología, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Regional 'Campus Mare Nostrum', 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - D Sánchez-Fernández
- Departamento de Ecología de Humedales, Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), C/ Americo Vespucio, s/n, 41092, Isla de la Cartuja, Sevilla, Spain; Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Tecnológico de la Fábrica de Armas, Toledo 45071, Spain
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21
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Bruno D, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Sánchez-Fernández D, Velasco J, Nilsson C. Impacts of environmental filters on functional redundancy in riparian vegetation. J Appl Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Bruno
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología; Facultad de Biología; Universidad de Murcia; Campus de Excelencia Internacional Regional ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’ 30100 Murcia Spain
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología; Facultad de Biología; Universidad de Murcia; Campus de Excelencia Internacional Regional ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’ 30100 Murcia Spain
- Catchment Research Group; School of Biosciences; Cardiff University; The Sir Martin Evans Building Museum Avenue Cardiff CF10 3AX UK
| | - David Sánchez-Fernández
- Departamento de Ecología de Humedales; Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC); Av. Américo Vespuccio 41092 Sevilla Spain
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (IBE, CSIC-UPF); Passeig marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49 08003 Barcelona Spain
| | - Josefa Velasco
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología; Facultad de Biología; Universidad de Murcia; Campus de Excelencia Internacional Regional ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’ 30100 Murcia Spain
| | - Christer Nilsson
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Landscape Ecology Group; Umeå University; SE-901 87 Umeå Sweden
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Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Sánchez-Fernández D, Velasco J, Millan A, Bonada N. Similarity in the difference: changes in community functional features along natural and anthropogenic stress gradients. Ecology 2015; 96:2458-66. [PMID: 26594702 DOI: 10.1890/14-1447.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The effect of stressors on biodiversity can vary in relation to the degree to which biological communities have adapted over evolutionary time. We compared the responses of functional features of stream insect communities along chronic stress gradients with contrasting time persistence. Water salinity and land use intensification were used as examples of natural (long-term persistent) and anthropogenic (short-term persistent) stressors, respectively. A new trait-based approach was applied to quantify functional diversity components and functional redundancy within the same multidimensional space, using metrics at the taxon and community levels. We found similar functional responses along natural and anthropogenic stress gradients. In both cases, the mean taxon functional richness and functional similarity between taxa increased with stress, whereas community functional richness and functional redundancy decreased. Despite the differences in evolutionary persistence, both chronic stressors act as strong nonrandom environmental filters, producing convergent functional responses. These results can improve our ability to predict functional effects of novel stressors at ecoloiical and evolutionary scales.
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23
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Cañedo-Argüelles M, Bundschuh M, Gutiérrez-Cánovas C, Kefford BJ, Prat N, Trobajo R, Schäfer RB. Effects of repeated salt pulses on ecosystem structure and functions in a stream mesocosm. Sci Total Environ 2014; 476-477:634-42. [PMID: 24503334 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.12.067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2013] [Revised: 12/16/2013] [Accepted: 12/17/2013] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Rivers and streams affected by mining activities often receive short-term sharp salinity increases due to water-soluble stockpiled materials being washed into receiving water bodies. We conducted a mesocosm study to explore the response of structural (diatom and stream invertebrate communities) and functional descriptors (chlorophyll a concentration, fungal biomass and leaf decomposition) to repeated short salinity pulses (3h of duration, with nominal electrical conductivities of 5, 10 and 15 mS cm(-1)), mimicking the exposure pattern occurring at salt-mine affected rivers. The experiment was conducted in 12 artificial flow-through stream systems over 16 days. The effect of the salt pulses on the ecosystem structure and functioning did not fully match most of our initial hypotheses, with the community response being weaker than predicted. The diatom community was, however, dominated by salt-tolerant species throughout the experiment, showing no consistent response to the treatment. The invertebrate response was associated with statistically significant changes in community structure (i.e. abundance of the different taxa) but no statistically significant changes in taxa richness. The salt pulses affected some functional descriptors of the ecosystem: fungal biomass exhibited a unimodal response to treatment magnitude, algal growth (i.e. chl a biomass) was hampered with increasing conductivity and leaf decomposition was significantly reduced in the high treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles
- Freshwater Ecology and Management (F.E.M.) research group, Departament d'Ecologia, Universitat Barcelona, Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Lytle Lab, Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
| | - Mirco Bundschuh
- Functional Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstrasse 7, D-76829 Landau, Germany; Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Cayetano Gutiérrez-Cánovas
- Aquatic Ecology Group, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Regional "Campus Mare Nostrum", Spain
| | - Ben J Kefford
- Institute of Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Narcís Prat
- Freshwater Ecology and Management (F.E.M.) research group, Departament d'Ecologia, Universitat Barcelona, Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Rosa Trobajo
- Aquatic Ecosystems, Institute for Food and Agricultural Research & Technology (IRTA), Ctra de Poble Nou, Km 5.5, 43540 Sant Carles de la Rapita, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Ralf B Schäfer
- Quantitative Landscape Ecology, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau, Germany
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