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More frequent and more severe forest fires mean more severely burned wood in streams. Instream wood provides habitat complexity, alters geomorphology, retains organic and inorganic material, promotes hyporheic flow and acts as substrate for biofilm and invertebrates. However, little is known about instream wood functions in fire‐prone biomes and how they combine with wood burning levels to guide postfire management efforts.Over 3 years, we tracked instream wood following forest fires in central Portugal. We examined for the first time the influence of burning level, season and a large suite of driving factors on the likelihood of four different functions having primary ecological consequences—retention of organic matter, serving as substrate for aquatic biota, being key pieces forming wood jams and deflecting flow including pool habitat formation.One of the main ecological functions of wood in rivers is to provide substrate for vegetation, periphyton, biofilm and oviposition. Our results show that this can be negatively affected when the wood is severely burned.Except for jam formation, the probability of each stream wood function changed markedly with season and the probability of non‐function was nearly twice as high in the Euro‐Mediterranean dry season than in the wet season.More anchored and decayed wood increased the probability of all functions, whereas the effect of submergence depended on the function. Challenging the 'size paradigm' that larger sized pieces provide more function, our data suggest that the effect of size is function‐specific.Synthesis and applications. We show how postfire stream restoration success can be maximized by selecting the most appropriate wood and taking advantage of attribute‐function relationships. We urge managers to refrain from removing wood or to selectively remove the most severely carbonized only, allowing the persistence of great potential to provide substrate for stream biota. The non‐attraction of severely burned wood as substrate can be compensated for by other wood with attributes enhancing this function, such as wood deeper within the bankfull area, and with large diameters. These results will help to inform successful management, as is increasingly asked from restoration ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drying in alpine streams might decrease aquatic-terrestrial trophic linkages by reducing terrestrial predation on aquatic prey. We tested this hypothesis by investigating whether a common riparian predator (hunting spiders) in alpine environments assimilated a lower proportion of aquatic prey with increasing stream intermittency. We used high temporal-resolution data from electrical resistance sensors to map patterns of naturally-occurring flow intermittency across 30 headwater streams of Val Roseg, a glacierized catchment in the Swiss Alps. We collected riparian hunting spiders, as well as potential terrestrial and aquatic macroinvertebrate prey, from streams and their associated riparian zones across two seasons (Alpine spring and summer). We estimated aquatic contributions to spider diets (pA) using (i) a gradient approach with aquatic invertebrate and spider carbon stable isotope ratio values (δ13C), and (ii) Bayesian carbon and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope mixing models. Spider pA from the gradient method were not statistically different from zero in spring (0.08 ± 0.10) and low in summer (0.16 ± 0.04). Mixing models also estimated low dependence on aquatic prey in both seasons, although with potentially higher contributions in summer. Spider diet did not vary with increasing flow intermittency in either season. Our results suggested that alpine hunting spiders obtain most of their carbon from terrestrial prey. The slight increase in spider pA during summer may correlate with peak emergence periods for aquatic insects, indicating opportunistic feeding by this riparian predator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Removal of lateral constraints to restore rivers has become increasingly common in river resource management, but little is known how the interaction of de-channelization with flow influences ecosystem structure and function. We evaluated the ecosystem effects of river widening to improve sediment relations in the Thur River, Switzerland, 12 years after implementation. We tested if restored and non-restored reaches differed in water physico-chemistry, hyporheic function, primary production, and macroinvertebrate density and composition in relation to the flow regime. Our results showed that (i) spatio-temporal variation in sediment respiration and macroinvertebrate taxonomic richness were driven by interactions between restoration and flow; (ii) riverbed conditions including substrate size, organic matter content, and groundwater–surface water exchange changed due to restoration, but (iii) physico-chemistry, hydraulic conditions, and primary production were not altered by restoration. Importantly, our study revealed that abiotic conditions, except channel morphology, changed only marginally, whereas other ecosystem attributes responded markedly to changes in flow-restoration interactions. These results highlight integrating a more holistic ecosystem perspective in the design and monitoring of restoration projects such as river widening in resource management, preferably in relation to flow-sediment regimes and interactions with the biotic components of the ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aim: Theory and experiments strongly support the importance of interactive effects of multiple factors shaping biodiversity, although their importance rarely has been investigated at biogeographically relevant scales. In particular, the importance of higher order interactions among environmental factors at such scales is largely unknown. We investigated higher order interactions of environmental factors to explain diversity patterns in a metacommunity of aquatic invertebrates at a biogeographically relevant scale and discuss the findings in an environmental management context. Location: All major drainage basins in Switzerland (Rhine, Rhone, Ticino and Inn; 41,285 km2). Methods: Riverine α‐diversity patterns at two taxonomic levels (family richness of all benthic macroinvertebrates and species richness of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) were examined at 518 sites across the basins. We applied a novel machine learning technique to detect key three‐way interactions of explanatory variables by comparing the relative importance of 1,140 three‐way combinations for family richness and 680 three‐way combinations for species richness. Results: Relatively few but important three‐way interactions were meaningful for predicting biodiversity patterns among the numerous possible combinations. Specifically, we found that interactions among elevational gradient, prevalence of forest coverage in the upstream basin and biogeoclimatic regional classification were distinctly important. Main conclusion: Our results indicated that a high prevalence of terrestrial forest generally sustains riverine benthic macroinvertebrate diversity, but this relationship varies considerably with biogeoclimatic and elevational conditions likely due to community composition of forests and macroinvertebrates changing along climatic and geographical gradients. An adequate management of riverine ecosystems at relevant biogeographical scales requires the identification of such interactions and a context‐dependent implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow regime is a major determinant of the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. Under climate change, flow intermittency is becoming more prevalent in glaciated alpine catchments, but the effects of increasing dryness on aquatic biodiversity remain largely unknown.We characterised flow intermittency patterns in 30 streams of a glaciated alpine catchment over 15 months and separated these streams into four intermittency categories: perennial streams, winter‐drying streams, moderately intermittent streams with occasional drying in summer, and periodically intermittent streams with extensive dry periods throughout the year. We then examined how these drying patterns affected structural and functional properties of benthic macroinvertebrate communities, and whether these changes were primarily deterministic or stochastic.At the taxonomic level, we observed a response at the highest intermittency levels, with α diversity lower and β diversity higher in periodically intermittent streams than in other stream types. This result suggested that local biota were well adapted to intermediate intermittency levels (mostly during winter) but not to high intermittency during summer. In contrast, functional diversity indices at the α and β levels (based on trait abundances) did not differ across intermittency categories. Considering the moderate level of functional redundancy, we interpreted this as an indication that changes in taxonomic diversity may have resulted primarily from stochastic processes.Analysis of community and trait composition indicated that deterministic selection may indeed have occurred with increased intermittency, but this process was likely to be minor in comparison to stochastic extinctions. Notably, community evenness was highest in periodically intermittent streams and lowest in perennial streams, suggesting that frequent drying prevented competitive exclusion.Our results suggested that most macroinvertebrate populations are resilient to intermediate intermittency levels but are filtered at high intermittency, irrespective of their resilience capacities. However, more research is needed to clarify the specific roles of different facets of flow regimes, specifically frequency, duration, and timing of intermittency. Understanding the consequences of responses in diversity and community evenness with increasing intermittency on the functional properties of communities will allow better prediction of the future ecological status of alpine stream networks to ongoing environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cirque comprises two main drainage basins differing in the physico-chemistry of surface waters. • Reduced rock glacier inputs in one basin caused basin waters to become more similar over the study period (2001–2020). • Periphyton biomass decreased twofold from Pre-2010 to Post-2010 in the catchment. • Diatom assemblages differed between basins, reflecting differences in surface water physico-chemistry. • Diatom composition shifted Post-2010, suggesting a tipping point occurred in the system in response to changes in environmental conditions. In this study, we monitored diatom assemblages at various sites along a stream-lake network draining a glaciated alpine cirque landscape (2600 m asl) in the Swiss National Park over 19 years (2001–2020). The primary goal of this study was to examine the long-term changes in diatom assemblages in the running waters at high-elevation influenced by rock glaciers, and particularly the use of diatoms as indicators of environmental change. Because streams in the catchment are interconnected with lakes, another objective was to compare diatom assemblages between lake inlets and lake outlets as well as along the chain of lakes. The Macun cirque comprises two main drainage basins with one influenced by waters from rock glaciers. Lakes are interconnected by stream segments in both basins before merging at an outflow lake. We expected changes in diatom assemblages would reflect changes in long-term physico-chemistry of surface waters between basins, between lake inlets and outlets, and along lake chains. The novelty of this work is that covers a unique heterogeneous aquatic environment in the Alps affected by climate change, an area where the temperature has increased over twofold more than other regions in the northern hemisphere. This long-term study provides the opportunity of forecasting how other alpine freshwater ecosystems globally may change in the future. We combined a classical taxonomic approach and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) along with physico-chemical data across a broad spatio-temporal scale. Diatom assemblages showed distinct spatial differences between basins, reflecting basin-wide differences in water physico-chemistry. Diatoms in both basins displayed a major temporal shift in composition between samples collected pre-2010 with those collected post-2010 that also followed temporal changes in physico-chemistry, suggesting a tipping point occurred in the system. There were subtle differences in diatom assemblages between lake inlets and outlets, most evident in the precipitation/groundwater fed north basin. Lastly, a clear lake order effect was detected in both basins with upper basin sites differing from lower basin sites at similar altitude. We conclude that diatoms were effective in documenting the environmental changes that occurred in these alpine waters, specifically reflecting the abrupt change in physico-chemistry (concurrent tipping point in diatom assemblages) and the concomitant increase in surface water homogeneity and similarity of diatom assemblages over the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing weather patterns and receding glaciers are predicted to increase flow intermittency in alpine streams. If aquatic macroinvertebrate communities largely comprise taxa adapted to perennial flows, an increase in flow intermittency substantially reduces biodiversity and affects functional processes. We conducted a before-after-control-impact field experiment to examine how macroinvertebrate communities in an alpine headwater stream responded to and recovered from a repeated experimental increase in flow intermittency. Flow in one channel was manipulated to simulate increased summer intermittency (June–September) over two consecutive years, whilst an adjacent channel served as a control. We monitored the density of benthic macroinvertebrates, periphyton and organic matter at approximately monthly intervals over three years during the snow-free period. Before manipulation, both channels had similar ecological properties. The flow manipulation reduced the overall macroinvertebrate density, and especially the proportional rheophile density, across both years. Recovery of the macroinvertebrate community following experimental flow intermittency took more than a year, and longer than our study period. This could be due to long aquatic life stages, dispersal limitation and biotic interactions. We conclude that climate-induced changes in alpine stream flow regimes can lead to a fundamental shift in macroinvertebrate assemblages through local extinctions, mostly of rheophilic species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow intermittency occurs naturally in alpine streams. However, changing rainfall patterns and glacier retreat are predicted to increase the occurrence of flow intermittency in alpine catchments, with largely unknown effects on ecosystem structure and function. We conducted a flow manipulation experiment within a headwater stream of Val Roseg, a glacierized alpine catchment, to determine the effects of increased flow intermittency on aquatic macroinvertebrates, periphyton, benthic organic matter, and trophic structure. Compared to an adjacent reference channel, an increase in flow intermittency reduced macroinvertebrate density, taxa richness, and the proportion of rheophilic taxa. Density and richness remained low in the manipulated channel after resumption of natural flow. Flow intermittency did not affect organic matter standing stocks, but increased assimilation of periphyton by aquatic macroinvertebrates. Predation on aquatic invertebrates by riparian spiders also increased. We attribute many of these patterns to the timing of drying, which likely excluded summer-growing cohorts of rheophilic, aerial dispersers. This study suggests that reductions in summer glacial melt and rainfall events might increase flow intermittency and lead to fundamental changes in diversity and function of alpine fluvial networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than one‐third of the world's rivers cease to flow and go dry on a periodic basis—so‐called intermittent rivers. The frequency and duration of flow intermittency in running waters are increasing due to climate change and water demands for human use. Intermittency effects on stream biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are dramatic and are expected to become increasingly prevalent in alpine landscapes in the near future. This project used modified field sensors to measure flow intermittency, temperature, and water origin (groundwater, precipitation, glacier) at high spatio‐temporal resolution throughout an alpine fluvial network (Val Roseg, Switzerland). We continuously recorded water presence in 30 tributary streams and validated sensor performance with field‐collected measures. Three different flow regimes were observed in the network, including periodically intermittent, seasonally intermittent, and permanently flowing streams. Twenty‐four streams (80% of recorded streams) dried at least once during the sampling period. Principal components analysis along with generalized additive models showed alpine streams with low average temperature and high conductivity (groundwater‐fed) were prone to permanent flow, whereas streams with higher average temperature and low conductivity (glacier‐fed) typically had intermittent flow. The field sensors proved precise for simultaneously measuring flow intermittency, temperature, and water origin at high resolution throughout the river network. Overall, this approach provides an effective way to develop eco‐hydrological models that examine the effects of flow intermittency on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in riverine networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) encompass fluvial ecosystems that eventually stop flowing and run dry at some point in space and time. During the dry phase, channels of IRES consist mainly of dry riverbeds (DRBs), prevalent yet widely unexplored ecotones between dry and wet phases that can strongly influence the biogeochemistry of fluvial networks. DRBs are often overlooked because they do not strictly belong to either domain of soil or freshwater science. Due to this dual character of DRBs, we suggest that concepts and knowledge from soil science can be used to expand the understanding of IRES biogeochemistry. Based on this idea, we propose that DRBs can be conceptually understood as early stage soils exhibiting many similarities with soils through two main forces: i) time since last sediment transport event, and ii) the development status of stabilizing structures (e.g. soil crusts and/or vascular plants). Our analysis suggests that while DRBs and soils may differ in master physical attributes (e.g. soil horizons vs fluvial sedimentary facies), they become rapidly comparable in terms of microbial communities and biogeochemical processes. We further propose that drivers of DRBs biogeochemistry are similar to those of soils and, hence, concepts and methods used in soil science are transferable to DRBs research. Finally, our paper presents future research directions to advance the knowledge of DRBs and to understand their role in the biogeochemistry of intermittent fluvial networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaciers cover ~10% of the Earth's land surface, but they are shrinking rapidly across most parts of the world, leading to cascading impacts on downstream systems. Glaciers impart unique footprints on river flow at times when other water sources are low. Changes in river hydrology and morphology caused by climate-induced glacier loss are projected to be the greatest of any hydrological system, with major implications for riverine and near-shore marine environments. Here, we synthesize current evidence of how glacier shrinkage will alter hydrological regimes, sediment transport, and biogeochemical and contaminant fluxes from rivers to oceans. This will profoundly influence the natural environment, including many facets of biodiversity, and the ecosystem services that glacier-fed rivers provide to humans, particularly provision of water for agriculture, hydropower, and consumption. We conclude that human society must plan adaptation and mitigation measures for the full breadth of impacts in all affected regions caused by glacier shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood is a key structural element in aquatic ecosystems. Wood provides habitat complexity, alters geomorphology, retains organic and inorganic material, promotes hyporheic flow, and acts as substrate for biofilms and invertebrates. Fire is an important disturbance promoting wood recruitment into inland waters, but most studies have focused on streams in western North America. Less is known about fire-derived wood dynamics on other continents or in lake environments. Here, we review fire effects on the recruitment, distribution, and function of in-stream wood, with emphasis on a series of studies from the Euro-Mediterranean. The amount of large wood in these streams was low and is expected to decline in the future because of wildfire. Wildfire engendered inputs of wood with low structural complexity, probably reducing habitat heterogeneity for aquatic organisms. Fire also provided wood with greater diameter than wood recruited by other means, but its longevity may be shorter because burned wood was more decayed and less anchored in the channel than unburned wood. Wood delivery processes are important because macroinvertebrate colonization differed between fire-derived wood that fell directly into the river and wood conditioned first on the forest floor. We present a case study describing wood dynamics in a lake after a wildfire in northern Minnesota, USA. In this study, wildfire created an area of lake shoreline with disproportionately more wood than areas unaffected by wildfire. In contrast to streams, burned wood was more complex than unburned wood in the lake system. One of the explanations may be greater scouring, abrasive action by stream flows, which breaks down burned wood faster than in lakes. Given the expected increase in the probability and severity of fire around the world, information in our review can be used to help manage riparian zones of streams and lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Understanding the temperature dynamics of rivers is critical for their management and for ecological and biogeochemical aquatic processes. In proglacial rivers, there is typically a paucity of thermal observations which in turn limits the understanding of these sensitive and evolving environments. Here we collected ground-based thermal images, with approximately meter resolution and imaged every half hour for 24 h, of a proglacial river and 2 km 2 of its floodplain and interpret the observations using a numerical energy balance model. The images revealed the longitudinal thermal pattern of the Urbach River in Switzerland – there was gradual cooling in the upstream half of the study section and then warming in the remaining downstream portion. This pattern persisted through the diurnal warming and cooling cycle. The spatio-temporal thermal pattern was explained by a model that included distributed thermal inputs of cooler water in the upstream half coming from alluvial fans and warmer water in the downstream half running off steep cliffs that warm snowmelt. The warm inputs from the cliffs were confirmed by the thermal imaging. These data and the associated modeling illustrated that distributed inflows can overwhelm the influence of atmospheric fluxes, and that their knowledge is critical for understanding stream temperatures. The combination of modeling and detailed time-lapse thermal imaging allowed for identification and quantification of processes critical to in-stream temperature dynamics in a proglacial river. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Large wood is a critical element in stream ecosystems, but only a subset of wood pieces actually provide hydraulic, geomorphic, and ecological functions. We test the current paradigm that larger pieces provide more function, and examine the role wildfires may play in affecting functionality of recruited wood. We conducted a cross-basin analysis in nine central Portugal watersheds, obtaining a variety of measurements on 1483 wood pieces (diameter≥0.05m; length≥0.5m) in 27 streams burned within six years prior. We examined nonlinear relationships and indirect effects on function using Generalized Additive Modeling and Structural Equation Modeling. Variables with direct effects on function were piece diameter, rootwads, anchoring, position (bridging, ramping, loose), longitudinal distance along the stream continuum, and the ratio of piece length to channel width. The effect of length ratio on function was nonlinear. Relatively long pieces were more likely to be functional until they were ∼3 times the channel width, at which point longer pieces became less likely to be functional. Post-fire wood likely lacked complexity and longer pieces were more likely to be bridging; both conditions may have prohibited them from interacting with the wetted area. Wildfires had indirect effects on function. Burned pieces were more likely to be large in diameter (thus more likely functional) but not anchored (thus less likely functional); these antagonistic effects may be the reason burned status had no direct effect on function. Our results challenge the well-established idea that the function of wood in streams is simply a matter of wood size, along with indicators of longevity (e.g. stability and decay status). Relatively long pieces may in fact provide less function to the stream, at least until they break or are transported further downstream. Practitioners installing wood to streams should consider pieces with wide diameter and rootwads, approximately 3 times the channel width, and anchored but not bridging the channel. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Rivers regulated by dams display several ecosystem alterations due to modified flow and sediment regimes. Downstream from a dam, ecosystem degradation occurs because of reduced disturbance, mostly derived from limitations on flow variability and sediment supply. In the last decade, most flow restoration/dam impact mitigation was oriented towards the development of environmental flows. Flow variability (and consequent disturbance) can be reintroduced by releasing artificial high flows (experimental floods). Flow-sediment interactions during experimental floods represent strong ecosystem drivers, influencing nutrient dynamics, and metabolic and functional properties. In river networks, sediment and water inputs from tributaries generate points of discontinuity that can drive major changes in environmental conditions, affecting habitat structure and determining functional differences between upstream and downstream. However, despite the relevance for management, flow/sediment relations during environmental flows − and more importantly during experimental floods − remain poorly understood, mostly due to the lack of empirical evidence. In this study, we examined how a major tributary (source of water and sediments) modified the physical habitat template of a regulated river, thereby influencing ecological and geomorphological responses to experimental floods. Methods combined high-resolution drone mapping techniques with a wide range of biological samples collected in field surveys before, during, and after experimental floods in an alpine river. Data were used to quantify changes in relevant functional and structural ecosystem properties, relating ecological responses to geomorphological dynamics. Results highlight the importance of tributaries in restoring ecosystem properties lost after damming, enhancing the resilience of the system. In addition, we observed that disturbance legacy played a fundamental role in determining ecological conditions of a river prior to experimental floods, thus confirming that considering flow variability and sediment availability is crucial in adaptive dam management and environmental flows design. • Experimental floods mitigate dam impacts restoring flow variability and disturbance. • Sediment supply and disturbance legacy shape eco-morphological responses to floods. • Tributaries can modify the effect of experimental floods on ecosystem properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sediment transport in mountain streams can be a major hazard to downstream infrastructure. Consequently, sediment traps are a common feature in many high gradient streams to retain large volumes of sediment and protect settlements from major sediment transport events. Despite the wide application of these instream structures, there is little knowledge regarding the environmental and ecological effects on streams. Here, we investigated the hydromorphological effects of sediment traps on instream habitats and associated macroinvertebrate communities in four impacted and three non-impacted streams in Switzerland. Sediment traps significantly disrupted the sediment regime homogenising grain size percentiles compared to the natural stepwise downstream fining in control streams. This disruption in the sediment regime resulted in finer grain size distributions upstream of the sediment trap, and reduced substrate diversity in the sediment retention basin and just downstream of the trap. The reductions in substrate diversity resulted in an altered macroinvertebrate community composition. Further, the disconnection in sediment transport led to a lack of longitudinal correlation in macroinvertebrate communities. Refugia provision downstream of the sediment trap, and resource availability within the retention basin, were diminished, potentially reducing resilience of macroinvertebrate assemblages to instream disturbances. The effects of sediment traps were most likely localised in three of the four streams with substrate diversity recovering to comparable control values within 8 wetted widths (ca. 50 m) downstream of the trap associated with natural longitudinal fining. In contrast, ecological and environmental effects propagated downstream in one impacted stream with no recovery being evident. Sediment retention basins in the impacted streams provided a local artificially unique habitat of dynamic-braided channels. Our results indicate that sediment traps can significantly disrupt the sediment regime with important consequences for instream ecology and environmental conditions, although these effects can be system specific. Further work is needed to fully understand the effects of sediment traps in mountain streams to assist resource managers in the mitigation and future construction of these structures. • Sediment traps disrupt sediment transport processes. • Sediment traps can reduce habitat diversity within and downstream of the trap. • Sediment traps can reduce refugia provision and ecological resilience downstream. • Local effects were found in 3 of 4 impacted streams but propagated downstream in 1 stream. • Retention basins themselves may offer an artificially unique localized habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing insights from multiple disciplines is essential for finding integrative solutions that are required to tackle complex environmental problems. Human activities are causing unprecedented influence on global ecosystems, culminating in the loss of species and fundamental changes in the selective environments of organisms across the tree of life. Our collective understanding about biological evolution can help identify and mitigate many of the environmental problems in the Anthropocene. To this end, we propose a stronger integration of environmental sciences with evolutionary biology. Unlabelled Image • Evolutionary theory is not widely used to address environmental problems. • Evolutionary processes can both ameliorate and exacerbate environmental problems. • Evolution can be informative about disease dynamics, biofuel production, adaptation to pollution, and harmful algal blooms. • We propose a stronger integration of evolutionary biology with environmental sciences to help solve environmental problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity loss is increasing worldwide, necessitating effective approaches to counteract negative trends. Here, we assessed aquatic macroinvertebrate biodiversity in two river catchments in Switzerland; one significantly degraded and associated with urbanisation and instream barriers, and one in a near-natural condition. Contrary to our expectations, environmental heterogeneity was lower in the near-natural stream, with enhanced productivity in the degraded system resulting in a greater range of environmental conditions. At face value, commonly employed alpha, beta and gamma biodiversity metrics suggested both catchments constituted healthy systems, with greater richness or comparable values recorded in the degraded system relative to the near-natural one. Further, functional metrics considered to be early indicators for anthropogenic disturbance, demonstrated no anticipated differences between degraded and near-natural catchments. However, investigating the identity of the taxa unique to each river system showed that anthropogenic degradation led to replacement of specialist, sensitive species indicative of pristine rivers, by generalist, pollution tolerant species. These replacements reflect a major alteration in community composition in the degraded system compared with the near-natural system. Total nitrogen and fine sediment were important in distinguishing the respective communities. We urge caution in biodiversity studies that employ numerical biodiversity metrics alone. Assessing just one aspect of diversity, such as richness, is not sufficient to track biodiversity changes associated with environmental stress. We advocate that biodiversity monitoring for conservation and management purposes must go beyond traditional richness biodiversity metrics, to include indices that incorporate detailed nuances of biotic communities that relates to taxon identity., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10531-024-02933-7., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Artificial high flows attempt to simulate natural flood pulses in flow-regulated rivers with the intent to improve their ecological integrity. The long-term use of such high flow events have shown beneficial ecological effects on various rivers globally. However, such responses are often non-linear and characterized by underlying feedback mechanisms among ecosystem components. The question arises as to what happens when such high flow releases are disrupted or even discontinued. Here, we used the long-term (22 years) monitoring dataset from the river Spöl to examine whether discontinuation (2016-2021) of the flood program (annual artificial high flows from 2000 to 2016) resulted in the ecological degradation of the river. We used monitoring data of physico-chemistry, periphyton, benthic organic matter, macroinvertebrates and fish (brown trout, Salmo trutta fario L.) in the analysis. The flood program had no long-term effect on water physico-chemistry with most parameters showing typical variations associated with season and inter-annual weather patterns. The floods were effective at mobilizing bed sediments that reduced periphyton biomass and benthic organic matter following each flood. Increases in periphyton biomass and benthic organic matter occurred between floods, but both parameters showed no significant increase with discontinuation of the flood program. Floods reduced macroinvertebrate densities, but with density increases occurring between floods. The pulsed disturbances, and the progressive change in the habitat template, resulted in shifts in community assembly by reducing densities of Gammarus fossarum, a dominant crustacean, which allowed other taxa to colonize the system. Macroinvertebrate densities remained low after discontinuation of the floods, although G. fossarum densities have increased substantially while other taxa, especially some stoneflies, remained low in abundance. Notably, community assembly returned to a pre-flood composition with discontinuation of the floods. The abundance of brown trout increased substantially during the flood program but returned to low pre-flood numbers with discontinuation of the floods. We conclude that the flood program was beneficial to the ecology of the river Spöl and discontinuation of the floods resulted in degradation of the system after a relatively short lag period. However, the system showed high resilience to an earlier perturbation, a sediment spill in 2013, suggesting a rapid positive response by biota with resumption of the flood program., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Gold mining is currently one of the main anthropogenic sources of mercury in the environment. In this study, the total mercury content was measured in bottom sediments, benthic macroinvertebrates (mayfly larvae), and fish (Siberian dace) along the Boroo River in northern Mongolia. There was a gold recovery plant in the middle reaches of the river until the mid-twentieth century; an accident there in the 1950s caused a mercury spill. We found an increased content of mercury in measured ecosystem components near the plant compared to the upper reaches of the river. The mercury content in sediments varied from trace amounts in the upper Boroo to 2200 ng/g dry weight (dw) in the vicinity of the plant ruins. The mercury content in mayfly larvae ranged from 50 to 2940 ng/g dw and had a spatial pattern as sediments, with the highest concentrations near the plant. The mercury content in sediments was lower at the mouth of the Boroo River than near the plant, reflecting the lower boundary of the mercury spill. Maximum values of mercury content in fish muscle were found at the river's mouth and were several times higher than in other rivers of northern Mongolia. Median mercury content in muscles of dace from the lower Boroo in 2016 has doubled since studies in 2010-2012, which may be the result of current mercury releases from gold mining., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

In Alpine streams, humans have strongly modified the interactions between hydraulic processes, geomorphology and aquatic life through dams, flow abstraction at water intakes and river channel engineering. To mitigate these impacts, research has addressed both minimum flows and flow variability to sustain aquatic ecosystems. Whilst such environmental flows might work downstream of dams, this may not be the case for water intakes. Intakes, generally much smaller than dams, are designed to abstract water and to leave sediment behind. Sediment accumulation then results in the need to flush intakes periodically, often more frequently than daily in some highly glaciated basins. Sediment delivery downstream is then maintained through short duration floods with very high sediment loads. Here we tested the hypothesis that sediment flushing, and the associated high frequency of bed disturbance, controls in-stream habitat and macroinvertebrate assemblages. We collected macroinvertebrates over a 17-month period from an Alpine stream as well as a set of lateral unperturbed tributaries that served as controls. In contrast to established conceptual models, our results showed that the stream is largely void of life during summer, but that populations recover rapidly as the frequency of intake flushing falls in early autumn, producing richer and larger populations in winter and early spring. The recovery in autumn may be due to the recruitment of individuals from tributaries. We conclude that intake flushing in summer inverts expected summer-winter macroinvertebrate abundances, and questions the extent to which environmental flows in intake-impacted Alpine streams will lead to improvements in instream macrofauna unless sediment also is managed., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

River ecosystems receive and process vast quantities of terrestrial organic carbon, the fate of which depends strongly on microbial activity. Variation in and controls of processing rates, however, are poorly characterized at the global scale. In response, we used a peer-sourced research network and a highly standardized carbon processing assay to conduct a global-scale field experiment in greater than 1000 river and riparian sites. We found that Earth's biomes have distinct carbon processing signatures. Slow processing is evident across latitudes, whereas rapid rates are restricted to lower latitudes. Both the mean rate and variability decline with latitude, suggesting temperature constraints toward the poles and greater roles for other environmental drivers (e.g., nutrient loading) toward the equator. These results and data set the stage for unprecedented "next-generation biomonitoring" by establishing baselines to help quantify environmental impacts to the functioning of ecosystems at a global scale.

Sediment bypass tunnels (SBTs) are guiding structures used to reduce sediment accumulation in reservoirs during high flows by transporting sediments to downstream reaches during operation. Previous studies monitoring the ecological effects of SBT operations on downstream reaches suggest a positive influence of SBTs on riverbed sediment conditions and macroinvertebrate communities based on traditional morphology-based surveys. Morphology-based macroinvertebrate assessments are costly and time-consuming, and the large number of morphologically cryptic, small-sized and undescribed species usually results in coarse taxonomic identification. Here, we used DNA metabarcoding analysis to assess the influence of SBT operations on macroinvertebrates downstream of SBT outlets by estimating species diversity and pairwise community dissimilarity between upstream and downstream locations in dam-fragmented rivers with operational SBTs in comparison to dam-fragmented (i.e., no SBTs) and free-flowing rivers (i.e., no dam). We found that macroinvertebrate community dissimilarity decreases with increasing operation time and frequency of SBTs. These factors of SBT operation influence changes in riverbed features, e.g. sediment relations, that subsequently effect the recovery of downstream macroinvertebrate communities to their respective upstream communities. Macroinvertebrate abundance using morphologically-identified specimens was positively correlated to read abundance using metabarcoding. This supports and reinforces the use of quantitative estimates for diversity analysis with metabarcoding data.

Global change threatens invertebrate biodiversity and its central role in numerous ecosystem functions and services. Functional trait analyses have been advocated to uncover global mechanisms behind biodiversity responses to environmental change, but the application of this approach for invertebrates is underdeveloped relative to other organism groups. From an evaluation of 363 records comprising >1.23 million invertebrates collected from rivers across nine biogeographic regions on three continents, consistent responses of community trait composition and diversity to replicated gradients of reduced glacier cover are demonstrated. After accounting for a systematic regional effect of latitude, the processes shaping river invertebrate functional diversity are globally consistent. Analyses nested within individual regions identified an increase in functional diversity as glacier cover decreases. Community assembly models demonstrated that dispersal limitation was the dominant process underlying these patterns, although environmental filtering was also evident in highly glacierized basins. These findings indicate that predictable mechanisms govern river invertebrate community responses to decreasing glacier cover globally.

Microbial community assembly and microbial functions are affected by a number of different but coupled drivers such as local habitat characteristics, dispersal rates, and species interactions. In groundwater systems, hydrological flow can introduce spatial structure and directional dependencies among these drivers. We examined the importance of hydrology in structuring bacterial communities and their function within two alpine floodplains during different hydrological states. Piezometers were installed in stream sediments and surrounding riparian zones to assess hydrological flows and also were used as incubation chambers to examine bacterial community structures and enzymatic functions along hydrological flow paths. Spatial eigenvector models in conjunction with models based on physico-chemical groundwater characteristics were used to evaluate the importance of hydrologically-driven processes influencing bacterial assemblages and their enzymatic activities. Our results suggest a strong influence (up to 40% explained variation) of hydrological connectivity on enzymatic activities. The effect of hydrology on bacterial community structure was considerably less strong, suggesting that assemblages demonstrate large functional plasticity/redundancy. Effect size varied between hydrological periods but flow-related mechanisms always had the most power in explaining both bacterial structure and functioning. Changes in hydrology should be considered in models predicting ecosystem functioning and integrated into ecosystem management strategies for floodplains.