1. Non-perennial Mediterranean rivers in Europe: Status, pressures, and challenges for research and management
- Author
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Nikolaos Skoulikidis, Eleni Kalogianni, Klement Tockner, M. M. Sánchez-Montoya, Stamatis Zogaris, Joana Rosado, Gerald Dörflinger, Manuela Morais, Andrea Buffagni, Núria Bonada, Sergi Sabater, Thibault Datry, Anna Maria De Girolamo, Leonidas Vardakas, ELSEVIER, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), Instituto Catalán de Investigación del Agua - ICRA (SPAIN), Instituto Catalán de Investigación del Agua - ICRA (SPAIN) (ICRA), Milieux aquatiques, écologie et pollutions (UR MALY), Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA), Universidade de Évora, IRSA-CNR, Leibniz Association, Water Development Department, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Water Researc Institute, Group de Recerca Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM), Palchetti, IIlaria, Hansen, Peter-Diedrich, and Barceló, Damià
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Environmental Engineering ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Climate ,Biodiversity ,WFD ,Climate change ,hydrology ,Biochemistry ,01 natural sciences ,River basin management plans ,Ecosystem services ,pressure ,BIOGEOCHIMIE ,Non-perennial (temporary, intermittent, ephemeral) rivers and streams ,biogeochemistry ,11. Sustainability ,Environmental Chemistry ,intermittent stream ,14. Life underwater ,climate ,Waste Management and Disposal ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Land use ,business.industry ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,HYDROLOGIE ,Environmental resource management ,Ecological assessment ,PRESSION ,Biogeochemistry ,ephemeral rivers and streams ,15. Life on land ,Pollution ,6. Clean water ,COURS D'EAU TEMPORAIRE ,Management ,Watershed management ,Water resources ,intermittent ,Geography ,CLIMAT ,13. Climate action ,[SDE]Environmental Sciences ,Non-perennial (temporary ,Hydrobiology ,Hydrology ,business ,Pressures - Abstract
International audience; Non-perennial rivers and streams (NPRS) cover > 50% of the global river network. They are particularly predominant in Mediterranean Europe as a result of dry climate conditions, climate change and land use development. Historically, both scientists and policy makers underestimated the importance of NRPS for nature and humans alike, mainly because they have been considered as systems of low ecological and economic value. During the past decades, diminishing water resources have increased the spatial and temporal extent of artificial NPRS as well as their exposure to multiple stressors, which threatening their ecological integrity, biodiversity and ecosystem services. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of the structural and functional characteristics of NPRS in the European Mediterranean, and discuss gaps and problems in their management, concerning their typology, ecological assessment, legislative and policy protection, and incorporation in River Basin Management Plans. Because NPRS comprise highly unstable ecosystems, with strong and often unpredictable temporal and spatial variability - at least as far as it is possible to assess - we outline the future research needs required to better understand, manage and conserve them as highly valuable and sensitive ecosystems. Efficient collaborative activities among multidisciplinary research groups aiming to create innovative knowledge, water managers and policy makers are urgently needed in order to establish an appropriate methodological and legislative background. The incorporation of NPRS in EU-Med River Basin Management Plans in combination with the application of ecological flows is a first step towards enhancing NPRS management and conservation in order to effectively safeguard these highly valuable albeit threatened ecosystems
- Published
- 2017