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Climate change and water exploitation as co-impact sources on river benthic macroinvertebrates
Climate change and water exploitation as co-impact sources on river benthic macroinvertebrates
- Source :
- Water, Vol 13, Iss 2778, p 2778 (2021), Water, Volume 13, Issue 19
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Climate change can affect freshwater communities superimposing on other major stressors, such as water exploitation, with effects still poorly understood. The exacerbation of naturally-occurring periods of low flows has been reported as a major hydrological effect of water diversions, with severe impacts on river benthic macroinvertebrate communities. This study aimed at assessing long-term modifications of low-flow events in a large lowland Italian river possibly associated to climate change and the effects of these events, intensified by water withdrawals, on benthic macroinvertebrates. A 77-year dataset on daily discharge was thus analyzed through Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s method to investigate modifications of the main hydrological parameters. Moreover, macroinvertebrates were collected during the low-flow periods that occurred from 2010 to 2015 at three sites downstream of water withdrawals, representing three different conditions of hydrological impairment. After assessing possible differences in taxonomical and functional composition between sites and impairment conditions, redundancy analysis and ordinary least squares regression were performed to link benthos metrics to environmental (hydrological and physico-chemical) characteristics. An increase in the duration of the low-flow periods and reduced summer flows were detected on the long term, and the magnitude of low flows was significantly altered by water withdrawals. These hydrological features shaped both structural and functional characteristics of benthic assemblages, highlighting the need for a more environmentally-sustainable water resource management in the current context of climate change.
- Subjects :
- Long-term monitoring
Lowland river
Geography, Planning and Development
Climate change
Context (language use)
Aquatic Science
Biochemistry
Benthos
Benthic communities
TD201-500
Water Science and Technology
Invertebrate
Hydrology
Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
Hydrological parameters
Global warming
Low flows
Water diversion
Water management
Hydraulic engineering
Current (stream)
Benthic zone
Long term monitoring
Environmental science
TC1-978
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Water, Vol 13, Iss 2778, p 2778 (2021), Water, Volume 13, Issue 19
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....bd52336b56d91dd9fd62f50959cb6472