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Role of the hyporheic zone in increasing the resilience of mountain streams facing intermittency
- Source :
- Water, Vol 12, Iss 2034, p 2034 (2020), Water, Volume 12, Issue 7
- Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- We investigated the impact of intermittence in previously-perennial Alpine stream reaches, targeting the role of the hyporheic zone in increasing the resilience of these aquatic systems. We selected a perennial and an intermittent site in a reach of the Po River (North-Western Italy). We installed piezometers reaching &minus<br />1 m (permanent and intermittent site), and &minus<br />3 m (intermittent site) and monitored three supraseasonal droughts over a period of three years. We classified the hyporheic fauna into three categories of increasing affinity to life in the hyporheic (stygoxene, stygophile, stygobite), and used communities composition, abundance, beta-diversity and functional groups: (1) to compare assemblages at the same depth but with different hydrological characteristics, as well as assemblages from two depths at the intermittent site, and (2) to assess how the connection with surface water and the direction of the vertical aquifer flow determined the faunistic assemblages. Different taxonomic groups responded differently to intermittence, the hyporheic zone acted as a refuge increasing the resilience of the system, but resilience decreased with increasing degree of affinity to hyporheic life. Disentangling the effects of intermittence on the different faunistic component in the hyporheic zone can help guiding effective protection and restoration measures of river systems with temporary reaches.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Beta diversity
lcsh:Hydraulic engineering
Intermittent rivers
River-aquifer interaction
Species-traits
Stygobite
Stygophile
Stygoxene
Fauna
Geography, Planning and Development
Aquifer
STREAMS
Aquatic Science
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Biochemistry
lcsh:Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
lcsh:TC1-978
Settore BIO/07 - ECOLOGIA
Hyporheic zone
Water Science and Technology
Hydrology
geography
lcsh:TD201-500
geography.geographical_feature_category
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
Aquatic ecosystem
Piezometer
Environmental science
Surface water
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Water, Vol 12, Iss 2034, p 2034 (2020), Water, Volume 12, Issue 7
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ca0c632822aeb0526407847c0045e80c