Mitigació de l'impacte antropogènic|Conservació de la biodiversitat
Advanced tools for the assessment of the ecological status of Mediterranean temporary rivers during the dry phase: Metacommunity dynamics for the bioassessment
Ecosystems are affected by a myriad of natural and anthropogenic disturbances that alter their structure and function. One example are temporary rivers (TRs), in which water stops flowing or dries out completely at any time of year. They represent over 50% of the worlds' river network, and their frequency will increase as a result of global change. Despite their worldwide relevance and the numerous ecosystem services they provide, TRs have historically been neglected by researchers, managers, and the society in general. TRs are characterized by shifting habitats between flowing habitats, disconnected pools, and dry riverbeds, which result in biodiversity changes. Traditional biological indices to assess water quality have a low performance in TRs because they are unable to disentangle natural (flow intermittence) from anthropogenic disturbances. DRY-GUADALMED will develop tools for the assessment of the ecological status of TRs during the dry phase, including disconnected pools and dry riverbeds.
This project is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the Spanish State Research Agency under grant number PID2021-126143OB-C22.
