Excessive nutrient loading is a major threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide that leads to profound changes in aquatic biodiversity and biogeochemical processes. Systematic quantitative assessment of functional ecosystem measures for river networks is, however, lacking, especially at continental scales. Here, we narrow this gap by means of a pan-European field experiment on a fundamental ecosystem process--leaf-litter breakdown--in 100 streams across a greater than 1000-fold nutrient gradient. Dramatically slowed breakdown at both extremes of the gradient indicated strong nutrient limitation in unaffected systems, potential for strong stimulation in moderately altered systems, and inhibition in highly polluted streams. This large-scale response pattern emphasizes the need to complement established structural approaches (such as water chemistry, hydrogeomorphology, and biological diversity metrics) with functional measures (such as litter-breakdown rate, whole-system metabolism, and nutrient spiraling) for assessing ecosystem health.

An experiment in >1000 river and riparian sites found spatial patterns and controls of carbon processing at the global scale.

Perennial rivers and streams make a disproportionate contribution to global carbon (C)cycling. However, the contribution of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams, which

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Vast areas of the Iberian Peninsula are covered by monocultures of the exotic tree Eucalyptus globulus. Given that (1) leaf litter produced in the riparian areas is the main energy source for small streams, and (2) trees differ in their nutrient content, chemical defenses, and physical attributes, eucalypt plantations have the potential to affect the biology of streams. Research teams from the University of Coimbra and the University of the Basque Country have been addressing the potential effects of eucalypt plantations at several levels of study. Here we review the main conclusions of these investigations.Eucalypt plantations produced less litter than some deciduous forests. However, there were marked differences in timing of litterfall: litter production peaked during autumn in deciduous forests, whereas in the eucalypt forests it tended to peak in summer and to be more evenly distributed throughout the year. Despite these differences, the average standing stock of organic matter was higher in the eucalypt than in the deciduous forest. This may be attributed to (1) the occurrence of spates or heavy rain in autumn, the period of maximum litter fall in deciduous forests, and (2) bark accumulation in eucalypt forests. Because of differences in leaf composition, the nutrient input in eucalypt forests seems to be lower than in deciduous forests. The rate of decomposition of eucalypt leaves was strongly dependent on nutrients in the water: in nutrient-poor waters it was slower than that of most other leaf species, whereas in nutrient-rich waters it can be as fast as alder – a fast-decaying species.The biomass and cumulative diversity of aquatic hyphomycetes colonizing leaves did not differ between eucalypt and other native leaf species, but fungal sporulation generally peaked 2 weeks later on eucalypt leaves. This lag disappeared when lipids (but not polyphenolics) were chemically removed from eucalypt leaves. Similarly, addition of eucalypt oils to culture media retarded or suppressed fungal growth. Streams bordered by Eucalyptus had lower diversity of fungal spores (but similar spore densities) in Portugal; less consistent patterns were found in similar experiments in Spain. Eucalyptus leaves proved to be poor food for shredders. Under laboratory conditions leaves of Eucalyptus ranked low in food selection experiments using native shredders. The same shredders failed to grow and died when fed exclusively eucalypt leaves. The removal of oils from eucalypt leaves resulted in increased feeding rates, whereas the transfer of oils to alder leaves resulted in decreased feeding rates.The effect of eucalypt plantations on stream invertebrate communities is not very consistent. In nutrient-poor waters, fewer invertebrates colonized eucalypt than alder leaves, but this effect was mitigated after a microbial conditioning period in nutrient-rich waters. Portuguese streams bordered by Eucalyptus had lower numbers of invertebrates than streams surrounded by deciduous forests. In Spanish streams differences were less marked and ...

Reintroduction of wood in rivers for restoration purposes is now recognized in a positive way by scientists. Nevertheless, the perception of wood in riverscapes is strongly affected by the socio-cultural environment. This cultural influence might explain why wood reintroduction is accepted and promoted in some regions of the world but not in others, despite the demonstrated ecological benefits. From an extensive student perception survey, we show that most of the groups from nine countries in the world considered riverscapes with wood to be less aesthetic, more dangerous, and needing more improvement than riverscapes without wood. By contrast, this way of thinking was not observed in Germany, Sweden, and Oregon (USA), where the first instances of wood reintroduction occurred.

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Many inland waters exhibit complete or partial desiccation, or have vanished due to global change, exposing sediments to the atmosphere. Yet, data on carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions from these sediments are too scarce to upscale emissions for global estimates or to understand their fundamental drivers. Here, we present the results of a global survey covering 196 dry inland waters across diverse ecosystem types and climate zones. We show that their CO 2 emissions share fundamental drivers and constitute a substantial fraction of the carbon cycled by inland waters. CO 2 emissions were consistent across ecosystem types and climate zones, with local characteristics explaining much of the variability. Accounting for such emissions increases global estimates of carbon emissions from inland waters by 6% (~0.12 Pg C y −1). Our results indicate that emissions from dry inland waters represent a significant and likely increasing component of the inland waters carbon cycle.