Long-term Developments in Ecological Rehabilitation of the Main Distributaries in the Rhine Delta: Fish and Macroinvertebrates

Vaate, A. bij de; Breukel, R.; Velde, G. van der

doi:10.1007/s10750-005-1916-4

Cited by 33 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The water quality of the river Rhine has been strongly improved over the last decades (Bij de Vaate et al 2006). Conventional biological water quality indicators, such as the Biological Monitoring Working Party index (Armitage et al 1983), suggest a moderate ecological status of the river (Arbačiauskas et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At many sampling sites in the river Rhine a relatively small group of mass invaders dominate in abundance by more than 80% ( Van den Brink et al 1993; Haas et al 2002;Bernauer and Jansen 2006;Bij de Vaate et al 2006;Van Riel et al 2006a;Baur and Schmidlin 2007). The analysis of temporal changes in species composition and abundance of amphipods in the littoral zone of the Delta Rhine clearly shows a replacement of native species by non-indigenous ones and changes in the dominance from established non-indigenous species to recent invaders.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Existing databases on the distribution of non-indigenous species in the Delta Rhine (Den Hartog and Van der Velde 1987;Van den Brink et al 1990) were updated and extended with data on other river sections, using a distribution atlas on freshwater molluscs (Gittenberger et al 1998), recent field surveys (Kelleher et al 1998;Rajagopal et al 2000;IKSR 2002;Bij de Vaate 2003;Bernauer and Jansen 2006;Bij de Vaate et al 2006, 2007 Van der Velde et al 2000Van Riel 2007;Van Riel et al 2009). During these field surveys specimens were cautiously brushed from artificial substrate (marbles), riprap and groyne stones, and subsequently preserved in 70% ethanol, sorted by species and counted in the laboratory.…”

Section: Construction Of Database On Non-indigenous Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The river provides services for transportation, power generation, industrial production, urban sanitation, drinking water, agriculture and tourism, and is a classic example of a multipurpose waterway (Van der Velde and Cioc 2002;Uehlinger et al 2009). However, its biodiversity and ecological integrity are severely affected by these human activities (Van den Brink et al 1990;Nienhuis et al 2002;Bij de Vaate et al 2006; Leuven et al 2006;Nienhuis 2008;Uehlinger et al 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In spite of ambitious and successful rehabilitation programmes aiming at improvement of water quality, restoration of riverine ecosystems and enhancement of habitat connectivity, the river still suffers from a series of environmental constraints which hamper a complete recovery of biodiversity (Leuven and Poudevigne 2002;Nienhuis et al 2002;Bij de Vaate et al 2006; Van der Velde et al 2006a, b;Van der Velde and Bij de Vaate 2008). Examples of these constraints are intensive navigation and irreversible habitat modification by hydraulic engineering (e.g., canalisation and construction of groynes and stony banks).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The river Rhine: a global highway for dispersal of aquatic invasive species

et al. 2009

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The river Rhine is heavily influenced by human activities and suffers from a series of environmental constraints which hamper a complete recovery of biodiversity. These constraints comprise intensive navigation and habitat modification by hydraulic engineering. Improving water quality while these constraints remain in place has led to increased colonization by aquatic invasive species. This tendency has been accelerated by the construction of canals connecting river basins. Over the last two centuries, the total surface area of river catchments connected to the river Rhine via inland waterways has been increased by a factor 21.6. Six principal invasion corridors for aquatic species to the river Rhine are discerned. The extensive network of inland waterways has allowed macroinvertebrate species from different bio-geographical regions to mix, changing communities, affecting the food webs and forming new constraints on the recovery of the native biodiversity. From the eighteenth century onward, in the freshwater sections of the river Rhine, a total of 45 non-indigenous macroinvertebrate species have been recorded. The average number of invasions per decade shows a sharp increase from\1 to 13 species. Currently, the contribution of non-indigenous species to the total species richness of macroinvertebrates in the river Rhine is 11.3%. The Delta Rhine and Upper Rhine exhibit higher numbers of non-indigenous species than other river sections, because the sea ports in the Delta Rhine and the Main-Danube canal function as invasion gateways. Important donor areas are the Ponto-Caspian area and North America (44.4 and 26.7% of the non-indigenous macroinvertebrate species, respectively). Transport via shipping and 123Biol Invasions ( ) 11:1989( -2008( DOI 10.1007 dispersal via man made waterways are the most important dispersal vectors. Intentional and unintentional introductions are highest for the period 1950-1992. The cumulative number of non-indigenous species in time is significantly correlated with the increase in total surface area of other river catchments connected to the river Rhine by means of networks of canals. The species richness of non-indigenous macroinvertebrates is strongly dominated by crustaceans and molluscs. Invasive species often tolerate higher salt content, temperature, organic pollution and current flow than native species. Spatiotemporal analyses of distribution patterns reveal that average and maximum dispersal rates of six invasive species vary between 44-112 and 137-461 km year -1 , respectively. Species arriving in upstream sections first show a shorter time lag between colonisation of the Delta and Upper Rhine than species initially arriving in downstream areas. Temporal analyses of macroinvertebrate assemblages in the littoral zones indicate that native species are displaced by nonindigenous species. However, established non-indigenous species are also displaced by more recent mass invaders.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Construction Of Database On Non-indigenous Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The river Rhine: a global highway for dispersal of aquatic invasive species

et al. 2009

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The Effects of Improved Water Quality on Fish Assemblages in a Heavily Modified Large River System

Parker

Epifanio

Casper

et al. 2015

River Research & Apps

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A long history of human alterations has affected the hydrology, physical habitat and water quality of most large river ecosystems. For more than a century, the Illinois River Waterway has been subject to channelization, damming, dredging, agricultural runoff and industrial and municipal effluents. This study evaluates how subsequent improvements in water quality have influenced long‐term changes in fish assemblages (1983–2010). We used five metrics to characterize the changes in fish assemblages. These metrics depicted shifts in the abundance and biomass of predatory and native fishes and species richness. Random forests (RF) and multiple linear regressions (MLRs) were used to relate the fish metrics to individual water quality and weather variables, with weather primarily used to account for inter‐annual variation. Model performances varied spatially and among fish metrics (0 ≤ pseudo‐R2 ≤ 0.73 for RF; 0.10 ≤ adjR2 ≤ 0.88 for MLR), but dissolved oxygen, un‐ionized ammonia and water clarity were often the best predictors. As the distance downstream of major pollutant sources increased, water quality became less important for explaining the changes in fish metrics and weather more important. These results indicate that water quality improvement largely accounts for fish assemblage recovery in the river system, although within some reaches we examined, weather had substantial compounding effects. The results could be used to prioritize water quality variables for long‐term monitoring and aid in predicting fish assemblage responses to future changes in water quality and climate. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Effects of habitat restoration on the macroinvertebrate fauna in a foreland along the river waal, the main distributary in the Rhine delta

Vaate

Klink²,

Greijdanus-Klaas

et al. 2007

River Research & Apps

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River engineering in the Rhine delta and water pollution have been major threats for the ecological functioning of the river in The Netherlands. To mitigate effects of river engineering, secondary channel construction in the forelands along the existing distributaries is considered to be an important measure for river restoration. These areas are the remnants of the former Rhine floodplain and the only area where habitat restoration is possible due to the river functions assigned. Secondary channel construction in the area called 'Gamerensche Waarden' was taken as an example to show effects of habitat restoration on the macroinvertebrate fauna. Totally 322 macroinvertebrate taxa were found during the monitoring period. During the first 3 years species richness in the area increased rapidly due to colonization processes in the channels following habitat development. After that period total number of taxa found in the channels stabilized at around 170. A clear positive relationship was demonstrated between habitat quality and species richness. Furthermore, the density of exotic species in the secondary channels was less than in the groyne fields of the main channel. The relatively low number of taxa in polluted habitats could be explained by the presence of the PCB 28 congener.

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Long-term Developments in Ecological Rehabilitation of the Main Distributaries in the Rhine Delta: Fish and Macroinvertebrates

Cited by 33 publications

References 39 publications

The river Rhine: a global highway for dispersal of aquatic invasive species

The river Rhine: a global highway for dispersal of aquatic invasive species

The Effects of Improved Water Quality on Fish Assemblages in a Heavily Modified Large River System

Effects of habitat restoration on the macroinvertebrate fauna in a foreland along the river waal, the main distributary in the Rhine delta

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