Responses of Mediterranean aquatic and riparian communities to human pressures at different spatial scales

Bruno, Daniel; Belmar, Óscar; Sánchez‐Fernández, David; Guareschi, Simone; Millán, Andrés; Velasco, Josefa

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.04.051

Cited by 67 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…In particular, by focussing on diverse taxonomic groups whose ecology range from strictly aquatic, to semi-aquatic and terrestrial, the present study provides a holistic picture of riverine biodiversity. This is especially relevant to Mediterranean areas where flow regulation and land-use change have direct impact on both in-stream and riparian communities (Bruno et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale dependent biodiversity patterns in Mediterranean river catchments: a multi taxa approach

2014

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Although the important contribution of bdiversity\ud to regional (c) diversity is increasingly recognised,\ud our understanding of how the spatial scaling of bdiversity\ud differs among taxonomic groups is still limited,\ud especially in dynamic lotic ecosystems. In this study, we\ud assessed the difference in the partitioning of diversity at\ud nested spatial scales, from reach to catchment, among\ud riparian birds, fish and benthic macroinvertebrates in\ud Mediterranean river systems. Fish and macroinvertebrates\ud showed similar scaling patterns, with b-diversity always\ud larger than expected by a random distribution of individuals\ud at all spatial scales (among reaches, rivers and\ud catchments), and local (a) diversity always lower than\ud expected. Conversely, b-diversity of riparian birds\ud appeared larger than expected only at the largest scale\ud (among catchments), while local diversity did not differ\ud from random expectation. For birds, however, results partly\ud depended on the weighting of abundant and rare species.\ud Although the relative contribution of b to c-diversity did\ud not differ substantially among groups (with multiplicative\ud b representing five to six distinct communities), its deviation\ud from random expectations showed marked differences\ud indicating that functionally different groups exhibit distinct\ud spatial patterns. This study is among the first to investigate\ud scaling patterns in b-diversity across taxonomic groups\ud with different ecological requirements and dispersal ability,\ud and provides a holistic picture of riverine biodiversity.\ud From a conservation perspective, the results suggest that, in\ud these river systems, flexible conservation strategies are\ud required in order to protect multiple taxonomic groups

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale dependent biodiversity patterns in Mediterranean river catchments: a multi taxa approach

2014

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“…In order to estimate the degree of urban sprawl associated with each sampled site, we measured urban indicators (Concepción et al , ; Jaeger & Schwick, ) at the reach and sub‐watershed scales for each site in a GIS (Table ), because it has been proved that human pressures operating at different scales may have different effects on riparian communities (Bruno et al , ; Wang et al , ). The reach scale was defined as a 200‐m buffer delimited around each site, whereas sub‐watersheds were delineated for each site on the basis of the digital elevation model of the study area.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Urban Sprawl on Riparian Vegetation: Is Compact or Dispersed Urbanization Better for Biodiversity?

Guida‐Johnson

Faggi

Zuleta

2017

River Research & Apps

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Compact urbanization is the main strategy for sustainable urban development. However, it is yet unclear whether compact urban forms are ecologically more favourable than dispersed ones. In this paper, we studied the effects of urban sprawl on the riparian vegetation condition in one of the most degraded watersheds in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, Argentina. We conducted random sampling of the riparian vegetation at sites along streams in the basin and assessed urban indicators at the reach and sub‐watershed scales for each of those sites in a geographic information system: urban area, impervious surface, population density and two landscape metrics of dispersion. The indicators assessed explained a high proportion of the variability of the vegetation response variables, thereby confirming the importance of urban sprawl pressure in shaping riparian communities in fluvial ecosystems. Dispersed urbanization had more positive than negative effects on the vegetation in the study area. Riverbanks associated with dispersed urbanization had more plant species, including exotics, when urban sprawl was assessed at the local scale. At the sub‐watershed scale, dispersed urbanized areas were richer in native plants and most of the functional groups, and poorer in exotic species. The model of the compact city, including bio‐corridors along watercourses, has been proposed for the Buenos Aires conurbation process for the next decades. Our results showed that the quality of existing river corridors across the compact matrix was not desirable and best practices for redesigning a more sustainable landscape structure are necessary, including the restoration of habitats for wetland species. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…The Segura Basin is an environmentally diverse basin, considered a good candidate to be utilised as a Mediterranean pilot basin (Bruno et al, 2014). Agricultural impacts and dam regulation have been recognised as representing the most important pressures on aquatic ecosystems in this catchment (Kroll et al, 2013;Sánchez-Montoya et al, 2009;Bruno et al, 2014). We considered types, reference values and class boundary values according to those proposed by Sánchez-Montoya et al (2007 and developed in the Spanish study area.…”

Section: Study Area and Sampling Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do low-abundance taxa affect river biomonitoring? Exploring the response of different macroinvertebrate-based indices

2016

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The contribution of rare taxa to aquatic bioassessments remains a subject of debate, and generates contrasting positions among researchers. Very little is known about the effect of low-abundance taxa (LAT) for calculating both single and multimetric macroinvertebrate-based indices, as well as the ecological status classification. In this study, we aimed to: i) identify the aquatic macroinvertebrates that need special attention during index applications given their low abundance; ii) analyse the effect of excluding LAT on single (IBMWP and IASPT) and multimetric (STAR_ICMi) biological indices; and iii) investigate the influence of LAT on river ecological status assessments. To this end, two different river basins in SE Spain and N Italy with contrasting climatic conditions and river types were selected. Our results showed that almost all the taxa at the family level can act as low-abundance taxa. In particular, the LAT belonged mainly to Diptera, Trichoptera, Coleoptera, Gastropoda and Hemiptera. The IndVal analysis stressed Tabanidae, Cordulegasteridae and Hydroptilidae as the most characteristic low-abundance families in the Spanish data set, while Dryopidae and Athericidae were identified mostly in N Italy. Excluding LAT affected the studied index values and the resulting bioassessment classification, except for the IASPT index. Loss of the entire LAT pool reduced the ecological status for 78% of the samples for the IBMWP index. Changing took place in 41% of the samples when considering the STAR_ICM index. Relevant changes were detected even when considering loss of 50% of the LAT, especially with the IBMWP index. Similar values and patterns were obtained in each considered quality class and river type. Our results provide useful information about controversial taxa and stress the significance of LAT in river biomonitoring. Excluding LAT is discouraged, although different responses according to the considered index were detected. The IBMWP index always obtained lower values (coupled mainly with an underestimation of ecological classes), while STAR_ICMi and, especially the IASPT index, were less affected by excluding LAT. Paying special attention to all the protocol application stages is recommended, with emphasis placed when using the IBMWP index.

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Responses of Mediterranean aquatic and riparian communities to human pressures at different spatial scales

Cited by 67 publications

References 79 publications

Scale dependent biodiversity patterns in Mediterranean river catchments: a multi taxa approach

Scale dependent biodiversity patterns in Mediterranean river catchments: a multi taxa approach

Effects of Urban Sprawl on Riparian Vegetation: Is Compact or Dispersed Urbanization Better for Biodiversity?

How do low-abundance taxa affect river biomonitoring? Exploring the response of different macroinvertebrate-based indices

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