Restoration of the rivers Brede, Cole and Skerne: a joint Danish and British EU-LIFE demonstration project, V—short-term impacts on the conservation value of aquatic macroinvertebrate and macrophyte assemblages

Complex hydromorphology of meanders can support benthic invertebrate diversity in rivers

“…Indeed, most restoration studies have not demonstrated any biodiversity differences before or after restoration. This might be explained by unfavorable environmental conditions in the surrounding restored stream sections, which were located in farmland or suburban areas (Biggs et al, 1998;Friberg et al, 1998;Nakano & Nakamura, 2008). In large urban or agricultural catchments, the remaining populations of sensitive species may be small or extirpated.…”

Meander reconnection method determines restoration success for macroinvertebrate communities in a German lowland river

“…However, the results of our study showed that re-meandering can also lead to short-term ecological improvements, if performed adequately. Here, the observed rapid colonization of macroinvertebrates in the fully reconnected meander is well in line with the findings of several restoration studies (e.g., Biggs et al, 1998;Laasonen et al, 1998), but rare species often appear at later stages of the colonization process (e.g., Biggs et al, 1998). Accordingly, the initial succession of macroinvertebrates is mainly related to the biological drift of upstream fauna (Matthaei et al, 1997).…”

Functional responses of aquatic and riparian vegetation to hydrogeomorphic restoration of channelized lowland streams and their valleys

“…Previous studies found similar results 2 years after restoration, and attributed the slow colonization to the predominance of unconsolidated sandy substrates unsuitable for colonization, and to limited upstream source populations (Baattrup- Pedersen et al, 2000;Biggs et al, 1998). Because relatively close source populations were present upstream of our study sites (between 150 and 800 m) and…”