The effects of road crossings on stream macro-invertebrate diversity

Abstract

Although it is well known that the increasing size of the human population has a negative effect on freshwater biodiversity, the subject of whether or how the intersection of roads and streams (hereafter road crossings) influence the diversity of stream macroinvertebrates is under-researched. To fill this gap in our knowledge, we collected stream macro-invertebrates from road crossings (bridges and culverts) and compared their diversity with upstream and downstream sections. We found that road crossings had negative effects on the richness and abundance of native macro-invertebrates, as well as on the number of protected taxa. Our results showed also that alien individuals were more abundant at road crossings. These findings support the assumption that road crossings contribute to the spread of alien species. The assessment of environmental variables indicated that road crossings caused habitat modifications, and based on these it can be assumed that habitat modifications and associated phenomena (e.g. pollutants and storm events) were the major drivers of the observed patterns in biodiversity. Our results fill a knowledge gap and contribute to the deeper understanding of the effect of road crossings on freshwater biodiversity. Keywords Diversity decline • Freshwater biodiversity • Human impact • Macroinvertebrates • Road crossings Communicated by David Hawksworth.

Analysis of Water Quality and Habitat Suitability for Benthic Macro-Invertebrates in the Majiagou Urban River, China

“…Macro-invertebrates are important components for maintaining the integrity of urban river ecosystems and providing a basis for water quality monitoring [2][3][4]. In recent years, with the continuous development of urbanization, urban river ecosystems have been exposed to great risks of point and nonpoint source pollution, which has resulted in a decrease in macro-invertebrate diversity [5,6]. It is necessary to further investigate the habitat requirements of macro-invertebrates in urban river ecosystems so as to maintain the stability of urban river ecosystems and provide healthy ecological services to human beings.…”

Arctic roads and railways: social and environmental consequences of transport infrastructure in the circumpolar North

“…Very little is known about the effects of transport corridors on Arctic freshwater ecology, but studies in road and rail ecology from other latitudes show how disruptions of water flow across the landscape affects different trophic levels in the aquatic food web. Research in central Europe has shown that road crossings negatively affect the richness and abundance of benthic macro-invertebrates (animals living on stream beds that are a food supply to birds and fish), including protected species (Gál et al 2020). In a study of Alaskan hydrological networks, the observations suggested an effect of hydrological connectivity on food web composition, with large-bodied zooplankton more prevalent in poorly connected lakes with low fish diversity (Beaver et al 2019).…”