Are alien fish a reliable indicator of river health?

1. The ability of many introduced fish species to thrive in degraded aquatic habitats and their potential to impact on aquatic ecosystem structure and function suggest that introduced fish may represent both a symptom and a cause of decline in river health and the integrity of native aquatic communities. 2. The varying sensitivities of many commonly introduced fish species to degraded stream conditions, the mechanism and reason for their introduction and the differential susceptibility of local stream habitats to invasion because of the environmental and biological characteristics of the receiving water body, are all confounding factors that may obscure the interpretation of patterns of introduced fish species distribution and abundance and therefore their reliability as indicators of river health. 3. In the present study, we address the question of whether alien fish (i.e. those species introduced from other countries) are a reliable indicator of the health of streams and rivers in south‐eastern Queensland, Australia. We examine the relationships of alien fish species distributions and indices of abundance and biomass with the natural environmental features, the biotic characteristics of the local native fish assemblages and indicators of anthropogenic disturbance at a large number of sites subject to varying sources and intensities of human impact. 4. Alien fish species were found to be widespread and often abundant in south‐eastern Queensland rivers and streams, and the five species collected were considered to be relatively tolerant to river degradation, making them good candidate indicators of river health. Variation in alien species indices was unrelated to the size of the study sites, the sampling effort expended or natural environmental gradients. The biological resistance of the native fish fauna was not concluded to be an important factor mediating invasion success by alien species. Variation in alien fish indices was, however, strongly related to indicators of disturbance intensity describing local in‐stream habitat and riparian degradation, water quality and surrounding land use, particularly the amount of urban development in the catchment. 5. Potential confounding factors that may influence the likelihood of introduction and successful establishment of an alien species and the implications of these factors for river bioassessment are discussed. We conclude that the potentially strong impact that many alien fish species can have on the biological integrity of natural aquatic ecosystems, together with their potential to be used as an initial basis to find out other forms of human disturbance impacts, suggest that some alien species (particularly species from the family Poeciliidae) can represent a reliable ‘first cut’ indicator of river health.     

A new biological indicator to assess the ecological status of Mediterranean trout type streams

Fuelled by the generalized degradation of freshwater ecosystems, the development of tools to assess their ecological status has been the focus of intensive research in the last decades. Although fish are one of the key biological quality elements used to describe the ecological status of rivers, fish metrics that accurately respond to disturbances in Mediterranean trout type streams are still lacking. In these systems, multimetric indices are not optimal indicators because of their low species richness and abundances, thus alternative approaches are needed. Since carrying capacity defines the potential maximum abundance of fish that can be sustained by a river, its relationship with actual density (D/K ratio) could be an accurate indicator of population conservation status and consequently of the ecological status of the river. Based on this rationale, we modeled carrying capacity dynamics for 37 brown trout populations during a 12-year study period. We analyzed the response of the D/K ratio to a gradient of increasing environmental harshness and degradation in order to assess its suitability to accurately measure brown trout conservation status. Our results showed that the D/K ratio was highly sensitive to temporal and spatial variations in environmental conditions and the levels of human-induced environmental degradation. Variations in the environmental and human degradation factors included in the best explaining regression models developed for the whole population and by age classes accounted for between 58 and 81% of the variation in the D/K ratio. Likewise, the D/K ratio was sensitive to both general and life stage specific disturbance factors. Further analyses helped identify the factors limiting population abundance. Therefore, the D/K ratio could be an interesting indicator to consider when defining objective management plans and corrective actions in degraded rivers and streams subject to Mediterranean climatic conditions.     

Very-broad-scale assessment of human impacts on river condition

1. Management of whole rivers and river catchments requires a comprehensive set of information about river condition and use, both existing and historical, and the links between them at regional, state or national scales. This paper outlines a new approach to the assessment of river condition, using a small team was able to assess 210 000 km of rivers across more than 3 million km² of Australia in little more than a year. 2. The approach was driven by a hierarchical model of river function, which assumed that broad‐scale catchment characteristics affect local hydrology, habitat features, water quality and, ultimately, aquatic biota. The model provided the basis for selecting important ecologically relevant features that indices should represent. For each reach of each river we derived a biological index and an environmental index based on measures quantifying catchment and hydrological condition, and habitat and water quality condition. Data came from existing state and national databases, satellite images, site measurements and process models. 3. All indices were calculated as deviation from a reference condition, were range‐standardised and were divided into equivalent bands of condition. Amalgamation of index components and of sub‐indices was determined by consideration of their ecological effects; for example, general degradation might be additive, but toxic effects of one component would override all others. 4. Several internal and external validation methods were employed, with the all‐important validation of the final assessments undertaken by comparison with a similar index based on locally measured data. 5. The environmental assessment classified 14% of reaches as largely unmodified, 67% as moderately modified and 19% as substantially modified by human impacts. The biological assessment based on site assessments and modelled data using invertebrates indicated that 70% of reaches were equivalent to reference condition and that 30% were significantly impaired. Catchment disturbance, elevated sediment and nutrient loads, and habitat degradation all contributed to these results. These impacts have all occurred during the last 200 years (post‐European settlement). 6. Partly as a result of the assessments of this study the Australian Government has begun to adopt a more environmentally sustainable approach to broad‐scale water management.     

河流生境的评估方法及应用的研究进展

河流生境是水生生物赖以生存的物理、化学和生物环境的综合体, 是河流生态系统的重要组成部分。河流生境评价有助于掌握河流的生态健康状况, 识别河流退化的原因, 为河流的生态修复提供依据。文章梳理总结了20世纪80年代至2018年文献中报道的全球范围内河流生境评估的方法, 然后根据每种方法的侧重点和目标, 将它们分为预测模型法和多指标综合评估法两种类型, 并比较了它们各自的优势和不足。预测模型法适于长期的生境动态监测, 但该方法需要以自然无干扰的河流为参照, 并且需要大量历史数据, 统一评估不易实现; 多指标综合评估法评估相对快速方便, 但评估过程复杂, 且评价标准不一, 结果有一定的局限性。这些方法的适用范围从中小型的可涉水河流到较大的不可涉水河流, 但适用于大型不可涉水河流的生境评估方法和案例非常有限。通过分类整理, 发现我国河流生境评估方法多是参考国外几种常用的河流评估方法, 种类单一, 而且多是针对个别河流, 并且未对这些河流所在的流域的生境状况进行深入研究, 广适性较差。因此, 文章从以下几个方面对我国河流生境评估体系的发展提出几点建议: (1)确定科学和标准化的评分指标, 因地制宜, 以满足不同河流特征; (2)扩大评估范围, 从流域和景观尺度开展生境监测, 关注全流域的健康状况; (3)扩大时间尺度, 建立模型, 进行长期的动态评估; (4)鼓励政府宏观规划, 促进不同管理部门间的合作, 整合不同地区的河流生境数据并建立国家尺度的河流生境大数据库, 以实现我国河流生态健康的维护和流域的可持续发展。     

Comparison of different biological indices for the assessment of river quality: application to the upper river Moselle (France)

The aim of our study was to assess the water quality of the upper Moselle river by using biological indices. Simultaneous physico-chemical surveys were also undertaken from May 1999 to April 2000. Twelve sampling sites were selected in order to provide a wide range of potential pollution. Chemical analysis did not reveal any major problem of pollution. However a lower water quality resulting from domestic pollution was established for some sampling sites. A biological monitoring combining both macroinvertebrates and macrophytes was performed. Biological indices based on plant community structure and macrophyte composition were not pertinent tools, whereas simple indices based on taxonomic richness of particular groups of macroinvertebrates were strongly correlated with several chemical parameters, showing that such simple biological variables should represent powerful indicators of ecosystem degradation.     

城市河流的景观生态学研究:概念框架

城市河流作为城市景观中一种重要的生态廊道,其功能的正常实现与否关系到整个城市的可持续发展。通过分析当前城市河流的研究概况,发现应用景观生态学原理对城市河流展开多尺度、多学科的综合研究是实现“自然-人类-水体”可持续发展的必然趋势。从景观生态学的角度出发,结合城市河流的特点,提出了更为综合的、景观水平上的城市河流研究的概念框架。特别针对景观生态学研究的核心问题,对城市河流的研究尺度、格局分析、干扰程度等重要方面进行了详细论述,以期在景观水平上构建城市河流的可持续发展预案。     

Geomorphic thresholds in riverine landscapes

1. Rivers are subject to thresholds of several types that define significant changes in processes and morphology and delimit distinctive riverine landscapes and habitats. Thresholds are set by the conditions that govern river channel process and form, amongst which the most important are the flow regime, the quantity and calibre of sediment delivered to the channel, and the topographic setting (which determines the gradient of the channel). These factors determine the sediment transport regime and the character of alluvial deposits along the channel.
2. Changes occur systematically along the drainage system as flow, gradient and sediment character change, so a characteristic sequence of morphological and habitat types – hence of riverine landscapes – can be described from uplands to distal channels. The sequence is closely associated with stream competence to move sediment and with bank stability.
3. The paper proposes a first order classification of river channel and landscape types based on these factors. The riverine landscape is affected seasonally by flow thresholds, and further seasonal thresholds in northern rivers are conditioned by the ice regime.
4. It is important to understand geomorphic thresholds in rivers not only for the way they determine morphology and habitat, but because human activity can precipitate threshold crossings which change these features significantly, through either planned or inadvertent actions. Hence, human actions frequently dictate the character of the riverine landscape.     

基于压力-状态-响应和物元可拓模型的城市河流健康评价

城市河流作为人类活动和自然过程相互作用强烈的区域,承受着人类资源开发利用和污染物排放的压力,但近些年来随着对河流健康的重视,针对城市河流实施了大量的生态治理措施。综合考虑人类正负面影响对河流健康状态的影响,进行河流健康状态的评价,对于城市河流的修复效果检验和管理保护具有重要意义。以南京市鼓楼区典型城市河流西北护城河为研究区,根据河流周边土地利用类型、物理形态差异及城市管网分布将其划分为6个河段,考虑人类修复措施对河流健康水平的影响,构建了基于压力-状态-响应(Pressure-State-Response,PSR)模型的城市河流健康评价指标体系,采用物元可拓模型确定了河段健康等级,并根据各等级综合关联度之间的距离判断河流健康水平的发展趋势。结果表明:压力、状态以及响应准则层的权重分别为0.458、0.311、0.231,压力指标为影响城市河流健康水平的主要因素;西北护城河6个河段的健康水平表现出较强的空间异质性,河段A-F的健康等级分别为中等、健康、亚健康、中等、亚病态和病态,流经公园绿地的河段健康水平明显高于流经居民住宅区的河段,河段B、C、D的健康水平有进一步提升的趋势,而河段A、E、F的健康状态则有进一步恶化的趋势,需要进行重点关注。     

Identifying reference benthic diatom communities in an agricultural watershed (Guadiana River,SW Spain)

Determining the ecological status of river ecosystems should be based on reference (near-natural) conditions and on the use of their biological communities. Identifying reference conditions is particularly difficult in largely disturbed watersheds, such as those of agricultural landscapes. Ecotype reference sites and their characteristic diatom communities were identified in the Guadiana watershed. Three different ecotypes were defined: rivers with siliceous bedrocks, upper watershed calcareous rivers, and mainland watercourses. Thirteen key stressors divided in four categories (channel alteration, hydrological pressure, pollution pressure, and river habitat pressure) were used to select reference sites in each ecotype. Multivariate techniques were used to describe type-specific reference diatom community in each ecotype. Because of the difficulty to define reference sites in the mainland watercourses, some sites were selected under the criterion of minimum impacted sites. Diatoms inhabiting sites included species tolerant to high nutrient concentration and mineralized waters, like Nitzschia inconspicua, Gomphonema parvulum, and Navicula veneta. These taxa defined the best condition (near-to-reference) in an ecotype highly impacted by human activities, the best possible in the long-lasting impaired conditions in the large river watercourses in agricultural landscapes.     

An appraisal of a biocontamination assessment method for freshwater macroinvertebrate assemblages; a practical way to measure a significant biological pressure?

Freshwater invasive or alien species (IAS) can have a major impact on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage structure and diversity. This has implications for accurate biological monitoring, the assessment of the ecological quality status of rivers and achievement of Water Framework Directive (WFD) objectives. Although IAS constitutes a major biological pressure to WFD objectives, current approaches to ecological status assessment tend to ignore their presence. This problem is compounded as biotic indices such as the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) score do not distinguish between native and IAS, when IAS tend to be more tolerant of organic pollution than the natives they replace. Biocontamination is the presence of an IAS in a system, and we tested a new method of biocontamination assessment, designed to be used alongside current routine water quality monitoring techniques, by applying it to biological monitoring data from the river monitoring programme of a small Island, The Isle of Man. Although 54% of monitoring sites exhibited no biocontamination, 19% showed low or moderate biocontamination and 27% high or severe biocontamination. Richness contamination was low (only two contaminated families being recorded), but abundance contamination was high in some sites (87% of individuals being IAS). Sites with a greater relative abundance of IAS individuals exhibited lower BMWP water quality. Within invaded sites BMWP monitoring was not responsive to changing chemical water quality, whereas within uninvaded sites it was. In invaded sites, the relative abundance of IAS increased as ammonia and BOD₅ increased. Our study shows current monitoring approaches mask the presence of AIS within assemblages, with some highly biocontaminated sites registering high BMWP biological quality. This new index represents a simple way to integrate the IAS biological pressure into established WFD monitoring programmes, to produce more comprehensive estimates of ecological quality status than are currently being realised.     

Drivers of future alien species impacts: An expert‐based assessment

Understanding the likely future impacts of biological invasions is crucial yet highly challenging given the multiple relevant environmental, socio‐economic and societal contexts and drivers. In the absence of quantitative models, methods based on expert knowledge are the best option for assessing future invasion trajectories. Here, we present an expert assessment of the drivers of potential alien species impacts under contrasting scenarios and socioecological contexts through the mid‐21st century. Based on responses from 36 experts in biological invasions, moderate (20%–30%) increases in invasions, compared to the current conditions, are expected to cause major impacts on biodiversity in most socioecological contexts. Three main drivers of biological invasions—transport, climate change and socio‐economic change—were predicted to significantly affect future impacts of alien species on biodiversity even under a best‐case scenario. Other drivers (e.g. human demography and migration in tropical and subtropical regions) were also of high importance in specific global contexts (e.g. for individual taxonomic groups or biomes). We show that some best‐case scenarios can substantially reduce potential future impacts of biological invasions. However, rapid and comprehensive actions are necessary to use this potential and achieve the goals of the Post‐2020 Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity.     

Endangered ecosystems: a review of the conservation status of tropical Asian rivers

Tropical Asian rivers are characterized by their flow seasonality. One (sometimes two) peaks in discharge cause temporary declines in phytoplankton, zooplankton and zoobenthos biomass, but lead to inundation of river floodplains and significant land-water interactions. Fishes undertake lateral or longitudinal breeding migrations within the river system during the flood season, which is marked also by intensive feeding upon allochthonous inputs.Among the diverse human influences upon tropical Asian rivers, three threats stand out. Firstly, degradation of drainage basins (particularly through deforestation and overgrazing) leads to increased suspended sediment loads and extensive flooding. Excessive floodplain siltation alters habitats causing species decline or disappearance. The second threat — river regulation and control — has been practised widely in the region for centuries but, with the planned development of massive projects on the Yangtze and Mekong Rivers, the potential for environmental damage has increased. Flow regulation reduces flood-season peaks, changing the magnitude and extent of floodplain inundation and land-water interactions. Fish breeding migrations may be disrupted, because dams block migration routes or changed flow regimes fail to stimulate reproduction. River pollution is pervasive throughout the region, and constitutes the third threat. Untreated sewage is a particular problem in densely-populated areas, and pollution by industrial effluents and mining wastes is becoming more important. The effects of pollution in tropical Asian rivers are essentially the same as those recorded in north-temperate regions. However, biological understanding has yet to be matched by an ability to halt or limit river degradation.Together, the three threats have led to declines and range constrictions of aquatic animals and those terrestrial species associated with riparian corridors and floodplains. River dolphins and certain crocodilians are particularly threatened, but declines in species of waterfowl, floodplain deer, a host of fishes, macrophytes, and invertebrates have been documented. Reversing the trend is difficult as pollution, flow regulation, and drainage-basin degradation have non-additive detrimental effects on river ecosystems, and enhance the success of exotic invasive species. Moreover, our ability to predict the outcome of man-made changes is hampered by a lack of knowledge of species' life histories and a paucity of data on the trophic basis of production. Despite a lack of detailed information, conservation of tropical Asian rivers will be effected only if limnologists move beyond the bailiwick of science. Ecologically viable management strategies for tropical Asian rivers will succeed only if the socioeconomic context of development plans is taken into account. A failure to rise this challenge will result in the further degradation of these endangered ecosystems.     

流域景观类型及配置对大型底栖动物完整性的影响

通过对滦河流域66个河段大型底栖动物采集和生境指标监测,基于大型底栖动物完整性评价和13种景观指数构建,探讨了不同景观指数对于大型底栖无脊椎动物完整性的解释能力。景观指数类型包括流域及欧式距离缓冲区土地利用百分比、水流路径缓冲区土地利用百分比、局部区域土地利用百分比和基于水流路径的反距离权重指数。基于多元线性逐步回归模型,根据调整R2(Square of the coefficient)来判断不同指数的解释能力。研究结果表明基于水流路径的反距离权重指数对于大型底栖动物完整性的解释能力最好,其次为基于水流路径的缓冲区和局部区域的土地利用百分比指数,全流域及欧氏距离缓冲区内土地利用百分比解释能力最差。农田是影响大型底栖动物完整性最重要的景观类型,距离河流越近的农田对大型底栖动物完整性的影响越大,因此流域及河岸带农田的控制和管理对于滦河流域大型底栖动物完整性的恢复具有重要的作用。     

Habitat and hydrology condition indices for the upper Mississippi,Missouri, and Ohio rivers

Habitat and hydrology indices were developed to assess the conditions in reaches of the impounded Mississippi river, the Fort Peck and Garrison reaches of the upper Missouri river, the Missouri National Recreational river (MNRR), the channelized lower Missouri river, and the Ohio river. Data were obtained from field sampling, air photo interpretation, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologic records. Habitat and hydrology attributes were incorporated into four habitat indices (channel complexity, substrate quality, littoral cover, and riparian condition) and one hydrology index. Construction of habitat indices for these very large rivers was complicated by a lack of previous research demonstrating methods for choosing and weighting the metrics used to compose these indices. Many habitat metrics used to assess habitat quality in small rivers proved irrelevant or impractical for assessing habitat quality in the upper Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers. In addition, these very large rivers, unlike smaller streams, were subject to physical and hydrological alterations due to channelization, revetment, levees, and dams. Because of the lack of proven indicators of habitat condition in very large rivers, we began with a large number of measures of natural and anthropogenic stress, eliminating only those metrics that failed tests of range, redundancy, and correlation with longitudinal position along the river. The lock and low-head dam sequences on the impounded Mississippi and Ohio influenced both hydrological patterns and the resident fish community, with conditions recovering with increased distance below dams, until hydrology was once again altered by impoundment from a downriver dam. Channel complexity and hydrology indices displayed the highest correlations with a multimetric fish index, possibly because these indices integrated habitat condition over a larger scale than the transect- and site-scaled littoral cover and riparian indices. Data limitations prevented the calculation of a littoral cover and a channel complexity index for the upper Missouri and Ohio rivers, respectively.     

Replacement of a native freshwater macroinvertebrate species by an invader: implications for biological water quality monitoring

The rate of freshwater invasions may be increasing, and macroinvertebrate invaders can have significant impacts on native macroinvertebrate assemblage structure through biotic interactions. More pollution-tolerant invaders can often replace native species. We examined implications of a species replacement for accurate biological monitoring of river systems using biotic indices. Our study uses Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man as examples of countries that possess river networks with many riverine macroinvertebrate assemblages subject to invasion. The introduced amphipod crustacean Gammarus pulex has replaced the native species G. duebeni celticus in many rivers in N. Ireland and the Isle of Man. Extensive seasonal data sets (119 sites) from three river networks, Lough Neagh and the Lagan in N. Ireland, and island-wide in the Isle of Man, were used to investigate the assumed equivalence of the native and invader in biotic indices concerned with the water quality monitoring system. Based on the derivation of the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) score, the Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT), as an example of a commonly used biotic index of water quality, we found index scores were lower in G. pulex sites compared to G. d. celticus-only sites. This indicated that assemblages were dominated by taxa more tolerant of organic pollution in the invader sites and more sensitive in the native sites. Inclusion of the invader in generation of the ASPT index, overinflated the ASPT values obtained compared to those with the native’s inclusion. This questions the accuracy of the ASPT and similar indices in rivers where the invader had replaced the native. We argue that with invasion pressures increasing, the validity of water quality indices such as the BMWP/ASPT needs to be re-examined in catchments where invaders have replaced natives. Indices such as the BMWP/ASPT are based on family level taxa and are inevitably coarse in their resolution given the wide range of water qualities tolerated by different genera within families. We argue that this resolution is even more compromised by the presence of very pollution-tolerant invaders, who may have replaced natives in disturbed or degraded river systems. The whole structure of water quality indices such as the BMWP/ASPT may need revising to take into account the presence of invasive species within monitored assemblages.     

Fish zonations and guilds as the basis for assessment of ecological integrity of large rivers

Longitudinal zonation concepts describe the downstream changes in chemico-physical and biological properties of rivers. Including information on ecological fish guilds can enhance the usefulness of fish zonation concepts, in a way that they can be used as tools for assessment and management of the ecological integrity of large rivers. We present an ecological characterization of fish zones and fish communities in near-natural and in regulated large rivers in Europe (the River Doubs in France and the Rivers Rhine and Meuse in the Netherlands), using guild classifications of several life-history traits of fish and national Red Lists of threatened species. The Doubs data set was also analyzed using indices of the sensitivity of fish species to environmental degradation and indices for eurytopy. In these rivers, the number of ecological guilds per zone increases downstream, and there are clear shifts in the structure of the guilds. Flow preference and reproduction ecology of river fish are closely linked. The proportion of rheophilic species in the fish community decreases downstream, and the proportions of limnophilic and eurytopic species increase. Lithophilic and psammophilic spawners are dominant in the upper zones, whereas the lower zones are dominated by phytophilic and phytolithophilic spawners. The proportion of zoobenthivorous and periphytivorous species decreases downstream, and the proportion of zooplanktivorous and phytivorous species increases. However, because the European fish fauna mainly consists of feeding generalists, the discriminative abilities of simplistic feeding guild classifications are not very high. Guilds of sensitive, stenoecious species that share life history strategies that are highly adapted to specific riverine conditions (rheophils and limnophils) have declined far more than generalist species that can survive in a wide range of habitats that are not characteristic of natural river ecosystems. Because of the subsequent over-abundance of the eurytopic species the original longitudinal fish zonations are hardly recognizable anymore in heavily impacted large rivers such as the River Rhine. Hence these rivers do not meet the criteria for ecological integrity. Within a specific fish region, a suitable way of analyzing and monitoring the impact of human disturbance on the structure of the fish community is by comparing the guild structure of the present state of a fish zone with that of the reference situation.     

Combining surveys of river habitats and river birds to appraise riverine hydromorphology

1. Biological monitoring is vital to river conservation. Aside from providing census data, regular monitoring may detect population trends that reflect the degradation or remediation of riverine environments. Birds are major candidates for this purpose because of their connections to riverine food webs and river habitat features. However, much information on factors affecting river bird distributions is qualitative. 2. River bird populations have been surveyed annually in the U.K. since 1974. The value of this monitoring could be increased if links between population trends and changes in riverine landscapes or channel hydromorphology were better understood. We modelled the relationships between bird species’ distributions recorded by the British Trust for Ornithology's Waterways Breeding Bird Survey (WBBS) and hydromorphology recorded by the Environment Agency's River Habitat Survey (RHS). 3. Regression models were built for 20 bird species associated with the river channel and neighbouring floodplains. This provided one of the first illustrations in ecology of generalized estimating equations (GEEs) for extending generalized linear models to instances where individual observations are not statistically independent. GEEs could offer a range of benefits to freshwater biologists, as they are a simple approach to analysing hierarchical, correlated data while maintaining the ease of interpretation with a range of link functions and data types. 4. Upland, fast water species and reedbed specialists showed the closest links with RHS, followed by lowland, slow water species, where correlations to RHS varied widely in magnitude. The distributions of floodplain wading birds were poorly modelled by RHS, suggesting that floodplain land uses as quantified by RHS were poor predictors of distributions. Marked preferences between upland and lowland channels were evident for most species. Specific features were also important, including hydraulics, bank/channel vegetation, depositional features and anthropogenic structures. 5. Monitoring the abundance and distribution of a range of bird species, with a diversity of life histories, could be a valuable tool for assessing trends in riverine landscapes and whole river basins. RHS captures useful information about channel hydromorphology and vegetation, but needs supplementing with additional environmental information to describe (i) the wider riverine landscape (e.g. more detailed floodplain variables, proximity of other waterbodies) and (ii) water chemistry. Although further work is required, this study suggests that WBBS and RHS add mutual value in appraising the river environment. We advocate the further development of birds as indicators in riverine landscapes that could convey the importance of the ecological integrity, biological production and conservation value of river systems to a wider audience.     

River networks as biodiversity hotlines

For several years, measures to insure healthy river functions and to protect biodiversity have focused on management at the scale of drainage basins. Indeed, rivers bear witness to the health of their drainage basins, which justifies integrated basin management. However, this vision should not mask two other aspects of the protection of aquatic and riparian biodiversity as well as services provided by rivers. First, although largely depending on the ecological properties of the surrounding terrestrial environment, rivers are ecological systems by themselves, characterized by their linearity: they are organized in connected networks, complex and ever changing, open to the sea. Second, the structure and functions of river networks respond to manipulations of their hydrology, and are particularly vulnerable to climatic variations. Whatever the scale considered, river networks represent "hotlines" for sharing water between ecological and societal systems, as well as for preserving both systems in the face of global change. River hotlines are characterized by spatial as well as temporal legacies: every human impact to a river network may be transmitted far downstream from its point of origin, and may produce effects only after a more or less prolonged latency period. Here, I review some of the current issues of river ecology in light of the linear character of river networks.     

Odonates as indicators of the ecological integrity of the river corridor: Development and application of the Odonate River Index (ORI) in northern Italy

The assessment of the ecological conditions of rivers is crucial for their appropriate management and restoration. Bioindicators commonly used to evaluate the river status (i.e. diatoms, aquatic macrophytes, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish) detect alterations of water quality, but are not particularly sensitive to hydromorphological degradation, which is another relevant pressure in river systems. Furthermore, those bioindicators are usually applied only to flowing channels. We developed a new multimetric index, the Odonate River Index (ORI), to assess the conditions of the whole corridor in alluvial rivers. The ORI is a development of an evaluation system proposed in Austria, and based on the Odonate Habitat Index (OHI). Odonates were chosen as bioindicators for the ecological integrity of the river corridor, since this taxon provides information on the conditions of their aquatic breeding sites, as well as on the surrounding terrestrial areas, due to its amphibiotic life cycle. We used a case study of 18 reaches from six Italian Alpine rivers, characterized by different morphological conditions and level of human impact. Within each study reach, we selected four sites, both lotic and lentic sites. Dragonfly surveys consisted in field observation of adults, and collection of larvae and exuviae. To define the best sampling strategy, we compared the results of the ORI metrics obtained varying the input data by combining different sampling methods: the best compromise between effort and exhaustiveness was obtained coupling the observation of adults with the collection of exuviae. We found the ORI to be a robust and reliable tool to assess the status of the river corridor in a wide range of environmental conditions and river morphology, being particularly suitable to detect hydromorphological degradation and alterations of the structure of aquatic and riparian vegetation. We identified two limiting factors for the applicability of this index: low water temperatures of the main channel (i.e. mean annual value below 10 °C) and river reaches with no or scarce aquatic and riparian vegetation. In addition to the assessment of river conditions, the ORI could also be applied for monitoring the effects of river restoration actions.