Water level fluctuations (WLF), one of the most affected ecological drivers by climate change, are dominant forces controlling submerged macrophyte performance and distribution in freshwater ecosystems. Submerged macrophytes are prominent components of shallow lakes, predicting their response to WLF is therefore crucial for the management and conservation of these valuable and vulnerable ecosystems

Although aquaculture provides a stable and high-quality source of food, the environmental effects related to large-scale industrial aquacultural activities have raised concern. To identify the influence of aquacultural activities on sedimentary bacterial communities, we collected surface and deeper sediments from a series of sites subjected to varying intensities of aquacultural activities within Eastern

Growth of submerged and emergent macrophytes was studied together with heterotrophic bacterioplankton abundance and production in two Hungarian shallow lakes with dominant macrophyte covers. It was expected that bacterioplankton numbers and activity would have an effect on macrophyte biomass accumulation. Bacterial production and abundance showed a strong seasonal pattern with maximum in the warmest

Abstract Lepidurus arcticus (the Arctic tadpole shrimp) is a vulnerable keystone species in Arctic and alpine water bodies where its occurrence and population size may influence the viability and life history traits of resident salmonids. Using data from a Norwegian mountain hydropower reservoir, Aursjoen, we illustrate how reduced availability of L. arcticus as prey resulted in the reduced condition

Freshwater bivalves can influence water quality by reducing phytoplankton levels through filter-feeding and altering nutrient levels through excretion and biodeposition. In northeast Australia, native freshwater bivalves (Corbicula australis) may help restore the water quality of coastal wetlands that receive high nutrient loads in runoff from nearby agricultural activity. We investigated the biofiltration

Understanding how environmental factors and short-term evolution affect the growth of invasive plants is a central issue in Invasion Biology. For macrophytes, salinity is one of the main factors determining distribution along estuarine environments. Urochola arrecta is a Poaceae with high invasive potential in several freshwater and estuarine ecosystems. In South Brazilian estuaries, this species is

Cyanobacterial blooms aggravate with increasing temperature, and the increased concentrations of toxicants such as cyanotoxins and nitrite during bloom decay adversely affect the growth of aquatic animals. Heat-shock proteins (Hsps) are induced by a wide range of environmental stressors, including temperature and toxicants. In this study, Brachionus calyciflorus Pallas was exposed to different combined

Environmental filtering and dispersal limitation are essential processes affecting the variability of ecological communities. However, their relative contributions are highly debated and remain largely unknown in several systems, such as the hyperdiverse Amazon Basin. We determined the relative role of local, catchment, spatial, and biogeographical variables on the taxonomic and functional alpha and

Shoreline erosion in lakes is a pressing issue for many landowners, yet common erosion mitigation practices that involve armoring can alter littoral habitat and potentially diminish near-shore biodiversity. We studied the effects of two armoring methods (i.e., riprap, retaining walls) on habitat, taxonomic richness, relative abundance, and total abundance of fishes and benthic macroinvertebrates at

Temporally intensive observations of sediment biogeochemical fluxes were used to examine the effects of water column oxygen depletion and associated loss of sediment bioirrigation on denitrification rates. In the tidal Choptank River, a subestuary of the Chesapeake Bay, coupled nitrification/denitrification was identified as the main pathway for the production of N2 gas in the sediment. Although denitrification

Stream bacterial communities are shaped by a combination of local and regional processes, such as environmental filtering, biotic interactions and dispersal, but biotic interactions have received comparatively less attention. Here, we investigated stream bacterial alpha and beta diversity within taxonomic and phylogenetic contexts around Qiandao Lake in China. We further examined abiotic and biotic

Abstract One debate about lake restoration is whether there is overemphasis of a “Phosphorus (P)-only” paradigm, while overlooking the limiting effect of nitrogen (N). In particular, the roles of internal nutrient cycling which could act as drivers of algal blooms are not yet well assessed. However, it is hardly possible to identify the complex mechanisms of nutrient limitation patterns in lakes only

Large wood is a key component of river channels that affects numerous hydrological, physical and geomorphological processes. It promotes a diversity of benthic habitats in-channel and has shown to support more abundant and diverse benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in previous ecological studies. However, the effects of large wood on the structural and functional diversities of hyporheic invertebrates

The question of the efficient plot size for sampling vegetation has been discussed many times, but aquatic vegetation is rarely considered. Here we examine a dataset of aquatic (267) and littoral (456) vegetation samples from 60 sandpits across the Czech Republic to determine appropriate plot size while trying to maximise both efficiency and accuracy of the sampling effort. A dataset of littoral vegetation

The permeability of sediments at the sediment–water interface is an important control on several stream ecosystem services. It is well known that streambed permeability varies over several orders of magnitude, however, the environmental processes influencing this variation have received little attention. This review synthesizes the state-of-art knowledge and gaps in our understanding of the key physical

In urban stream networks, the headwaters are comprised of engineered headwaters where particulate organic matter collects during and between storms. During storms, dissolved organic matter leached from these pools is transported to the stream as stormflow connects these ephemeral channels to the network. Throughout the urban network, microbial processing consumes, produces, and transforms DOM, changing

Reservoir sediment is a major player in the terrestrial carbon (C) budget, and the quantification of C burial in sediments is important in assessing the reservoir’s role in the global C budget. However, assessments of C burial in sediments of sub-tropical hydroelectric reservoirs and their potential as C sinks are thus far limited due to a lack of whole reservoir assessments of C burial. In this study

Phytotelmata are habitats that house several species. Oftentimes invertebrate species need to disperse themselves sometimes carried by other animals, an interaction called phoresy. Phoresy can be influenced by different factors, therefore, we aim to investigate which factors influence the phoretic potential between anurans and invertebrates from bromeliads in semideciduous Atlantic Forest, as well

Determining where fish are distributed across days and seasons is valuable for understanding their ecology, evolution and conservation. The results presented here provide insight into the spatial and temporal distribution of brown trout (native salmonid species) and dace (invasive cyprinid species) in an artificially impounded section of lowland river, demonstrating that both species remain relatively

Trait variation across environmental gradients results from two processes: intraspecific variation (ITV) and turnover. Trait plasticity promotes intraspecific variation and can mediate, increasing or decreasing, interspecific variation. Here we evaluate patterns of ITV and trait-environment relationships in an anuran metacommunity from southern Brazil. We hypothesize that the contribution of ITV and

Like many wetlands globally, the Mulwaree River chain-of-ponds system exists in two dichotomous states characterised by the presence or absence of surface flow connecting large, deep, permanently inundated ponds. We develop a conceptual model of hydrological function of this chain-of-ponds system combining surface and subsurface water levels, 2H and 18O stable isotopes and 222Rn as a groundwater tracer

Through the artificial manipulation of hydrological residence time, hydropower operations on alpine lakes should not only alter their hydro-biogeochemical characteristics but also modulate the degree of sensitivity of the lake to atmospheric forcing. These hypotheses were addressed by means of in situ observations that were combined with a three-dimensional lake model of a high-altitude pump-storage

The oligotrophication of freshwater is the reduction of the nutrient concentration in the water column, which causes the depletion of organic matter and diminishes the biological production of the ecosystem. To elucidate the zooplankton response to nutrient depletion (oligotrophication), an experiment was performed in mesocosms simulating real scenarios. Phytoplankton and zooplankton inocula were collected

Continuous temperature monitoring for two adjacent tropical crater lakes in Mexico at 4200 m amsl shows that the lakes have rhythmic episodes of heating and cooling with a duration of ~ 30 days during the warmest months. The episodes were caused by rise and decline of solar irradiance reaching the lake surface. One lake, El Sol, showed over each heating and cooling episode a stable mixed layer (~ 20 days)

Deconstructing beta diversity patterns into site or species contributions is a modern approach to understand the factors affecting variation in biodiversity. In this context, estimating the Local Contribution to Beta Diversity (LCBD) and the individual Species Contribution to Beta diversity (SCBD) have been shown to be a good approach to improve knowledge of the drivers of beta diversity. We examined

In Lake Grande de Peñalara, an originally fishless small high mountain lake in the Central Iberian Peninsula, brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) was introduced in the 1970s, and then eradicated 30 years later using gillnets. In this study, we investigated the time-course and changes in macroinvertebrates and zooplankton communities, before and after the eradication, by studying their richness and

Shallow lake sediments may be anoxic despite overlying aerated water. In the current study, we aimed to ascertain the contribution of shallow areas to internal phosphorus (P) loading due to sediment anoxia in stratifying lakes. Moreover, we analyzed relationships of the key water quality variables with internal P loading due to sediment anoxia originating solely from stratifying areas (IPobs) and that

Estimating air–water gas transfer velocities (k) is integral to understand biogeochemical and ecological processes in aquatic systems. In lakes, k is commonly predicted using wind-based empirical models, however, their predictive performance under conditions that differ from their original calibration remains largely unassessed. Here, we collected 2222 published k estimates derived from various methods

The emission of CO2 and CH4 by diffusion, bubbling and downstream was measured in ten reservoirs representative of the diversity of French hydropower reservoirs in 2016. In all reservoirs, higher fluxes were measured in summer than in spring and winter. Low fluxes were measured in alpine reservoirs as compared to run-of-the-river and storage reservoirs. The low temperatures as well as the low organic

We investigated which environmental variables of floodplain lakes act as potential drivers of fish assemblages and how they explain the variation in taxonomic and functional diversity of the community. We evaluated the taxonomic richness, functional dispersion (the distribution of species abundances with different traits) and redundancy (how similar the species are) of fish communities from six floodplain

Large quantities of material are moved annually from the ocean to freshwater systems by migrating Pacific salmon. Previous studies have focused on nitrogen and phosphorus provided by spawning salmon but largely ignored micronutrients essential to aquatic productivity. We collected salmon tissue, water, and biofilm from seven southeast Alaskan streams both before and during the salmon run to test for

The construction of drainage canals in the upper stretch of the Salado River has caused the input of salty waters into the basin, with unexplored consequences on zooplankton dynamics and reproduction. To determine the consequences of those anthropic interventions, zooplankton samples were taken under four hydrologic conditions (high water, mean flows, low flows, very low flows) in the canals and the

Terrestrial organic matter (OM) is an essential energy source that fuels many food webs. The factors contributing to OM decomposition and the rate at which OM decomposes can influence carbon fluxes through ecosystems. Previous research demonstrates that the factors driving OM decomposition can vary with environmental condition, prompting more research that characterizes the relative importance of each

Scaling relationships, including power laws, provide quantitative predictions used in basic and applied sciences. We investigated scaling relationships between catchment area and lake surface area, the ratio of which has important implications for terrestrial-aquatic linkages. Synthesizing evidence from 9 datasets from three continents, we show that there is an approximately linear relationship between

This paper studies the influence of the impounding process during flood recession in the TGR on the distribution and rerelease of sediment phosphorus forms in the Xiangxi Bay in 2016. Influenced by the main stream of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) flowing backward during impoundment, the water environmental conditions, sediment grain size and sediment-forming environment of the tributary bays change

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) have increased recently in many lakes at high latitudes in North America and Europe, but it is unclear what effect this will have on the identity of the limiting nutrient for phytoplankton [nitrogen (N) vs. phosphorus (P)]. Identifying the effect of changing DOC on phytoplankton nutrient limitation is complicated by spatial covariation between atmospheric

Our understanding of how ecosystems function has changed from an equilibria-based view to one that recognizes the dynamic, fluctuating, nonlinear nature of aquatic systems. This current understanding requires that we manage systems for resilience. In this review, we examine how resilience has been defined, measured and applied in aquatic systems, and more broadly, in the socioecological systems in

Beta diversity can be analysed using various approaches, but those integrating site and species contributions to beta diversity are rare in floodplain lake systems. We analysed the beta diversity of rotifers and cladocerans across 50 floodplain lakes in Brazil, focusing on both pelagic and littoral zones. We partitioned beta diversity into local contributions (LCBD), species contributions (SCBD), and

Small headwater streams interlink catchment soils with the river network. As water makes its way from the hillslopes to the stream, it may transport dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and potentially soil microbes into stream water. In this study, we aimed at quantifying the dynamic transfer of DOC and microbial life, namely bacteria from catchment soils into streams. We hypothesized that increased soil

Changes in land cover are one of the most extensive and influential human impacts on fluvial ecosystems. In this study, we assessed how changes in food resource quantity and type linked to forest cover affect mountain stream multitrophic macroinvertebrate community size structure. We tested whether the total organism biomass (size spectrum intercept) and the energy transfer efficiency among trophic

Extreme drying can dramatically shift abiotic characteristics of streams and species respond differently as conditions change. We modified a conceptual model describing responses of aquatic invertebrate assemblages to stream drying to facilitate predictions of fish assemblage shifts in which thresholds of physiochemical gradients lead to punctuated losses of fish diversity as stream connectivity diminishes

Elevational gradients are ideal ecological venues for testing how communities respond to environmental changes associated with global warming. Recent warming rates have been shown to increase with elevation, hypothetically translating into heat waves that more adversely affect cold-adapted alpine communities than lower montane communities exposed to cold waves. We tested this hypothesis by conducting

We investigated whether environmental filtering or dispersal-related factors mostly drive helophyte and hydrophyte species richness and community composition in 93 lakes situated in Baikal Siberia. Using partial linear regression and partial redundancy analysis, we studied (1) what are the relative roles of environmental variables, dispersal variables, spatial processes and region identity (i.e., river

In calcareous watersheds, groundwater alkalinity results largely from dissolution of carbonate minerals in soils. The alkalinity increases initially approximately in proportion to nitrate (NO3−) concentration and eventually approaches an apparent maximum of approximately 8 mmol L−1 at high NO3− concentrations. This close positive relationship between alkalinity and NO3− concentration appears to be

Page 1, Abstract, lines 6-8: The following sentence, which previously read:

Channelization can have far-reaching and long-term impacts on stream ecology. In this study, we demonstrate that channelization is associated with lower stream quality as measured by macroinvertebrate bioindicators when compared to unchannelized streams. Citizen scientists collected the data for this study between 1995 and 2014, performing 3021 sampling events during the months of May and June across

Trait-based approaches have been used to explore ecosystem level consequences of local changes in biodiversity along environmental gradients. Using a novel response–effect trait framework, we seek to identify and explain the mechanisms governing the cascading effects of environment on plant traits and ecosystem multi-functioning in the large Poyang Lake wetland, China. We sampled the above-ground biomass

The original publication of this paper contains a mistake in Figure 3.

Streams in hot, arid environments often exist as a series of isolated pools along main channels. During these periods, shallow alluvial through flow may strongly influence key ecological processes within pools. We measured diel changes in δ13C values of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and dissolved oxygen (DO) in two pools of ephemeral, dryland streams. We quantified alluvial water connectivity through

Winter limnology has been developed mainly in northern-temperate or subarctic lakes, while mid-latitude Mediterranean high mountain lakes have been less studied during the ice-covered season. We present a five-year study in one of these lower latitude high mountain lakes, conducted with multiprobes located at two different depths recording high-frequency data. We have studied highly contrasted winters

Phytoplankton play a key role in supporting aquatic food webs. However, the effects of ongoing large-scale changes in the concentrations and stoichiometry of important biological compounds [dissolved inorganic N (DIN), total phosphorus (TP), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and DIN:TP] on the development and nutritional quality of phytoplankton for higher trophic levels are unclear. We conducted lake

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in freshwaters is recognised as a significant and active component of the global carbon budget. DOM exported from terrestrial ecosystems may be compositionally and functionally altered by chemical and biological reactions as it is transported downstream. The processes affecting DOM in headwater streams remain uncertain but are potentially highly variable depending on

Biogeochemical rates within streams vary with ecosystem properties including the distribution of fishes. While many studies investigate the singular effect of fishes on ecosystem components, there is a limited understanding of how fish presence interacts with other ecosystem properties to affect ecosystem structure and function. Here, we used path analyses to elucidate direct and indirect effects of

Shallow lakes are typically found in one of two stable states, a macrophyte-dominated clear water state or a turbid state due to excessive phytoplankton and suspended sediment. Whether shallow backwater lakes in large river floodplains exhibit similar alternate stable states is less understood. This study considers mechanisms, interactions and feedbacks associated with a shift in environmental conditions

It is well recognized that river-floodplain systems contribute significantly to riverine ecosystem metabolism, and that bacteria are key players in the aquatic organic carbon cycle, but surprisingly few studies have linked bacterial community composition (BCC), function and carbon quality in these hydrologically highly dynamic habitats. We investigated aquatic BCC and extracellular enzymatic activity

Mixotrophy seems to be widespread among phytoplankton, but whether this strategy is more relevant in oligotrophic lakes remains unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the relative abundance of mixotrophic flagellates in lakes increases along an elevational gradient paralleling increasingly oligotrophic conditions. For this purpose, 12 lakes located between 575 and 2796 m above sea level were

Climate-change driven increases in water temperature pose challenges for aquatic organisms. Predictions of impacts typically do not account for fine-grained spatiotemporal thermal patterns in rivers. Patches of cooler water could serve as refuges for anadromous species like salmon that migrate during summer. We used high-resolution remotely sensed water temperature data to characterize summer thermal

The temporal dynamic of riverine ecosystems and their fish communities and populations has been addressed in ecological theory and management for several decades. A growing number of case studies on the historic development especially of European and North American rivers have been published. Nonetheless, a theoretical debate about the contributions and limits of historical approaches and interdisciplinary

Using historical sources from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, we investigated the long-term evolution of the fish community in a mountainous river network and the influence of different human uses and management measures. Within the alpine Salzach catchment, historical presence was reconstructed for 26 fish species, abundance classes for 19 species. Due to channelization, flood protection

Species distributions models (SDM) that rely on estimated relationships between present environmental conditions and species presence-absence are widely used to forecast changes of species distributions caused by global warming but far less to reconstruct historical assemblages. By compiling historical fish data from the turn to the middle of the twentieth century in a similar way for several European