Editorial: Measuring river restoration success: Are we missing the boat?

Collier, Kevin J.

doi:10.1002/aqc.2802

Cited by 27 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Using prioritizations in collaborative processes, the insights noted by Roux, Nel, Fisher, and Barendse (), such as opportunities for co‐learning and refinements, were very apparent. The socio‐ecological challenges and opportunities identified in Collier () will also be better addressed by prioritizations, as used here, where freshwater values are not split into individual river, wetland, or lake ecosystems. Combining the results with estimates of average condition for the individual subcatchments, and the river groups that they contain, allows the rapid identification of vulnerable subcatchments that are strong candidates for remedial action.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Approaches to the selection of a network of freshwater ecosystems within New Zealand for conservation

West¹,

Leathwick²,

Dean‐Speirs³

2019

Aquatic Conservation

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1. Although the freshwater environments of New Zealand once comprised an extensive interconnected network of rivers, lakes, and wetlands, their extent, condition, and connectivity have been reduced since human settlement, with consequent impacts on ecosystem functioning and the species that reside within them. An imbalance in the protection of freshwater ecosystems, with significant underrepresentation of lowland freshwater ecosystems, makes these the most threatened ecosystems in New Zealand.2. Recent policy initiatives are attempting to take a whole-catchment view, i.e. 'from the mountains to the sea'. There is also an increased focus on the restoration of vulnerable water bodies that still support moderate values, in preference to previous long-term restoration programmes for the most degraded freshwater sites. The outcomes of these programmes have been less certain, with opportunities lost for systems that are declining in condition but have not yet reached the threshold of degradation for investment.3. This work demonstrates the gains that can be made through the use of spatial conservation prioritization software to identify priority catchments for freshwater restoration, emphasizing the representation of a full range of ecosystems and species, while also taking account of longitudinal-connectivity constraints within catchments.4. Third-order subcatchments were the most suitable scale for this prioritization, to capture the most important components within the largest river catchments. Populations of important native fish populations and the locations of major terrestrial conservation projects were also considered when assessing priorities; iteratively chosen weightings were applied to control the balance of representation across these different features.5. Consideration was also given to existing patterns of protection, in order to assess the biodiversity representation within areas currently protected and to identify sites that would provide maximum additional benefits if restored or protected.6. The resulting subcatchment prioritizations have contributed strongly to regional collaborative restoration processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Approaches to the selection of a network of freshwater ecosystems within New Zealand for conservation

West¹,

Leathwick²,

Dean‐Speirs³

2019

Aquatic Conservation

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“…This topic is beyond our present review, but we urge other scientists to summarize how restoration affects ecosystem functioning measured using these diversity indices as proxies (see e.g. Collier, 2017).…”

Section: Research Gaps and Future Study Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding environmental change through the lens of trait-based, functional, and phylogenetic biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems

et al. 2019

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In the era of the Anthropocene, environmental change is accelerating biodiversity loss across ecosystems on Earth, among which freshwaters are likely the most threatened. Different biodiversity facets in the freshwater realm suffer from various environmental changes that jeopardize the ecosystem functions and services important for humankind. In this work we examine how environmental changes (e.g., climate change, eutrophication, or invasive species) affect trait-based, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of biological communities. We first developed a simple conceptual model of the possible relationships between environmental change and these three diversity facets in freshwaters and, secondly, systematically reviewed articles where these relationships had been investigated in different freshwater ecosystems. Finally, we highlighted research gaps from the perspectives of organisms, ecosystems, stressors, and geographical locations. Our conceptual model suggested that both natural factors and global change operating at various spatial scales influence freshwater community structure and ecosystem functioning. The relationships between biodiversity and environmental change depend on geographical region, organism group, spatial scale, and environmental change gradient length. The systematic review revealed that environmental change impacts biodiversity patterns in freshwaters, but there is no single type of biodiversity response to the observed global changes. Natural stressors had different, even contradictory, effects (i.e., multiple, negative, and positive) on biodiversity compared with anthropogenic stressors. Anthropogenic stressors more often decreased biodiversity, although eutrophication and climate change affected freshwater ecosystems in a complex, more multi-dimensional way. The research gaps we identified were related, for example, to the low number of community-based biodiversity studies, the lack of information on true phylogenies for all freshwater organism groups, the missing evaluations whether species traits are phylogenetically conserved, and the geographical biases in research (i.e., absence of studies from Africa, Southern Asia, and Russia). We hope that our review will stimulate more research on the less well-known facets and topics of biodiversity loss in highly vulnerable freshwater ecosystems.

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“…In consonance with the theme of the 8 th World Water Forum of ‘Sharing Water’ we need to encompass the total value of our aquatic environment. Kevin Collier brought this home elegantly in a recent editorial in this journal when he gave examples of the spiritual and social values associated with river conservation and restoration (Collier, ).…”

Section: The Ecosystem Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Editorial: Aquatic conservation and the World Water Forum

Moulton

2017

Aquatic Conservation

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Editorial: Measuring river restoration success: Are we missing the boat?

Cited by 27 publications

References 36 publications

Approaches to the selection of a network of freshwater ecosystems within New Zealand for conservation

Approaches to the selection of a network of freshwater ecosystems within New Zealand for conservation

Understanding environmental change through the lens of trait-based, functional, and phylogenetic biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems

Editorial: Aquatic conservation and the World Water Forum

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