Interactions among temporal patterns determine the effects of multiple stressors

Molinos, Jorge García; Donohue, Ian

doi:10.1890/10-0018.1

Cited by 45 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The change of the flow regime due to hydropeaking affected the aquatic ecosystems, in many previous reports, extending with a reach of hundreds of kilometers downstream [1,7,8]. That is, hydropeaking changes physical habitat variables, as well as the intensity, duration, timing, and frequency of the perturbations affect the habitat abundance (or availability) and diversity patterns [9][10][11]. Physical habitat simulations have been successfully used to solve various relevant problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominant Fish and Macroinvertebrate Response to Flow Changes of the Geum River in Korea

Kang

Choi

2018

Water

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This study presents the impact of natural flow patterns on downstream aquatic species habitats in a reach of the Geum River, Korea. The study reach is a 13.4 km long, located downstream of the Yongdam Dam. To assess such an impact, this study performed physical habitat simulations. The River2D model was used for the computation of the flow field and morphology, and the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model for the habitat simulation. Three habitat variables-flow depth, velocity, and substrate were used. The Zacco platypus and Baetis fuscatus were selected as the target fish and benthic macro-invertebrate, respectively. Using the building block approach (BBA), the scenarios for modifying dam operations were constructed in the study reach. Scenario 1, scenario 2, and scenario 3 were proposed by using the magnitude-duration concept, base flow allocation concept, and seasonally adjusted minimum flow allocation concept, respectively. Simulation results indicated that the scenarios' effects significantly increased by about 14.3% for the weighted usable area (WUA). In addition, the morphology change with the restoration of flood events was investigated. It was revealed that the morphology change in the physical habitat simulations further increased by about 13% for the WUA. The change of dam operations through natural flow patterns is more advantageous to aquatic species.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominant Fish and Macroinvertebrate Response to Flow Changes of the Geum River in Korea

Kang

Choi

2018

Water

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“…Ecological response curves from multivariate models could also improve our understanding of interactions among multiple stressors. Recent factorial studies have identified complex interactions among multiple stressors (Townsend, Uhlmann & Matthaei, 2008; Molinos & Donohue, 2010), yet knowledge of these interactions across full gradients of stress remains limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying relationships between land‐use gradients and structural and functional indicators of stream ecological integrity

et al. 2011

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1. Modification of natural landscapes and land-use intensification are global phenomena that can result in a range of differing pressures on lotic ecosystems. We analysed national-scale databases to quantify the relationship between three land uses (indigenous vegetation, urbanisation and agriculture) and indicators of stream ecological integrity. Boosted regression tree modelling was used to test the response of 14 indicators belonging to four groups -water quality (at 578 sites), benthic invertebrates (at 2666 sites), fish (at 6858 sites) and ecosystem processes (at 156 sites). Our aims were to characterise the ecological response curves of selected functional and structural metrics in relation to three land uses, examine the environmental moderators of these relationships and quantify the relative utility of metrics as indicators of stream ecological integrity. 2. The strongest indicators of land-use effects were nitrate + nitrite, delta-15 nitrogen value (d 15 N) of primary consumers and the Macroinvertebrate Community Index (a biotic index of organic pollution), while the weakest overall indicators were gross primary productivity, benthic invertebrate richness and fish richness. All indicators declined in response to removal of indigenous vegetation and urbanisation, while variable responses to agricultural intensity were observed for some indicators. 3. The response curves for several indicators suggested distinct thresholds in response to urbanisation and agriculture, specifically at 10% impervious cover and at 0.1 g m )3 nitrogen concentration, respectively. 4. Water quality and ecosystem process indicators were influenced by a combination of temperature, slope and flow variables, whereas for macroinvertebrate indicators, catchment rainfall, segment slope and temperature were significant environmental predictor variables. Downstream variables (e.g. distance to the coast) were significant in explaining residual variation in fish indicators, not surprisingly given the preponderance of diadromous fish species in New Zealand waterways. The inclusion of continuous environmental variables used to develop a stream typology improved model performance more than the inclusion of stream type alone. 5. Our results reaffirm the importance of accounting for underlying spatial variation in the environment when quantifying relationships between land use and the ecological integrity of streams. Of distinctive interest, however, were the contrasting and complementary responses of different indicators of stream integrity to land use, suggesting that multiple indicators are required

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“…Deciphering how, and under what circumstances, stressors interact is a daunting task. Stressor interactions can vary depending on the identity and severity of each individual stressor (Lafferty & Kuris, 1999;Hoverman & Relyea, 2007), the number and combination of stressors (Crain et al, 2008), the temporal pattern of stressor occurrence (Molinos & Donohue, 2010), the attributes of the impacted ecosystem (Fitch & Crowe, 2011) and the environmental or biological response metric examined (Christensen et al, 2006). The inherent limitations of laboratory experiments and field manipulations, which are the approaches used in a majority of multiplestressor studies, make it difficult to address these complexities simultaneously.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decadal‐scale regional changes in Canadian freshwater zooplankton: the likely consequence of complex interactions among multiple anthropogenic stressors

Palmer

Yan

2013

Freshwater Biology

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Summary Ecological integrity is increasingly threatened by multiple anthropogenic stressors, but the cumulative impact of stressors is poorly understood because they can interact in unexpected ways. Knowledge of these interactions and their associated impacts is needed to support the conservation of valued ecosystems. We used a large‐scale, replicated field survey and multiple regression analysis to investigate the cumulative impacts of multiple physical, chemical and biological stressors on the crustacean zooplankton assemblages of 34 Canadian Shield lakes between 1980s and 2004–2005. Zooplankton total abundance, species richness, diversity and community structure, as well as the relative abundances of prominent taxonomic orders of zooplankton, changed at a regional scale. These changes occurred in response to changes in water quality and lake thermal regime, and invasion by an exotic predator. Interactions between stressors were common and represented an important determinant of zooplankton assemblage changes over time. We provide the first evidence that the individual and combined impacts of multiple stressors cause regional ecological change over decades. Our results demonstrate the prevalence of stressor interactions in natural environments and highlight the complexity of ecosystem responses to multiple stressors. Zooplankton changes recorded here may be widespread because climate change, acidification, development and the spread of invasive species are globally pervasive. These changes could have cascading impacts because zooplankton is an essential link in aquatic food webs. Our findings highlight the need to consider the interactive effect of stressors when assessing anthropogenic impacts and will inform management and conservation of ecosystems threatened by multiple stressors.

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Interactions among temporal patterns determine the effects of multiple stressors

Cited by 45 publications

References 40 publications

Dominant Fish and Macroinvertebrate Response to Flow Changes of the Geum River in Korea

Dominant Fish and Macroinvertebrate Response to Flow Changes of the Geum River in Korea

Quantifying relationships between land‐use gradients and structural and functional indicators of stream ecological integrity

Decadal‐scale regional changes in Canadian freshwater zooplankton: the likely consequence of complex interactions among multiple anthropogenic stressors

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