Using invertebrate functional traits to improve flow variability assessment within European rivers

Alex Laini; Gemma Burgazzi; Richard Chadd; Judy England; Iakovos Tziortzis; Massimo Ventrucci; Paolo Vezza; Paul J Wood; Pierluigi Viaroli; Simone Guareschi

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155047

Using invertebrate functional traits to improve flow variability assessment within European rivers

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Aug 1:832:155047. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155047. Epub 2022 Apr 5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ University of Parma, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Parma, Italy; Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy. Electronic address: alex.laini@unito.it.
² University of Parma, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Parma, Italy; Institute for Environmental Sciences, Quantitative Landscape Ecology, University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany.
³ Environment Agency of England, Stepping Stone Walk, Winfrey Avenue, Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK.
⁴ Environment Agency, Red Kite House, Howbery Park, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, UK.
⁵ Water Development Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Nicosia, Cyprus.
⁶ Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
⁷ Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy.
⁸ Geography and Environment, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.
⁹ University of Parma, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Parma, Italy.
¹⁰ Geography and Environment, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK; Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), Seville, Spain.

PMID: 35395295
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155047

Abstract

Rivers are among the most threatened ecosystems worldwide and are experiencing rapid biodiversity loss. Flow alteration due to climate change, water abstraction and augmentation is a severe stressor on many aquatic communities. Macroinvertebrates are widely used for biomonitoring river ecosystems although current taxonomic approaches used to characterise ecological responses to flow have limitations in terms of generalisation across biogeographical regions. A new macroinvertebrate trait-based index, Flow-T, derived from ecological functional information (flow velocity preferences) currently available for almost 500 invertebrate taxa at the European scale is presented. The index was tested using data from rivers spanning different biogeographic and hydro-climatic regions from the UK, Cyprus and Italy. The performance of Flow-T at different spatial scales and its relationship with an established UK flow assessment tool, the Lotic-invertebrate Index for Flow Evaluation (LIFE), was assessed to determine the transferability of the approach internationally. Flow-T was strongly correlated with the LIFE index using both presence-absence and abundance weighted data from all study areas (r varying from 0.46 to 0.96). When applied at the river reach scale, Flow-T was effective in identifying communities associated with distinct mesohabitats characterised by their hydraulic characteristics (e.g., pools, riffles, glides). Flow-T can be derived using both presence/absence and abundance data and can be easily adapted to varying taxonomic resolutions. The trait-based approach facilitates research using the entire European invertebrate fauna and can potentially be applied in regions where information on taxa-specific flow velocity preferences is not currently available. The inter-regional and continental scale transferability of Flow-T may help water resource managers gauge the effects of changes in flow regime on instream communities at varying spatial scales.

Keywords: Bioassessment; Flow velocity preference; Functional ecology; Hydrological alteration; River ecosystems; Traits theory.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biodiversity
Climate Change
Ecosystem*
Environmental Monitoring
Invertebrates / physiology
Rivers*