MODULE 2 - RECEPTORS

WP6 - Biological quality under multiple stressors (BIOL)

WP6 quantifies the effects of water scarcity and other stressors on river biodiversity, including bacteria, primary producers (algae, macrophytes), invertebrates, and fish, and how this affects biological traits and functional. On-site analyses are combined with field and mesocosm experiments, studying the changes induced by pathogens, micropollutants and invasive species on biodiversity in each study basin.
The main tasks within WP6 are:
•    Recognition of the environmental pressures in the basin case-studies and analyses of the effects on biodiversity, throughout field study and analysis of existing data
•    Identification of the invasiveness level of selected alien taxa and forecasting of risk of species dispersion, establishment, and associated impacts
•    Identification of species traits in the biological communities affected by single or multiple stressors
•    Predicting the capacity to protect benthic fauna from stressors by defining fluvial habitat indicators

WP Leader: Isabel Muñoz (UB), [email protected]


WP7 - Ecosystem stressors analysis (ECOSYSTEM)

WP7 assesses ecosystem functions at different spatial and temporal scales, by measuring processes such as nutrient retention, removal of pollutants, or whole-ecosystem metabolism. Additionally, whole-river metabolism is reconstructed from historical data on oxygen concentration to determine the effects of climatic variation and new human stressors of known occurrence on river ecosystem functioning. The historical perspective of human occupancy and land use change is assessed through analyses of historic adjustment of river channels
The main tasks within WP6 are:
•    Define a set of methods for measuring ecosystem functions
•    Analyse the effects of multiple stressors on the degradation of natural and human-produced organic substances
•    Assess the effects on nutrient retention and metabolism associated to water scarcity and other stressors
•    Reconstruct historical changes in ecosystem functioning
•    Assess the effects of interactions between stressors on ecosystem functioning by means of manipulative experiments

WP Leader: Arturo Elosegi (UPV/EHU), [email protected]