Chapter 14 - Detecting and Quantifying the Impact of Multiple Stress on River Ecosystems

Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most imperiled on earth, with rivers being particularly susceptible to anthropogenic stress. Environmental monitoring across Europe reveals that 45% of rivers are affected by more than one human-driven pressure. Detecting and quantifying the impact of multiple stressors exerted from these pressures thus represent important scientific tasks in support of aquatic ecosystem management. This chapter reviews the scientific literature on experimental and field-based observational studies investigating into multistressor effects. Forty experimental and 48 field-based observational studies were covered, dealing with 72 and 151 paired stressor combinations, respectively. Morphological stress paired with either nutrient or hydrological stress was most frequently addressed in both study types. While experiments focused on a broad range of receptor organisms including phytobenthos, benthic invertebrates, fish, microorganisms (e.g., bacteria and fungi) and related processes (e.g., leaf decomposition), field studies mainly investigated the effects on benthic invertebrates and fish. Stressor interactions were more relevant in the experimental studies, with almost 50% of phytobenthos receptor metrics featuring interactions, as compared to the field studies, where stressor interactions were often not specified. Unknown stressor interactions challenge aquatic ecosystem management by posing risks of unwanted “ecological surprises.” Future scientific efforts need to concentrate on classifying the relevance and strength of interactive effects across types of stressors, receptors, and existing ecosystems, considering the specific local conditions of the water bodies to be managed. River basin management will benefit from ecosystem modeling to diagnose the causes of detrimental ecological effects, or to predict the benefits and trade-offs of management strategies in multistressor contexts.