Abstract
Temporary rivers are characterized by shifting habitats between flowing, isolated pools, and dry phases. Despite the fact that temporary rivers are currently receiving increasing attention by researchers and managers, the isolated pools phase has been largely disregarded. However, isolated pools in temporary rivers are transitional habitats of major ecological relevance as they support aquatic ecosystems during no-flow periods, and can act as refugees for maintaining local and regional freshwater biodiversity. Pool characteristics such as surface water permanence and size, presence of predators, local physicochemical conditions, time since disconnection from the river flow, or distance to other freshwater habitats challenge a comprehensive understanding of the ecology of these habitats, and challenge ecological quality assessments and conservation practices in temporary rivers. In this paper, we aim at providing a characterization of isolated pools from a hydrological, geomorphological, physicochemical, biogeochemical, and biological point of view as a framework to better conceptualize, conserve, and manage these habitats.
Highlights
Temporary rivers are fluvial ecosystems in which water stops flowing or dries out completely at any time of year
Ponds, rock pools, or vernal pools, isolated pools (IPs) are hydrologically connected to lotic waters for certain periods of time
Rarely examined in conjunction with ecological studies, hydrology is the first factor controlling the ecology of IPs at both short-(i.e., seasonal) and long-(i.e., decadal) temporal scales [15,30]
Summary
Temporary rivers are fluvial ecosystems in which water stops flowing or dries out completely at any time of year. Human alteration may reduce the formation and duration of IPs through direct or indirect water withdrawals [13,26] All this complexity increases the uncertainty to get a full understanding of IPs in temporary rivers and provides challenges and opportunities for researchers and managers. Ponds, rock pools, or vernal pools, IPs are hydrologically connected to lotic waters for certain periods of time. Some characteristics of these lentic ecosystems, could apply to IPs and have been used in this review when information on IPs was not available. This includes information from ponds, rock pools, or vernal pools and from lentic ecosystems temporarily connected to lotic waters, such as temporary floodplain wetlands or surface-connected vernal pools [27,28,29]
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