Abstract
More than half of the global river network is composed of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES), which are expanding in response to climate change and increasing water demands. After years of obscurity, the science of IRES has bloomed recently and it is being recognised that IRES support a unique and high biodiversity, provide essential ecosystem services and are functionally part of river networks and groundwater systems. However, they still lack protective and adequate management, thereby jeopardizing water resources at the global scale. This Action brings together hydrologists, biogeochemists, ecologists, modellers, environmental economists, social researchers and stakeholders from 14 different countries to develop a research network for synthesising the fragmented, recent knowledge on IRES, improving our understanding of IRES and translating this into a science-based, sustainable management of river networks. Deliverables will be provided through i) research workshops synthesising and addressing key challenges in IRES science, supporting research exchange and educating young researchers, and ii) researcher-stakeholder workshops translating improved knowledge into tangible tools and guidelines for protecting IRES and raising awareness of their importance and value in societal and decision-maker spheres. This Action is organized within six Working Groups to address: (i) the occurrence, distribution and hydrological trends of IRES; (ii) the effects of flow alterations on IRES functions and services; (iii) the interaction of aquatic and terrestrial biogeochemical processes at catchment scale; (iv) the biomonitoring of the ecological status of IRES; (v) synergies in IRES research at the European scale, data assemblage and sharing; (vi) IRES management and advocacy training.
Highlights
Short-term and long-term scientific, technological, and/or socio-economic impacts. The results of this Action are essential to support current initiatives on the ecological understanding of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) through empirical and modelling approaches, as well as to propose monitoring programmes and management and protection strategies based on knowledge of IRES communities, functions and ecosystem services
Quantify the functions and ecosystem services provided by IRES and explore their responses to flow alterations; define rules for flow management in IRES
Couple aquatic and terrestrial models of carbon and nutrient cycling at the catchment-scale and for different IRES; conduct meta-analyses to estimate rates of storage, processing and export in flowing and dry phases; link with the spatial and temporal hydrological information compiled in WG1; explore the influence of terrestrial processes on water quality during flowing phases; refine current estimates of how much river systems process carbon and nutrients at the global scale
Summary
To disseminate the scientific activities; to train ECIs and stakeholders; to promote STSM; to deliver the tools and guidelines to stakeholders; to ensure visibility of the Action at the international scale. The participation of IRES experts from 4 International Partner Countries (USA, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia) with whom several participants of the consortium have ongoing and efficient collaborations will provide scientific and management expertise, experience and training to the Action participants. This will notably include the invitation of several international experts to the TS and the participation of managers from countries where the management of IRES is most advanced (e.g., Australia) to some RTMW to gain from their experience and share the Action challenges and progress. The intertwined collaboration in the Action between researchers and managers will be crucial to achieve its goal, translating current knowledge into management tools and guidelines
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