Browsing by Author "Robertson, Anne"

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    Investigating invertebrate biodiversity around large wood: taxonomic vs functional metrics
    (Springer, 2020-07-21) Magliozzi, Chiara; Meyer, Albin; Usseglio-Polatera, Philippe; Robertson, Anne; Grabowski, Robert C.
    Large wood is a key component of river channels that affects numerous hydrological, physical and geomorphological processes. It promotes a diversity of benthic habitats in-channel and has shown to support more abundant and diverse benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in previous ecological studies. However, the effects of large wood on the structural and functional diversities of hyporheic invertebrates are less well studied, and simultaneous examination of these diversity metrics on hyporheic and benthic compartments of the stream bed has not been conducted previously. Therefore, this study investigates the taxonomic and functional diversities of hyporheic and benthic invertebrate assemblages around natural accumulations of large wood in a British lowland river. Taxonomic and functional diversities were partitioned (into alpha, beta, and gamma diversities) and examined in reaches with and without large wood (control). We found that functional diversity is often decoupled from taxonomic diversity, demonstrating a functional redundancy of the macroinvertebrate assemblage for both hyporheic and benthic zones. Moreover, the highest functional variability at alpha-scale was observed in large wood habitats, which suggests that taxonomic diversity is enhanced by the small-scale environmental heterogeneity around large wood. To this end, this study contributes empirical evidence of functional and structural responses of invertebrates to large wood accumulation. Such information could be used to better understand the ecological implications of restoration works in lowland rivers and guide more effective management strategies
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    Is the hyporheic zone relevant beyond the scientific community?
    (MDPI, 2019-10-25) Lewandowski, Jörg; Arnon, Shai; Banks, Eddie; Batelaan, Okke; Betterle, Andrea; Broecker, Tabea; Coll, Claudia; Drummond, Jennifer D.; Garcia, Jaime Gaona; Galloway, Jason; Gomez-Velez, Jesus; Grabowski, Robert C.; Herzog, Skuyler P.; Hinkelmann, Reinhard; Höhne, Anja; Hollender, Juliane; Horn, Marcus A.; Jaeger, Anna; Krause, Stefan; Löchner Prats, Adrian; Magliozzi, Chiara; Meinikmann, Karin; Babak Mojarrad, Brian; Mueller, Birgit Maria; Peralta-Maraver, Ignacio; Popp, Andrea L.; Posselt, Malte; Putschew, Anke; Radke, Michael; Raza, Muhammad; Riml, Joakim; Robertson, Anne; Rutere, Cyrus; Schaper, Jonas L.; Schirmer, Mario; Schulz, Hanna; Shanafield, Margaret; Singh, Tanu; Ward, Adam S.; Wolke, Philipp; Wörman, Anders; Wu, Liwen
    Rivers are important ecosystems under continuous anthropogenic stresses. The hyporheic zone is a ubiquitous, reactive interface between the main channel and its surrounding sediments along the river network. We elaborate on the main physical, biological, and biogeochemical drivers and processes within the hyporheic zone that have been studied by multiple scientific disciplines for almost half a century. These previous efforts have shown that the hyporheic zone is a modulator for most metabolic stream processes and serves as a refuge and habitat for a diverse range of aquatic organisms. It also exerts a major control on river water quality by increasing the contact time with reactive environments, which in turn results in retention and transformation of nutrients, trace organic compounds, fine suspended particles, and microplastics, among others. The paper showcases the critical importance of hyporheic zones, both from a scientific and an applied perspective, and their role in ecosystem services to answer the question of the manuscript title. It identifies major research gaps in our understanding of hyporheic processes. In conclusion, we highlight the potential of hyporheic restoration to efficiently manage and reactivate ecosystem functions and services in river corridors.
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    Understanding the Rights of Nature: working together across and beyond disciplines
    (Springer, 2023-06-13) Gilbert, Jeremie; Soliev, Ilkhom; Robertson, Anne; Vermeylen, Saskia; Williams, Neil W.; Grabowski, Robert C.
    Recognising the rights of nature is seen by many as the paradigm shift needed to truly embed ecology and the environment into nature-based policy and management solutions to address biodiversity loss, climate change, and sustainable development. However, despite its potential, research across and beyond disciplinary boundaries remains very limited, with most located in the humanities and social sciences and often lacking connection with environmental sciences. Based on a multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary project, we identify some critical common themes among the humanities, social sciences, and environmental sciences to support future research on the potential of the rights of nature to address contemporary social-environmental challenges. We argue that future research needs to be not only interdisciplinary but also transdisciplinary since the movement of rights of nature is often driven by and based on knowledge emerging outside of academic disciplines.