New Concept for Strategies in Water Management

Researchers working at the University of Montana and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) have now developed a theoretical framework - the concept of ecological simplification - aimed at closing this gap

Missoula, MT/Magdeburg. The basic principle behind most strategies aimed at renaturalising ecosystems is to increase biodiversity by restoring natural habitat structure, which should lead to improved ecosystem services in the process. These projects often do not result in the success researchers had hoped for because the complexity of ecological relationships is so vast that it is difficult to detect the precise ecological factors that have priority over the many others in a particular case. Researchers working at the University of Montana and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) have now developed a theoretical framework - the concept of ecological simplification - aimed at closing this gap. They tested it in two iconic river landscapes: the Missouri River in the U.S. state of Montana and in the Elbe River in Saxony-Anhalt. The results were recently published in the BioScience journal.

It sounds rather simple: in order to restore the original high level of biodiversity in our rivers, they should be renaturalised, i.e. returned to their original state. Yet it really is not that easy as these efforts are often limited in practice, e.g. through historical, cultural or economic factors. Furthermore, it is profoundly difficult for on-site researchers to examine the abundance of ecological factors and find the ones that take priority from an ecological perspective. All too often the priorities for action are stipulated in terms of technical and financial feasibility. This leads to elaborate renaturalisation measures often not achieving the sought-after success. But what are the right measures?

To help with this decision-making process, researchers have developed the concept of ecological simplification and tested it in two river landscapes. The concept assumes that natural river landscapes are highly complex. This complexity involves various components, in particular spatial heterogeneity, the connectivity between spacial compartments and historical legacy. Human activity has influenced each of these components in various ways, inevitably reducing complexity. In other words, it simplifies the system and thus reduces the number of ecological niches in which species can coexist. By systematically observing these components of complexity, causes of the simplification can be recognised and countermeasures can be introduced to remedy them. When selecting efficient management measures, it therefore makes a big difference whether the ecological problems arise from past transformations of habitat resulting from development of human infrastructure, from a history of pollution caused by chemicals, and/or from invasion by alien species.

In the case study, researchers carefully examined two rivers that primarily differ in terms of the duration of human influence: a river section of the Missouri River in eastern Montana (USA) with comparatively low human influence, and the Elbe River that flows through populated areas of north eastern Germany where it has been influenced by intensive agricultural activity, shaped as an important shipping lane, and isolated from its flood plains over most of its length.

Source: Eureka Alert

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