LINKING THE RECOVERY OF STREAM INVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND ASSOCIATED ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY – IMPLICATIONS FOR RESTORATION SUCCESS

Restoration approaches to improve the hydromorphology of streams are increasing worldwide, but often fail to recover biodiversity and ecosystem functionality. One reason might be that many restoration measures are undertaken at the reach scale, which may not be the relevant spatial scale for the activity invertebrates that mediate crucial ecosystem functions. Here, we investigate the relationship between the restoration of hydromorphology after dam removal in streams in Germany and Spain and the recovery of macroinvertebrate biodiversity and their associated ecosystem functions. Our data indicate that while restoration measures associated with dam removal are often successful in restoring animal biodiversity and community composition, this does not necessarily come with a complete recovery ecosystem functioning related to those organisms. As the recovery of functionality gains attention as a key objective of ecosystem restoration, a holistic perspective covering not only structural, but also functional variables is thus essential for evaluating the success or failure of restoration measures. Ultimately, understanding the linkages between hydromorphological heterogeneity, biodiversity and associated ecosystem functions is crucial for successful and sustainable restoration measures.

Presentation Preference: Oral

Primary Presenter: Patrick Fink, University of Cologne (patrick.fink@ufz.de)

Authors:

Patrick Fink, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ  (patrick.fink@ufz.de)

Julia Pasqualini, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ  (julia.pasqualini@ufz.de)

Christine Anlanger, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau – RPTU  (christine.anlanger@ufz.de)

Daniel Von Schiller, Universitat de Barcelona  (d.vonschiller@ub.edu)

Isabel Muñoz, Universitat de Barcelona  (imunoz@ub.edu)

Francesc Sabater, Universitat de Barcelona  (fsabater@ub.edu)

Andrea Butturini, Universitat de Barcelona  (abutturini@ub.edu)

Margarita Menendez, Universitat de Barcelona  (mmenendez@ub.edu)

Clara Mendoza-Lera, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau – RPTU  (clara.mendozalera@gmail.com)

Andreas Lorke, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau – RPTU  (a.lorke@rptu.de)

Markus Weitere, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ  (markus.weitere@ufz.de)

Mario Brauns, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ  (mario.brauns@ufz.de)