Decadal-Scale Change in a Large-River Ecosystem

Like many large-river ecosystems, the Hudson River has been changing rapidly, chiefly as a result of human activities. Many of these changes take place on a decadal timescale, longer than the duration of most ecological studies. We use long-term studies of the Hudson to describe decadal-scale change...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioscience 2014-06, Vol.64 (6), p.496-510
Main Authors: STRAYER, DAVID L., COLE, JONATHAN J., FINDLAY, STUART E. G., FISCHER, DAVID T., GEPHART, JESSICA A., MALCOM, HEATHER M., PACE, MICHAEL L., ROSI-MARSHALL, EMMA J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic ecosystems
Climate change
Ecological invasion
Ecological studies
Ecology
Ecosystems
Environmental changes
Evolution
Extreme weather
Fish harvest
Fresh water
Freshwater ecology
Freshwater ecosystems
Freshwater fishes
Lotic systems
Marine ecosystems
Mussels
Overview Articles
Rivers
Weather
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Summary:Like many large-river ecosystems, the Hudson River has been changing rapidly, chiefly as a result of human activities. Many of these changes take place on a decadal timescale, longer than the duration of most ecological studies. We use long-term studies of the Hudson to describe decadal-scale change in this ecosystem. Major impacts on the Hudson in the last few decades include biological invasions, climate change and extreme weather events, and changes in harvests of fishes. The effects of these impacts may be manifested at even longer timescales because of slow ecological responses and rapid evolution. Similar changes are occurring in large rivers around the world. We propose a framework based on the abruptness, severity, duration, and novelty of the drivers and responses to organize and understand these highly varied decadal-scale changes. Tracking and managing these rapidly changing ecosystems require an active program of scientific research and monitoring.
ISSN:0006-3568
1525-3244
DOI:10.1093/biosci/biu061