Invertebrate Responses to Restoration across Benthic and Hyporheic Stream Compartments

River restoration is a multi-billion-dollar business, yet it is unclear whether benthic community health, which is routinely monitored, can be used as a proxy for the health of the hyporheos. Applying a Before-After-Control-Impact approach to a UK case study, we compared the effects of removing an i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) 2021-04, Vol.13 (7), p.996
Main Authors: Robertson, Anne, Perkins, Daniel, England, Judy, Johns, Tim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Benthos
Biodiversity
Biogeochemistry
Burrowing organisms
Case studies
Catchment scale
Catchments
Compartments
Composition
Confidence intervals
Connectivity
Ecosystems
Environmental restoration
Gills
Hyporheic zones
Invertebrates
Laboratories
Relative abundance
Rivers
Sample size
Sediments
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:River restoration is a multi-billion-dollar business, yet it is unclear whether benthic community health, which is routinely monitored, can be used as a proxy for the health of the hyporheos. Applying a Before-After-Control-Impact approach to a UK case study, we compared the effects of removing an impoundment on the hyporheos with effects on the benthos. We compared invertebrate biological traits that we expected to respond to the restoration. We constructed sample-size based diversity curves and determined β-diversity between compartments and reaches. Two years post-restoration, hyporheic taxon richness was significantly lower in the restored reach compared to the control. However, three years post-restoration taxon richness was significantly higher in the impact reach. The composition of the control and impact reach hyporheos was most dissimilar at the first sampling time point post-restoration and at this time there was a universal decrease in the relative abundance of burrowing organisms respiring through gills. We did not detect a signal of restoration on benthic assemblage diversity and composition, perhaps because reach-scale restorations can be overwhelmed by catchment-scale disturbances. Thus, the hyporheos and the benthos responded differently to restoration. Given the importance of the hyporheic zone in the provision of ecosystem function and services, it is clear that it should be included in future monitoring protocols that aim to assess river restoration success.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w13070996