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Flow variability and macroinvertebrate community response within riverine systems

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journal contribution
posted on 2013-09-03, 14:00 authored by Wendy A. Monk, Paul WoodPaul Wood, David M. Hannah, Douglas A. Wilson, Chris A. Extence, Richard P. Chadd
River flow regimes, controlled by climatic and catchment factors, vary over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. This hydrological dynamism is important in determining the structure and functioning of riverine ecosystems; however, such hydroecological associations remain poorly quantified. This paper explores and models relationships between a suite of flow regime predictors and macroinvertebrate community metrics from 83 rivers in England and Wales. A two-stage analytical approach was employed: (1) classification of 83 river basins based upon the magnitude and shape (form) of their long-term (1980 – 1999) average annual regime to group basins with similar flow responses; and (2) examination of relationships between a total of 201 flow regime descriptors identified by previous researchers and macroinvertebrate community metrics for the whole data set and long-term flow regime classes over an 11-year period (1990 – 2000). The classification method highlighted large-scale patterns in river flow regimes, identifying five magnitude classes and three shape classes. A west–east trend of flow regime magnitude (high-low) and timing (early-late peak) was displayed across the study area, reflecting climatic gradients and basin controls (e.g. lithology). From the suite of hydrological variables, those associated with the magnitude of the flow regime consistently produced the strongest relationships with macroinvertebrate community metrics for all sites and for the long-term regime composite classes. The results indicate that the classification (subdivision) of rivers into flow regime regions potentially offers a means of increasing predictive capacity and, in turn, better management of fluvial hydrosystems.

History

School

  • Social Sciences

Department

  • Geography and Environment

Citation

MONK, W.A. ... et al, 2006. Flow variability and macroinvertebrate community response within riverine systems. River Research and Applications, 22 (5), pp.595-615.

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Ltd (© Crown copyright 2006)

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publication date

2006

Notes

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the article, which has been published in final form at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.933

ISSN

1535-1459

eISSN

1535-1467

Language

  • en