Unravelling large-scale patterns and drivers of biodiversity in dry rivers.

More than half of the world's rivers dry up periodically, but our understanding of the biological communities in dry riverbeds remains limited. Specifically, the roles of dispersal, environmental filtering and biotic interactions in driving biodiversity in dry rivers are poorly understood. Here, we conduct a large-scale coordinated survey of patterns and drivers of biodiversity in dry riverbeds.

Physical habitat modeling for river macroinvertebrate communities.

Habitat models rarely consider macroinvertebrate communities as ecological targets in rivers. Available approaches mainly focus on single macroinvertebrate species, not addressing the ecological needs and functionality of the whole community. This research aimed at providing an approach to model the habitat of the macroinvertebrate communities.

Color polymorphism and mating trends in a population of the alpine leaf beetle Oreina gloriosa.

The bright colors of Alpine leaf beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) are thought to act as aposematic signals against predation. Within the European Alps, at least six species display a basal color of either blue or green, likely configuring a classic case of müllerian mimicry. In this context, intra-population color polymorphism is paradoxical as the existence of numerous color morphs might hamper the establishment of a search image in visual predators.

The foraging ecology of yellow-billed and red- billed choughs changed between two climatically different years.

Climate change is affecting the alpine ecosystem at an unprecedented rate, with marked changes in spring phenology and the elevation distribution of birds. Changes in the European Alps are happening rapidly, and it is possible behaviours stand to change from one year to the next. The year 2022 was characterised by climatic extremes: Italy experienced its hottest year ever, and it was the driest since 1800.

Spatio-temporal modelling suggests that some dung beetle species (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae) may respond to global warming by boosting dung removal.

In the current framework of changes to the global climate, information on the thermal tolerance of dung beetles is crucial to understand how they might cope with increases in land temperature in terms of survival and ecosystem service provision. In this spatio-temporal modelling study, we investigated the thermal tolerance and effect of temperature changes on dung removal by three dung beetle species (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae) living within the 600-1400 m altitudinal belt in the Italian Alps. We chose large tunneler beetles because of their pivotal role in dung removal and nutrient recycling, important ecosystem services for maintaining the viability and profitability of the Alpine pastoral system.

Behavioural Repeatability and Behavioural Syndrome in the Dung Beetle (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae).

Although personality studies have primarily focused on vertebrates, the evidence showing invertebrates to be capable of displaying personalities has been steadily growing in recent years. In this study, we investigated the behavioural repeatability (repetition of a behaviour over time) and behavioural syndromes (a set of correlated behaviours) in , which is a dung beetle species showing complex sub-social behaviour. We analysed three behaviours (activity, thanatosis and distress call emission) by measuring seven distinct behavioural traits (i.

Climate change impact on the ecological status of rivers: The case of Albaida Valley (SE Spain).

Understanding the effects of environmental stressors (e.g., potential changes in climate and land use) on ecological status is essential for freshwater management.

biomonitoR: an R package for managing ecological data and calculating biomonitoring indices.

The monitoring of biological indicators is required to assess the impacts of environmental policies, compare ecosystems and guide management and conservation actions. However, the growing availability of ecological data has not been accompanied by concomitant processing tools able to facilitate data handling and analysis. Multiple common challenges limit the usefulness of biomonitoring information across ecosystems and biological groups.

Continuous phenotypic modulation explains male horn allometry in three dung beetle species.

Many dung beetle species show male horn polyphenism, the ability of males to develop into distinct phenotypes without intermediate forms as a response to the larval growth environment. While males with long (majors) and rudimentary (minor) horn have been widely reported in literature, little is known about the existence of individuals with intermediate horn length. Here we investigate the occurrence of intermediates in natural populations of three dung beetle species (Onthophagus furcatus, Copris lunaris and C.

Using invertebrate functional traits to improve flow variability assessment within European rivers.

Rivers are among the most threatened ecosystems worldwide and are experiencing rapid biodiversity loss. Flow alteration due to climate change, water abstraction and augmentation is a severe stressor on many aquatic communities. Macroinvertebrates are widely used for biomonitoring river ecosystems although current taxonomic approaches used to characterise ecological responses to flow have limitations in terms of generalisation across biogeographical regions.

Multiple co-occurrent alien invaders constrain aquatic biodiversity in rivers.

A greater understanding and effective management of biological invasions is a priority for biodiversity conservation globally. Many freshwater ecosystems are experiencing the colonization and spread of multiple co-occurrent alien species. Here the implications of both the relative abundance and richness of alien invaders on aquatic macroinvertebrate taxonomic and functional richness, ecosystem quality, and functional redundancy are assessed using long-term data from rivers in England.

Tracking down carbon inputs underground from an arid zone Australian calcrete.

Freshwater ecosystems play a key role in shaping the global carbon cycle and maintaining the ecological balance that sustains biodiversity worldwide. Surficial water bodies are often interconnected with groundwater, forming a physical continuum, and their interaction has been reported as a crucial driver for organic matter (OM) inputs in groundwater systems. However, despite the growing concerns related to increasing anthropogenic pressure and effects of global change to groundwater environments, our understanding of the dynamics regulating subterranean carbon flows is still sparse.

Analysis of 13,312 benthic invertebrate samples from German streams reveals minor deviations in ecological status class between abundance and presence/absence data.

Benthic invertebrates are the most commonly used organisms used to assess ecological status as required by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). For WFD-compliant assessments, benthic invertebrate communities are sampled, identified and counted. Taxa × abundance matrices are used to calculate indices and the resulting scores are compared to reference values to determine the ecological status class.

New light in the dark - a proposed multidisciplinary framework for studying functional ecology of groundwater fauna.

Groundwaters provide the vast majority of unfrozen freshwater resources on the planet, but our knowledge of subsurface ecosystems is surprisingly limited. Stygofauna, or stygobionts -subterranean obligate aquatic animals - provide ecosystem services such as grazing biofilms and maintaining water quality, but we know little about how their ecosystems function. The cryptic nature of groundwaters, together with the high degree of local endemism and stygofaunal site-specific adaptations, represent major obstacles for the field.

Space and time variations of watershed N and P budgets and their relationships with reactive N and P loadings in a heavily impacted river basin (Po river, Northern Italy).

The aim of the present study is to analyze relationships between land uses and anthropogenic pressures, and nutrient loadings in the Po river basin, the largest hydrographic system in Italy, together with the changes they have undergone in the last half century. Four main points are addressed: 1) spatial distribution and time evolution of land uses and associated N and P budgets; 2) long-term trajectories of the reactive N and P loadings exported from the Po river; 3) relationships between budgets and loadings; 4) brief review of relationships between N and P loadings and eutrophication in the Northern Adriatic Sea. Net Anthropogenic N (NANI) and P (NAPI) inputs, and N and P surpluses in the cropland between 1960 and 2010 were calculated.

Aquatic Plant Diversity in Italy: Distribution, Drivers and Strategic Conservation Actions.

Italy is recognized as one of the prominent hot spot areas for plant diversity at regional and global scale, hosting a rich range of ecosystems and habitat types. This is especially true considering aquatic habitats, which represent a major portion of the total water surfaces in the Mediterranean region. Nevertheless, only a scant attention was paid to clarify the species richness of aquatic plant and its contribution to the total diversity at the country scale, despite such plants are seriously threatened at multiple scales.

Fragmentation and groundwater supply as major drivers of algal and plant diversity and relative cover dynamics along a highly modified lowland river.

Algae and aquatic vascular plants were investigated along a highly modified medium-sized lowland river (Oglio River, northern Italy). We focused on the role of fragmentation and groundwater supply in driving macrophyte assemblages, paying particular attention to soft-bodied benthic algae. Four different a priori stretch types (dammed, groundwater-dependent, potamal and rhithral) were identified along the river longitudinal gradient as proxies of river hydrology and relative human-induced flow alterations.

Avoiding social traps in the ecosystem stewardship: The Italian Fontanile lowland spring.

Fontanile is a Po Valley (Italy) quasi-natural lowland spring built in the middle age. This paper identifies options for the conservation of the Fontanile water dependent ecosystem, using scenarios and simulations, and exploring different policy options. Three modeling analysis have been performed: the first was carried out for estimating groundwater contamination and recharge from above, the second for evaluating the function of vegetative filter strip on the surface water quality and the last one for testing pesticide drift reduction due to the vegetative filter strip.

Herbicide contamination and dispersion pattern in lowland springs.

Herbicides reduce the diversity of flora and fauna in freshwater ecosystems and also contaminate groundwater due to leaching. Herbicide contamination can be a serious threat for all groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDE), altering their chemical and biological quality. Successful management to protect GDE is dependent on detailed knowledge of the hydrogeological and hydrochemical features of the surrounding environment.