Ecosystem health evaluation of urban rivers based on multitrophic aquatic organisms.

The ecosystem health evaluation method of urban rivers is significantly different from natural rivers, because of intensive human interferences and ecological restoration measures. Biotic integrity index (IBI) provides a method to quantify the response of aquatic organisms to environmental stress. Multi-trophic aquatic organisms may exhibit different responses and sensitivities to stress factors, which affects the reliability of the IBIs.

Antibiotics along an alpine river and in the receiving lake with a catchment dominated by grazing husbandry.

The livestock breeding industries face overuse of antibiotics, which has been intensively studied in recent years. However, the occurrence and fate of antibiotics as well as their potential threats to the aquatic environments in alpine and arid regions remain unclear. This study investigated the relationship of the occurrence and concentrations of antibiotics between the Kaidu River and Bosten Lake in a typical alpine basin in China.

Mismatch between critical and accumulated temperature following river damming impacts fish spawning.

Dam operations considerably influence water temperature regimes in rivers, which affects fish spawning activities. Previous studies have focused on the effects of critical temperature (CT) alterations during the spawning period, and largely ignored the effects of accumulated temperature (AT) alterations on gonadal development. Successful spawning relies on the simultaneous achievement of the two thermal requirements at appropriate times.