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The beds of streams are dynamic interfaces where water, nutrients and living organisms move between surface and sub-surface environments, and streambed permeability has a significant influence on processes such as nitrogen cycling and organic matter decomposition. Although the physics of streambed exchange are well understood, interactions between physical and biological processes have received relatively little […]
December 14, 2021
Comments Off on To be continued: the legacy of the River Continuum Concept
A recent review examined the historical importance of the River Continuum Concept (RCC), which was introduced by Robin Vannote and co-workers in 1980. This concept revolutionised stream ecology research by prompting a shift from a descriptive to a predictive approach and encouraging multidisciplinary collaboration between biologists, geomorphologists and geochemists. The RCC became a key framework […]
September 28, 2021
Comments Off on How flowing water affects the schooling of fish
In many species of fish, individuals group together in shoals or schools to benefit from shared information – for example, on food availability or the presence of predators. There’s also evidence that fish gain hydrodynamic benefits by taking up certain positions relative to other individuals, but not much is known about how flowing water affects […]
June 7, 2021
Comments Off on How rivers regulate fish numbers
Recruitment processes, which determine the number of young animals entering a population each year, are central considerations in our attempts to understand fluctuations in abundance. Although recruitment has been a key focus of fisheries scientists for many years, most of their work has involved marine fish species, and there’s been no fully integrated and comprehensive […]
June 7, 2021
Comments Off on Sound directions for the freshwater sciences
A recent issue of the journal Freshwater Biology was devoted to the emerging field of ecoacoustics (the study of the ecological role of sounds), an exciting area with many applications in freshwater science. So far, passive acoustic monitoring has been used mainly in terrestrial and marine environments, but recent studies reveal that inland waters support […]
March 13, 2021
Comments Off on Aquatic ecosystem services: rethinking streamside planting
Spatial patterns in the loss of natural land cover to agriculture have a significant effect on ecosystem services, including those provided by landscape features that interrupt runoff flows to rivers. For example, the number, size and location of woodland patches all have an impact on ecosystem services such as sediment trapping, pollutant retention and the […]
March 13, 2021
Comments Off on Restoring overheated rivers
One of the features of the so-called “urban stream syndrome” is thermal pollution caused by warm environments in built-up areas, which can increase stream temperatures above the tolerance threshold for aquatic organisms. The good news is that urban stream temperatures can be reduced by re-naturalisation measures designed to improve flood control, water quality and habitats. […]
March 13, 2021
Comments Off on What determines leaf length in aquatic plants?
Several genera of aquatic plants have very long strap-like leaves. Leaf lifespan and growth are known to be influenced by plant life history and reproductive strategies, but there have been few attempts to understand the factors that regulate leaf size in aquatic plants. Terrestrial plants have been better studied in this respect, but environmental factors […]
March 13, 2021
Comments Off on Water abstraction changes local food chains
The alteration of river flows by damming or extracting water is a major threat to freshwater ecosystems that can lead to habitat changes and local species extinctions. While the impacts of dams and large-scale diversions have been the subject of many studies, the cumulative effects of small water abstractions aren’t so well understood, even though […]
Freshwater Research News 
March 26, 2022
Comments Off on The net effect: caddis flies and streambed flow