The river restoration 'ecological toolbox': simultaneously examining biomonitoring indices to guide catchment management strategies

河流恢复“生态工具箱”：同时检查生物监测指标以指导流域管理策略

• 批准号: 2755899
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Loughborough University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2755899
• 关键词: river; restoration; ecological; toolbox; simultaneously

Significant reductions in the biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems have prompted a surge in river restoration efforts in recent decades. However, restoration has often delivered modest ecological benefits. Therefore, tools that can identify the key pressure(s) compromising ecosystem health and help identify the likelihood of ecological recovery following restoration are urgently required. Macroinvertebrate biomonitoring tools developed in the UK could help address this pressing need as they characterise and quantify the ecological effects of different anthropogenic stressors - including eutrophication, flow regime alterations and fine sediment pressures. However, little research has examined the response of multiple biomonitoring indices simultaneously to inform sustainable river restoration strategies. This PhD will address this research gap by developing and testing an 'ecological toolbox' that identifies primary stressor(s) stressing river ecosystems and the likelihood of promoting ecological recovery after different restoration interventions. The PhD will draw on historic and contemporary river restoration projects across the UK to quantify macroinvertebrate communities responses to different interventions at different spatial scales. This will provide a greater causal understanding of the ecological mechanisms and macroinvertebrate community responses to different river restoration activities and highlight when and where effective measures have been implemented. This evidence will be used to further refine and improve the ecological toolbox and its ability to predict sustainable river restoration interventions.

近几十年来，淡水生态系统的生物多样性大幅下降促使河流恢复工作激增。但是，恢复通常带来了适度的生态益处。因此，迫切需要确定损害生态系统健康并有助于确定恢复后生态恢复的可能性的工具。在英国开发的大型无脊椎动物生物监测工具可以帮助满足这种紧迫的需求，因为它们表征和量化了不同人为应激源的生态效应，包括富营养化，流动状态改变和良好的沉积物压力。但是，很少的研究几乎没有研究同时研究多个生物监测指数的响应，以告知可持续的河流恢复策略。该博士将通过开发和测试一个“生态工具箱”来解决这一研究差距，该工具箱可以确定河流生态系统的主要压力源以及在不同的恢复干预后促进生态恢复的可能性。该博士将借鉴整个英国的历史和当代河流修复项目，以量化大型无脊椎动物社区对不同空间尺度下不同干预措施的反应。这将提供对生态机制和大型无脊椎动物社区对不同河流恢复活动的反应的更深入的理解，并强调实施有效措施的何时何地。该证据将用于进一步完善和改善生态工具箱及其预测可持续河流恢复干预措施的能力。