The effects of land use changes on streams and rivers in mediterranean climates
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MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE STREAMS
Review Paper
The effects of land use changes on streams and rivers in mediterranean climates Scott D. Cooper • P. Sam Lake • Sergi Sabater John M. Melack • John L. Sabo
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Received: 26 March 2012 / Accepted: 30 September 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012
Abstract We reviewed the literature on the effects of land use changes on mediterranean river ecosystems (med-rivers) to provide a foundation and directions for future research on catchment management during times of rapid human population growth and climate change. Seasonal human demand for water in mediterranean climate regions (med-regions) is high, leading to intense competition for water with riverine communities often containing many endemic species. The responses of river communities to human Guest editors: N. Bonada & V. H. Resh / Streams in Mediterranean climate regions: lessons learned from the last decade S. D. Cooper (&) J. M. Melack Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA e-mail: [email protected] P. S. Lake Australian Centre for Biodiversity, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne 3800, Australia S. Sabater Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17071 Girona, Spain S. Sabater Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), 17003 Girona, Spain J. L. Sabo School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
alterations of land use, vegetation, hydrological, and hydrochemical conditions are similar in mediterranean and other climatic regions. High variation in hydrological regimes in med-regions, however, tends to exacerbate the magnitude of these responses. For example, land use changes promote longer dry season flows, concentrating contaminants, allowing the accumulation of detritus, algae, and plants, and fostering higher temperatures and lower dissolved oxygen levels, all of which may extirpate sensitive native species. Exotic species often thrive in med-rivers altered by human activity, further homogenizing river communities worldwide. We recommend that future research rigorously evaluate the effects of management and restoration practices on river ecosystems, delineate the cause–effect pathways leading from human perturbations to stream biological communities, and incorporate analyses of the effects of scale, land use heterogeneity, and high temporal hydrological variability on stream communities. Keywords Mediterranean rivers Streams Land use Ecosystems
Introduction Profound and far-reaching impacts of humans on the environment are mediated through land use changes which destroy, degrade, and fragment habitat, and constitute the primary cause of losses in biodiversity
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Hydrobiologia
worldwide (Sala et al., 2000; Chapin et al., 2001). Human impacts on landscapes often diminish the capabilities for ecosystems to provide essential services for people, including clean air and water and natural products (Foley et al., 2005). Land use changes have had a large effect o
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