freshwater | Ecology for the Masses

Tag Archives: freshwater

Farming For Freshwater: Saving Farms And Pearl Mussels Through The KerryLIFE Project

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Aífe Kearns Leave a comment

What does it take to make farmers care about biodiversity?

Not much, is the answer. They already care a lot.

In which case, what does it take to make them do something about it?

Opinions

The Summer of the Russian (Fish) invasion

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Sam Perrin 2 comments

Title Image Credit: Earl Steele, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Image Cropped

Every time fighter jets fly overhead here in Central Norway, either my wife or I nearly always make a dry remark about the Russians finally invading. It’s a slightly dark reference to former Norwegian occupations, but not something that’s likely to occur anytime soon.

Yet this summer, the papers were filled with constant sensational references to very real and ongoing Russian invasions. Luckily, they’re referring to the pink (or humpback) salmon, and not to any human army marching across the borders.

Uncategorized

The Stream Microbiome: An Ecosystem’s Health Report Card

Posted on July 27, 2021 by Krista Bonfantine One comment

Image Credit: mstk east, CC BY 2.0, Image Cropped

Thanks to DNA sequencing, there is no escape from the reality that every organism is an ecosystem. I like to think of myself as an individual human organism but actually, I am a holobiont, playing host to thousands of other species. Back in college, my body was an ecosystem in distress. A diet of coffee, beer, and bagels coupled with a steady dip of stress led to a series of health issues and an eventual diagnosis of ‘dysbiosis’. Dysbiosis is a term that describes a loss of microbial biodiversity or departure from a balanced ecology.

Opinions

Bogs, Beavers and Blood: Freshwater Ecosystems in Film

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Sam Perrin Leave a comment

The freshwater world is full of horror movie potential, and yet most of the time it’s the ocean that is the centrepiece of aquatic horror stories. It’s not entirely unexpected, after all the ocean makes up over 97% of the earth’s water-based surface, and freshwater doesn’t have much to offer in the way of an ‘abyss’.

Cinematica Animalia

Marvels of the African Great Lakes: Studying Cichlids With Dr. Frederic Schedel

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Eva Paulus One comment

Africa has long been romanticized in regards to the natural world. From crocodiles snapping at wildebeest to lions lounging on the plains, the continent is packed with charismatic animals. Often slipping under the radar is the fact that Africa’s freshwater ecosystems are also teeming with stunning wildlife.

The Forefront

How Influential is the Platypus in Freshwater Dynamics?

Posted on November 25, 2020 by Sam Perrin Leave a comment

Image Credit: Maria Grist, CC BY-SA 4.0, Image Cropped

Platypus predation has differential effects on aquatic invertebrates in contrasting stream and lake ecosystems (2020) McLachlan-Troup, Scientific Reports, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69957-1

The Crux

A trophic cascade occurs when a predator’s effects of its prey goes on to affect ‘lower’ levels of that ecosystem. A great example is the effect that sea otters have on kelp: the sea otters prey extensively on sea urchins, which in turn increases the populations of kelp, which the sea urchins prey on. While this is a result of direct predation by otters, often this can occur through a prey species changing its behaviour to avoid the predators.

Yet most ecosystems are more complex than a simple three-level trophic system. Cascades are therefore more likely to occur when the ecosystem is less complex, or when there are well-defined relationships between species, as a result of a predator having preferred prey species or only a few groups of species making up an ecosystem.

This week’s authors investigated how the platypus (our recently-found-to-be-fluorescent friend) influences the abundance and species richness of invertebrates across both rivers and lakes, and whether it’s capable of affecting an ecosystems algae and sediments as well.

Paper of the Week

Rebuilding Our Relationship With Urban Rivers With Dr. Cecilia Medupin

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Sam Perrin One comment

Rivers have played a monumental role in determining where people live. Their importance in providing water, transportation and a raft of other ecosystem services has meant that even today most of the world’s largest cities are situated close to a major source of freshwater, from Sydney to Delhi, Quebec to Karachi.

Yet despite their role in our history, urban rivers today are often facing increasing levels of pollution as a result of human activity. As well as often being a huge tourist drawcard, and an ongoing resource for fishers, joggers and portable BBQ toters, freshwater ecosystems carry a disproportionate number of aquatic species, which makes this trend increasingly worrying.

After meeting at last year’s British Ecological Society Annual Meeting, I got in touch with Dr. Cecilia Medupin, a freshwater ecologist at the University of Manchester. Cecilia works to increase peoples understanding of rivers, including the project Our Rivers, Our City. I asked Cecilia abut our connection with rivers, the challenges they face, and how to inspire research and change in urban rivers.