Fell, SC, Carrivick, JL orcid.org/0000-0002-9286-5348 and Brown, LE orcid.org/0000-0002-2420-0088 (2017) Multi-Trophic Effects of Climate Change and Glacier Retreat in Mountain Rivers. BioScience, 67 (10). pp. 897-911. ISSN 0006-3568
Abstract
Climate change is driving the thinning and retreat of many glaciers globally. Reductions of ice-melt inputs to mountain rivers are changing their physicochemical characteristics and, in turn, aquatic communities. Glacier-fed rivers can serve as model systems for investigations of climate-change effects on ecosystems because of their strong atmospheric–cryospheric links, high biodiversity of multiple taxonomic groups, and significant conservation interest concerning endemic species. From a synthesis of existing knowledge, we develop a new conceptual understanding of how reducing glacier cover affects organisms spanning multiple trophic groups. Although the response of macroinvertebrates to glacier retreat has been well described, we show that there remains a relative paucity of information for biofilm, microinvertebrate, and vertebrate taxa. Enhanced understanding of whole river food webs will improve the prediction of river-ecosystem responses to deglaciation while offering the potential to identify and protect a wider range of sensitive and threatened species.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC NE/P016146/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 Aug 2017 10:01 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2023 22:34 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/biosci/bix107 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:120240 |