Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.23818/limn.43.07
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Impacts of diffuse urban stressors on stream benthic communities and ecosystem functioning: A review
Author Colls, M.; Viza, A.; Zufiarre, A.; Camacho-Santamans, A.; Laini, A.; González-Ferreras, A.M.; Ledesma, J.L.J. ORCID logo ; Perujo, N.; Romero, F., et al.
Source Titel Limnetica
Year 2024
Department FLOEK; HDG
Volume 43
Issue 1
Page From 89
Page To 108
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Supplements https://www.limnetica.net/documentos/limnetica/limnetica-43-1-07.%20Table%20S1.pdf
https://www.limnetica.net/documentos/limnetica/limnetica-43-1-07.%20Table%20S2.xlsx
Keywords Anthropocene; community structure; functioning; freshwater ecosystems; urban streams; urbanization
Abstract Catchment urbanisation results in urban streams being exposed to a multitude of stressors. Notably, stressors originating from diffuse sources have received less attention than stressors originating from point sources. Here, advances related to diffuse urban stressors and their consequences for stream benthic communities are summarised by reviewing 92 articles. Based on the search criteria, the number of articles dealing with diffuse urban stressors in streams has been increasing, and most of them focused on North America, Europe, and China. Land use was the most common measure used to characterize diffuse stressor sources in urban streams (70.7 % of the articles characterised land use), and chemical stressors (inorganic nutrients, xenobiotics, metals, and water properties, including pH and conductivity) were more frequently reported than physical or biological stressors. A total of 53.3 % of the articles addressed the impact of urban stressors on macroinvertebrates, while 35.9 % focused on bacteria, 9.8 % on fungi, and 8.7 % on algae. Regarding ecosystem functions, almost half of the articles (43.5 %) addressed changes in community dynamics, 40.3 % addressed organic matter decomposition, and 33.9 % addressed nutrient cycling. When comparing urban and non-urban streams, the reviewed studies suggest that urbanisation negatively impacts the diversity of benthic organisms, leading to shifts in community composition. These changes imply functional degradation of streams. The results of the present review summarise the knowledge gained to date and identify its main gaps to help improve our understanding of urban streams.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=28436
Colls, M., Viza, A., Zufiarre, A., Camacho-Santamans, A., Laini, A., González-Ferreras, A.M., Ledesma, J.L.J., Perujo, N., Romero, F., et al. (2024):
Impacts of diffuse urban stressors on stream benthic communities and ecosystem functioning: A review
Limnetica 43 (1), 89 - 108 10.23818/limn.43.07