Disruption of Natural River Flow Regimes: An Opportunity for Non-Indigenous Species and the Need for New Management Practices

Dear Colleagues,

The disruption of natural river flow regimes affects biological communities along hundreds of kilometers across a spectrum of habitats, both aquatic and terrestrial, and even including adjacent coastal areas. Dams, water diversion, water extraction, and climate change are the factors most known for altering natural river flow regimes. The impacts caused by these factors on established ecological dynamics create the opportunities for non-indigenous species to establish or to become invasive. Therefore, it is necessary to implement new management strategies to at least prevent the establishment of non-indigenous species or minimize the putative impacts caused by invasive species. In this sense, new management strategies could be carried out by adapting the timing and quantity of water released from dams to inflict detrimental impacts on the survival of non-indigenous species, while trying to mimic natural river flow regimes.

This Special Issue aims binding contributions i) describing the relationship between altered river flow regimes and the introduction of non-indigenous species or species invasiveness, ii) quantifying the alterations in ecosystem functioning prompted by species invasiveness after river flow disruption, and iii) describing case studies, or conceptual approaches, on how river flow management can prevent the introduction of non-indigenous species or the invasiveness of established populations. The range of habitats considered includes aquatic ecosystems (i.e., anywhere along the continuum stream-river-estuary-adjacent coastal area) and terrestrial ecosystems (i.e., floodplains, fringing terrestrial habitats).

Dr. Pedro Morais
Dr. Alexandra Teodósio
Guest Editors

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