Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RIBES (RIver flow regulation, fish BEhaviour and Status)
Période du rapport: 2022-01-01 au 2023-12-31
Water is widely regarded as the most essential natural resource, yet freshwater systems are directly threatened by human activities and stand to be further affected by anthropogenic climate change. As a result of this, habitats associated with 65% of continental discharge are classified as endangered and are subjected to significant biodiversity loss, which costs the EU a 3% toll on GDP every year. At global level the WWF Living Planet Report disclosed an 84% decline in freshwater populations from 1970 to 2020. The main stressors that affect freshwater species are linked with anthropogenic alterations of inland aquatic habitats. Among these, the fragmentation of rivers by means of man-made structures (e.g. weirs, water intakes, dams) represents a critical issue as it prevents the movement and migration of aquatic organisms and, hence, their chance of survival through foraging and reproduction. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that, unlike in terrestrial and marine ecosystems, where multiple pathways for movement exist, the linear nature of rivers severely constrains dispersal and facilitates strong and far-reaching effects of barriers. In 2011 EU set the ambitious Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 for halting the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services inherently correlated to the degradation of aquatic habitats, but remediation policies undertaken by Member States have not yet halted these severe negative trends. “EU Nature Restoration Law” recently adopted by the European Parliament foresees the restoration of at least 25000 km of free-flowing rivers by 2030. On the other hand, the December 2018 recast of the 2009 EU Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, and eventually, the recent Directive EU/2023/2413, have progressively raised form raised to from 32% to 42,5% the binding overall Union target share for 2030, bringing further input to the hydropower development which could place further pressures upon river ecosystems. This in addition to other significant stressors acting on freshwater habitats (e.g. invasive alien species, wastewater discharges, emerging contaminants, etc.), and to the significant hydrological regime and water temperature alterations already being induced by climate change.
Under this extremely complex and challenging scenario, the focus of this Action was to train 15 ESRs to research innovative solutions for the protection of freshwater fauna in anthropogenically altered rivers, as currently adopted strategies for freshwater exploitation incorporate key factors that negatively impact biodiversity. The research and training programme integrated well within the interdisciplinary field of Ecohydraulics, which merges expertise in physical sciences, (i.e. fluid mechanics, acoustics and bio-mechanics), with behavioural ecology and fish biology.
The main scientific challenge that needs to be met in this area is disentangling the intricate nexus that links fish locomotion, behavioural response to anthropogenic disturbances and associated stress, as this is essential to the understanding and the preservation of nearly all aspects of fish life-cycle. Accompanying technology development is also needed to magnify the potential of experimental observations into the actual range of conditions that fish can experience in rivers.
This ETN Network provided a contribution to increase the current knowledge of the key factors and stressors governing the interaction between fish and aquatic ecosystems to enable both research and applications to be taken beyond the current state of the art.
Under this extremely complex and challenging scenario, the focus of this Action was to train 15 ESRs to research innovative solutions for the protection of freshwater fauna in anthropogenically altered rivers, as currently adopted strategies for freshwater exploitation incorporate key factors that negatively impact biodiversity. The research and training programme integrated well within the interdisciplinary field of Ecohydraulics, which merges expertise in physical sciences, (i.e. fluid mechanics, acoustics and bio-mechanics), with behavioural ecology and fish biology.
The main scientific challenge that needs to be met in this area is disentangling the intricate nexus that links fish locomotion, behavioural response to anthropogenic disturbances and associated stress, as this is essential to the understanding and the preservation of nearly all aspects of fish life-cycle. Accompanying technology development is also needed to magnify the potential of experimental observations into the actual range of conditions that fish can experience in rivers.
This ETN Network provided a contribution to increase the current knowledge of the key factors and stressors governing the interaction between fish and aquatic ecosystems to enable both research and applications to be taken beyond the current state of the art.
The RIBES European Training Network recruited 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) across six academic and three non-academic host institutions.
The ESRs encompassed both engineers and biologist and embarked in novel research in ecohydraulics aimed at improved fish protection in regulated rivers.
The individual research projects were developed by the ESRs based on the original RIBES research proposal and included state of the art work on fish behavior in relation to sound, light and hydrodynamic cues, swimming behavior and stress responses, hydraulic mapping and modelling, and fish passage design and fish behavior.
A mix of field, laboratory and modelling work constated the collective effort of the RIBES ESRs.
Several ESRs collaborated on common research projects, taking advantage of their diverse backgrounds and the expertise present in the network.
All ESRs have completed their 3 years training and research activities within the RIBES network, and several scientific papers were already published by them in relevant international journals.
Five Network Schools (NS) represented the core of the network-wide training program and were aimed at training the ESRs in key fundamental and applied subjects on environmental problems. In general terms, the NS consisted of ESR-presentations network workshops where ESRs presented their progress and got valuable feedback from the network, key lectures on applied and fundamental aspects relevant to the RIBES topics, and complementary training activities in communication and career development.
As for the communication of the RIBES objectives, research questions and work, as well as general issues concerning fish conservation and ecohydraulics, the RIBES network used its webpage, as well as social media platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Facebook) and YouTube. During the 2-days Final Conference “Fish Passage and Conservation” a dedicated documentary-theatre show titled “Fish in Troubled Waters” was delivered by a theatre company to communicate in an innovative way the project objectives and concerns, as well as the work of the ESRs involved.
The ESRs encompassed both engineers and biologist and embarked in novel research in ecohydraulics aimed at improved fish protection in regulated rivers.
The individual research projects were developed by the ESRs based on the original RIBES research proposal and included state of the art work on fish behavior in relation to sound, light and hydrodynamic cues, swimming behavior and stress responses, hydraulic mapping and modelling, and fish passage design and fish behavior.
A mix of field, laboratory and modelling work constated the collective effort of the RIBES ESRs.
Several ESRs collaborated on common research projects, taking advantage of their diverse backgrounds and the expertise present in the network.
All ESRs have completed their 3 years training and research activities within the RIBES network, and several scientific papers were already published by them in relevant international journals.
Five Network Schools (NS) represented the core of the network-wide training program and were aimed at training the ESRs in key fundamental and applied subjects on environmental problems. In general terms, the NS consisted of ESR-presentations network workshops where ESRs presented their progress and got valuable feedback from the network, key lectures on applied and fundamental aspects relevant to the RIBES topics, and complementary training activities in communication and career development.
As for the communication of the RIBES objectives, research questions and work, as well as general issues concerning fish conservation and ecohydraulics, the RIBES network used its webpage, as well as social media platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Facebook) and YouTube. During the 2-days Final Conference “Fish Passage and Conservation” a dedicated documentary-theatre show titled “Fish in Troubled Waters” was delivered by a theatre company to communicate in an innovative way the project objectives and concerns, as well as the work of the ESRs involved.
The main objective of the RIBES project was to train 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) in the interdisciplinary field of Ecohydraulics to find innovative solutions for freshwater fish protection. ESRs were enrolled in specific PhD training programmes and undertook a Network-wide training programme inclusive of research activities in at least 2 EU countries, short courses at 5 Network Schools, and a series of dissemination and public outreach actions, with the fundamental goal of forming a group of young scientists and practitioners who will play a key role in the water sector at the European scale.
Research and training activities were carried out within four research focused work packages:
(1) Quantifying behavioural mechanisms and stress-related responses to anthropogenic disturbances in rivers and related physiological indicators
(2) Advancing existing capabilities of observing and modelling flow fields around swimming fish and the bio-mechanics of fish locomotion
(3) Innovating currently-adopted technologies related to detection and tracking of fish to gain insights on fish behaviour from field and lab observations
(4) Developing fish management tools and novel design of facilities devoted to fish protection and to improve eco-compatibility of hydropower systems
ESRs produced novel scientific knowledge published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, presented their research at scientific meetings and conferences, produced open datasets to be used by the used by the scientific community, communicated their research and the general problem to a wide audience, including consultants, fisheries managers, hydropower producers, scientists, educators, school pupils and the general public.
Research and training activities were carried out within four research focused work packages:
(1) Quantifying behavioural mechanisms and stress-related responses to anthropogenic disturbances in rivers and related physiological indicators
(2) Advancing existing capabilities of observing and modelling flow fields around swimming fish and the bio-mechanics of fish locomotion
(3) Innovating currently-adopted technologies related to detection and tracking of fish to gain insights on fish behaviour from field and lab observations
(4) Developing fish management tools and novel design of facilities devoted to fish protection and to improve eco-compatibility of hydropower systems
ESRs produced novel scientific knowledge published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, presented their research at scientific meetings and conferences, produced open datasets to be used by the used by the scientific community, communicated their research and the general problem to a wide audience, including consultants, fisheries managers, hydropower producers, scientists, educators, school pupils and the general public.