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European river recovery might have run out of steam

How has river quality in Europe changed over time? A detailed analysis of invertebrate data provides a picture of biological recovery from past problems, but also points to remaining challenges.
  1. Ian P. Vaughan

    1. Ian P. Vaughan is in the School of Biosciences and at the Water Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK.

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Rivers and other freshwater environments support a disproportionately high level of biodiversity, given that they cover less than 1% of Earth’s surface1. There is evidence that they are among the world’s most threatened ecosystems, with some of the largest reported declines in biodiversity2, linked to a combination of factors, such as intense exploitation by humans, pollution and the changing climate. However, a few studies have found evidence of increasing invertebrate biodiversity3. Fortunately, rivers are some of the most widely monitored ecosystems, and the invertebrate community that lives on the bed of rivers is often used as an easily sampled, sensitive indicator of river quality. Writing in Nature, Haase et al.4 draw together invertebrate data from across Europe to provide a view of how river quality has changed across the continent in past decades, and the result is a mixed picture. Although the authors find evidence of rivers recovering biologically from historical impairment, this recovery seems to have run out of steam, with many rivers still in a relatively poor condition.

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Nature 620, 493-494 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02488-7

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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