Dr Alberto Doretto - Siltation in rivers: Causes, impacts, and new approaches for biomonitoring

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Alberto Doretto delivers a seminar on their research - Siltation (i.e. the excessive accumulation of fine sediment on the riverbed) is globally recognized as one of the greatest impacts in lotic ecosystems due to the intensification of hydro-morphological (i.e. sediment flushing from dams) and land-use (i.e. deforestation, agriculture, urbanization) pressures. However, the ability to identify general cause-effect mechanisms of biological and morphological impairment are often limited by the context-dependency of individual studies. This seminar will consider a range of different studies and experimental approaches dealing with the response of stream benthic macroinvertebrate communities to fine sediment deposition. The examples include Alpine streams in Northen Italy as well as lowland rivers in UK, thus highlighting parallels and contrasts in the response of macroinvertebrate communities to fine sediment pressure within two different geographical settings. These findings provide valuable insights into biomonitoring approaches including how to monitor the effects of anthropogenically induced siltation in streams. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias