Aim To investigate spatial autocorrelation of taxonomic stream invertebrate groups (richness and composition) at a large geographical scale and to analyse the importance of exogenous and endogenous factors. Location The Mediterranean Basin. Methods For exogenous factors, we used large‐scale factors related to climate, geology and river zonation; for endogenous factors, we used the dispersal mode of each taxonomic group. After...

Streams in mediterranean regions have highly seasonal discharge patterns, with predictable torrential floods and severe droughts. In contrast, discharge is less variable in temperate regions and intermittent flow conditions are uncommon. Hydroclimatic models predict that climate change would increase frequency and severity of floods and droughts across Europe, thus increasing the proportion of streams with mediterranean charac...

This paper describes a device, the submersible drag gauge (SDG), that can be used for drag measurements in studies of flow‐biota interactions at low (setup A) and high (setup B) load applications. The device is designed so that solely drag forces acting on a test object in a boundary layer now are measured. The SDG can measure drag on organism(s), such as macrophtyes, crayfish or mussels, as well as a combination of such organ...

Previous research, using rigid objects, showed that the magnitude of mean drag on submerged bodies can be influenced by the blockage ratio (ratio of the frontal projection area of an object to the wetted flume cross‐sectional area). In addition, drag measurements, under similar flow conditions, are likely to be affected by other flume characteristics. these factors lead to some uncertainty in drag measurement comparisons betwe...

Effects of animals on the transport of solids (e.g., sediments) can modify earth‐surface processes and landforms (role as geomorphic agents) and resources for other organisms (role as ecosystem engineers). Therefore, we studied the impact of crayfish ( Orconectes limosus ) behavior on sand‐gravel erosion and bottom habitat over riffle‐pool sequences in experimental streams. We manipulated the availability of crayfish food and...