Fish migration through river networks is essential for completing life cycles and accessing critical habitats, but fragmentation increasingly disrupts spawning movements. In Europe, over one million barriers limit connectivity and create trade‐offs between ecological integrity and human uses, such as hydropower, flood control, fisheries and water storage. Furthermore, climate change can decrease habitat suitability, reinforcin...

A multitude of anthropogenic stressors drive biodiversity loss and alter ecosystem functioning. Freshwaters, which contribute disproportionally to global biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles, are particularly threatened. Although the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions (BEF) is generally well‐established, especially in terrestrial ecosystems, the role of multiple, co‐occurring stressors in modulating th...

We investigated the role of woody riparian vegetation (WRV) in reducing the detrimental effects of extreme low-flow conditions on macroinvertebrate communities in Central European streams. We hypothesized that WRV decreases water temperature, thereby lessening the impacts of drought on streams. The study was conducted in the Lippe catchment in northwestern Germany at 26 study sections during the summer drought of 2022. Water t...

River-floodplain connectivity is a critical ecological process influencing biodiversity and ecosystem functions. However, the impact of changes in this connectivity, particularly its loss, on biodiversity in floodplains remains insufficiently studied. This study aimed to assess how connectivity influences biodiversity metrics and whether it directly affects biodiversity indices for selected species groups, beyond its indirect...

Cemeteries are biodiversity hotspots in urban areas, while the drivers of their floristic diversity are poorly understood. We investigated 153 cemeteries in the western Ruhr Metropolitan Region and generated comprehensive species lists of wild plants. Altogether, we found 964 species, equivalent to 53.6% of the flora known from the region. Cluster analysis revealed five distinct cemetery types based on their species compositio...

Ecological status assessment under the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) often integrates the impact of multiple stressors into a single index value. This hampers the identification of individual stressors being responsible for status deterioration. As a consequence, management measures are often disentangled from assessment results. To close this gap and to support river basin managers in the diagnosis of stressors, we...

Beavers and their dams, once common in small streams throughout Eurasia and North America, are returning to their original range. Beaver dams are special habitats in the aquatic-terrestrial interface, but their macroinvertebrate fauna is hardly known. This study aims to qualify and quantify the invertebrate fauna of beaver dams, taking into account the maintenance status of the dams. Nine different areas covering the top, midd...

Management measures targeting riverine macrophyte species often address dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus compounds. With recent reductions of nutrient pollution, effects of other variables have become more apparent. This study aims to shed light on the hierarchy of variables determining riverine macrophyte distribution, covering both surface water nutrients and a range of other variables, in a Central European landscape. We u...

Global freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and meeting the challenges of this crisis requires bold goals and the mobilisation of substantial resources. While the reasons are varied, investments in both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind those in the terrestrial and marine realms. Inspired by a global consultation, we identify 15 pressing priority needs, grouped into five research...

The biota of European rivers are affected by a wide range of stressors impairing water quality and hydro‐morphology. Only about 40% of Europe's rivers reach ‘good ecological status’, a target set by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) and indicated by the biota. It is yet unknown how the different stressors in concert impact ecological status and how the relationship between stressors and status differs between river...

The growing use of functional traits in ecological research has brought new insights into biodiversity responses to global environmental change. However, further progress depends on overcoming three major challenges involving (a) statistical correlations between traits, (b) phylogenetic constraints on the combination of traits possessed by any single species, and (c) spatial effects on trait structure and trait–environment rel...