The Anthropocene presents formidable threats to freshwater ecosystems. Lakes are
especially vulnerable and important at the same time. They cover only a small area …

Non-perennial river segments—those that recurrently cease to flow or frequently dry—occur
in all river networks and are globally more abundant than perennial (always flowing) …

River networks are hierarchical dendritic habitats embedded within the terrestrial landscape,
with varying connectivity between sites depending on their positions along the network. This …

In this overview (introductory article to a special issue including 14 papers), we consider all
main types of natural and artificial inland freshwater habitas (fwh). For each type, we identify …

Biotic homogenisation is defined as decreasing dissimilarity among ecological assemblages
sampled within a given spatial area over time. Biotic differentiation, in turn, is defined as …

The River Continuum Concept (RCC) is a milestone in stream ecology because of its
comprehensive evaluation of the structure and function of lotic ecosystems. Linking stream …

Non-perennial rivers and streams (NPRS) cover> 50% of the global river network. They are
particularly predominant in Mediterranean Europe as a result of dry climate conditions …

Dispersal is an essential process in population and community dynamics, but is difficult to
measure in the field. In freshwater ecosystems, information on biological traits related to …

Resilience in river ecosystems requires that organisms must persist in the face of highly
dynamic hydrological and geomorphological variations. Disturbance events such as floods …

Intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) are common across Europe and dominate
some Mediterranean river networks. In all climate zones, IRES support high biodiversity and …