Hydrobiologia

, Volume 719, Issue 1, pp 77–91 | Cite as

Disturbance and the role of refuges in mediterranean climate streams

  • Belinda J. Robson
  • Edwin T. Chester
  • Bradley D. Mitchell
  • Ty G. Matthews
MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE STREAMS Review paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Refuges protect plant and animal populations from disturbance. Knowledge of refuges from disturbance in mediterranean climate rivers (med-rivers) has increased the last decade. We review disturbance processes and their relationship to refuges in streams in mediterranean climate regions (med-regions). Med-river fauna show high endemicity and their populations are often exposed to disturbance; hence the critical importance of refuges during (both seasonal and supraseasonal) disturbances. Disturbance pressures are increasing in med-regions, in particular from climatic change, salinisation, sedimentation, water extraction, hydropower generation, supraseasonal drought, and wildfire. Med-rivers show annual cycles of constrained precipitation and predictable seasonal drying, causing the biota to depend on seasonal refuges, in particular, those that are spatially predictable. This creates a spatial and temporal mosaic of inundation that determines habitat extent and refuge function. Refuges of sufficient size and duration to maintain populations, such as perennially flowing reaches, sustain biodiversity and may harbour relict populations, particularly during increasing aridification, where little other suitable habitat remains in landscapes. Therefore, disturbances that threaten perennial flows potentially cascade disproportionately to reduce regional scale biodiversity in med-regions. Conservation approaches for med-river systems need to conserve both refuges and refuge connectivity, reduce the impact of anthropogenic disturbances and sustain predictable, seasonal flow patterns.

Keywords

Climate change Drought refuge Flow regulation Intermittent rivers Refugia Salinisation Sedimentation 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Núria Bonada and Vince Resh for the invitation to contribute to this special issue. Some of the ideas developed in this article began with a review of refuges for freshwater biodiversity in Australia that was funded by the National Water Commission, Canberra.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Belinda J. Robson
    • 1
  • Edwin T. Chester
    • 1
  • Bradley D. Mitchell
    • 2
  • Ty G. Matthews
    • 3
  1. 1.School of Environmental ScienceMurdoch UniversityMurdochAustralia
  2. 2.Research and Graduate StudiesUniversity of BallaratMount HelenAustralia
  3. 3.School of Life and Environmental SciencesDeakin UniversityWarrnamboolAustralia

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