IberRios: A collaborative project to explore global change impacts on Iberian river biodiversity and ecosystem functions
The Iberian River Observatory (IberRios) brings together a multidisciplinary network of >100 scientists and practitioners to develop a large-scale observatory for the monitoring of multiple stressor impacts on river biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
Through this collaborative network, IberRios is collecting information on a wide range of river organisms (i.e. prokaryotes, fungi, algae, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) and ecosystem functions (e.g. carbon and nutrient cycling, pathogen control, thermal regulation) over multiple years (LTER) and across a large spatial scale.
IberRios’ specific objectives are:
Through this collaborative network, IberRios is collecting information on a wide range of river organisms (i.e. prokaryotes, fungi, algae, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) and ecosystem functions (e.g. carbon and nutrient cycling, pathogen control, thermal regulation) over multiple years (LTER) and across a large spatial scale.
IberRios’ specific objectives are:
- Testing and optimizing methodologies for collaborative long-term characterization of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in large-scale observatories
- Investigating long-term trends of river communities and populations in a multiple stressor context
- Exploring spatio-temporal variation of ecosystem functioning and its response to multiple stressors and biodiversity change
Surveys will be conducted annually, starting in 2022, at 62 Iberian river sites covering crossed gradients of climatic conditions, land-use intensification and riparian cover. From 2024+, we selected 35 sites that will be surveyed over the long term. The results of this project will assist in establishing stressor, biodiversity and functional thresholds to preserve and restore river health in the Iberian Peninsula.
Funding
The Iberian River Observatory is currently funded by:
Previous funding:
- Generación de Conocimiento 2024 project (Ministry of Science and Innovation, 285,000€, 2025-2029, Ref: PID2024-161359NB-I00): “Unravelling the impacts of multiple stressors on fluvial ecosystems across temporal scales (TemporalStress)”. PIs: Cayetano Gutiérrez Cánovas & Javier Sánchez Hernández.
- Ramón y Cajal fellowship (Ministry of Science and Innovation, 50.000€ 2024-2029, Ref: RYC2022-038189-I). PI: Cayetano Gutiérrez Cánovas
Previous funding:
- Generación de Conocimiento 2022 project (Ministry of Science and Innovation, 120.000€, 2023-2026, Ref: PID2022-141732NA-I00). PI: Cayetano Gutiérrez Cánovas
- "la Caixa" Foundation (ID 100010434) through a Junior Leader Fellowship Postdoctoral Contract (105.000€, 2022-2025, Ref. LCF/BQ/PR22/11920005). PI: Cayetano Gutiérrez Cánovas
- "Juan de la Cierva - Incorporación" fellowship from the Spanish Agency of Research - MINECO (5.000€, 2020-2022, Ref. JC2018-036642-I). PI: Cayetano Gutiérrez Cánovas
