The largest global assessment of freshwater animals on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species to date has revealed that 24 per cent of the world’s freshwater fish, dragonfly, damselfly, crab, crayfish and shrimp species are at high risk of extinction.

Dimensionality of parameters and objectives has been increasing due to the accelerating development of models and monitoring networks resulting in major challenges for model calibration. The study highlights limitations of high-dimensional calibration approaches, the role of data uncertainty and deficiencies in model structure of process-based ecohydrological models.

Stable water isotopes are well known tracers of the hydrological cycle producing critical climate science but they are not explicitly included in influential climate reports except for paleoclimate reconstructions. The authors argue that it is time to incorporate isotopes and isotope-enabled modelling into mainstream hydroclimatic forecasting to improve climate change predictions and evidence.