Selected publications

Decision-support tools have been developed mostly in English language only. To reduce language-based uncertainty, the “ecology-of-language” paradigm was applied when developing the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit (AS-ISK), a decision-support tool that offers 32 languages in which to carry out screenings and communicate outcomes to stakeholders.

Mixing within confluences is highly variable.This study relates patterns and amounts of mixing to three‐dimensional flow structure at three small confluences. The study indicates that generalization of mixing at confluences remains challenging but that advective lateral fluxes of streamwise momentum related to secondary currents or primary flow greatly enhance mixing at confluences.

Confluences are locations of complex hydrodynamic conditions within river systems. The effects on hydrodynamics and mixing of temperature‐induced density differences between incoming flows were investigated at a small‐size concordant bed confluence.

Little is known about the accuracy of numerical lake models during short-term events. Three 1D lake models reproduced the overall impacts of storms and heatwaves well. Timing of effects was simulated accurately and there was little consistent bias. Uncertainty in simulations increased during extremes compared to reference periods.

Climate and land-use change drive a suite of stressors that shape ecosystems and interact to yield complex ecological responses. This study combines data across scales from 33 mesocosm experiments with those from 14 river basins and 22 cross-basin studies in Europe, producing 174 combinations of paired-stressor effects on a biological response variable.

The authors have shown that shifts in microbial communities triggered by chronic exposure to low concentrations of silver nanoparticles increases the community tolerance to silver, as described in the pollution-induced community tolerance (PICT) concept, with consequences for leaf litter decomposition, a pivotal process in forest streams. 

The neonicotinoid imidacloprid (IMI) is one of the most extensively applied neuro-active insecticides worldwide and continues to enter surface waters in many countries despite a recent ban for outdoor use in the EU. The study assessed the effects of pure IMI and its commercial formulation Confidor® on the aquatic oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus, a key species in freshwater sediments.

The study showed that immunostimulation via gills is possible with fulvic acid, and the high phenolic content improved overall health and stress resistance of fish.