Biodiversity of New Zealand’s Rivers
Upper reaches of the Waiau River ( Canterbury, New Zealand), a typical and beautiful New Zealand River. ( below)
© Kéoni Saint- Pée. All rights reserved
New Zealand is an internationally renowned location for its beautiful rivers, which host many endemic macroinvertebrate species. We found that this river biodiversity is responding rapidly to climate and land- use changes.
This includes, that assemblages of species are homogenising in their species composition over time across the landscape. Surprisingly, “winners” ( i. e species that increase their population sizes or distributional ranges) are more prevalent than “losers” in these river systems. Species also shift their distribution towards the poles, on average by 50 km per decade.
Our results suggest that the intensity of disturbances, the geographic location of individuals and communities, and species ecological and functional characteristics, are major determinants of riverine biodiversity reorganization in the Anthropocene.
About
Theophile- Mouton is a conservation biologist working on completing a PhD with the University of Montpellier and the University of Lyon ( France), on the effects of global changes on river macroinvertebrate biodiversity. For his PhD, he uses time- series data from most New Zealand Rivers to examine how has river biodiversity changed over time. He also conducts work on spatial conservation planning of marine megafauna species, such as cetaceans and sharks.
Contact
Researchgate: https:// www. researchgate. net/ profile/ Theophile- Mouton