Frontiers in Marine Science (Nov 2015)
LIFE Segura-Riverlink as a green infrastructure approach to recover the longitudinal connectivity: preliminary data of the fish-based assessment.
Abstract
Habitat connectivity is a central factor in shaping aquatic and riverine biological communities, however, few tools exist to maintain and recover this attribute at large scale in fluvial systems. The Segura-Riverlink is a LIFE Programme project which aims to promote and support the environmental recovery of a fluvial sector of the Segura River Basin (more than 50 km long in its main river). The main purpose is to demonstrate and validate management measures for the development of a Green Infrastructure (GI) approach into the context of Mediterranean river basins characterized by a high impact in their connectivity. The project will recover the longitudinal connectivity removing a significant number of artificial barriers to restore fish passage and will also support other best practices of riverine restoration. Restoration actions will include the removal of small weirs and the construction of effective fish passage systems and monitoring will assess the performance of these actions with the hope of validating the GI approach to river basin management and its possible extension to the official management programmes. The project will also develop a Land Custody Network to integrate private owners in the river management and in agreeing good practices. The initial fish-based assessment was completed with significant baseline data showing exotic invasive fishes as dominant and Luciobarbus sclateri as the target species to assess changes at population levels. The project’s outcomes will protect local aquatic and riverine habitats, allow fish reproductive movements along an important fluvial sector, improve ecosystem services, and build a framework of scientific and social knowledge to improve river management quality and to help the implementation and enforcement of EU policy and legislation on biodiversity conservation.
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