21 July 2018
Rebuilding Healthy Rivers
Researchers are using freshwater systems as a model to test how degraded ecosystems can be resistant to disruptions – including those that aim to restore them.
The inventory of research outputs and resources can be found here:
This research is Completed
Overview Te Tirohanga Whānui
Many Aotearoa New Zealand freshwater ecosystems are degraded to the point that restoration is very difficult, or in other words they are resilient in an unhealthy way.
This BioHeritage Challenge project, led by doctors Helen Warburton and Catherine Febria of the University of Canterbury (UC) focuses on developing and testing a restoration framework for overcoming negative resistance and resilience in degraded freshwater communities.
By investigating and understanding what attributes make freshwater ecosystems “unhealthy”, place-based trials can be designed to target undesired species. They can also be tailored to restore processes and support attributes that would nurture desired species, for example taonga (treasured) and mahinga kai (food-gathering source) species. In this way, the project is informing a more holistic approach to freshwater restoration.
A critical focus is gathering freshwater knowledge from those with wide-ranging expertise across Aotearoa. Another key aspect is building meaningful relationships with local iwi and rūnanga who have mana whenua (territorial rights) over waterways that may serve as ideal experimental sites.
Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) is essential to the team’s research, given that healthy, resilient freshwater ecosystems are traditional mahinga kai for local iwi, and that holistically restoring healthy functioning ecosystems is the ultimate goal. This ties in with the Challenge’s commitment to Vision Mātauranga.
This project contributes to the BioHeritage Challenge’s goal of creating resilient and thriving ecosystems that New Zealanders are proud of.
Research Area Summary Te Whakarāpopototanga Kaupapa
Two elements they are focusing on are:
- Identifying key characteristics that need to be present in freshwater communities to move waterways to a healthy state
- Investigating what community of species work best together to overcome unhealthy resilience in waterways.
Looking for more information?
If you’re looking for any outputs (papers, data etc) from this project that you don’t see on this page please visit our data repository.
Team Members Ngā kaimahi
- Helen Warburton; University of Canterbury
- Catherine Febria; Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Canada
Related News
Resource outputs from this programme
Video
Crazy & Ambitious 2 – 2019
A playlist of presentations given at New Zealand’s Biological Heritage Science Challenge conference, Crazy & Ambitious 2. 20 – 21 May 2019, Te Papa Wellington.
Video
Crazy & Ambitious – 2017
A playlist of presentations given at New Zealand’s Biological Heritage Science Challenge inaugural conference, Crazy & Ambitious. 8-10 May 2017, Te Papa Wellington
Publication
Ecosystem-size relationships of river populations and communities
Knowledge of ecosystem-size influences on river populations and communities is integral to the balancing of human and environmental needs for water. The multiple dimensions of…
Publication
Biotic interactions could control colonization success during stream restoration
Biotic interactions involved in colonization are likely important if tolerant aquatic taxa, which have settled first, prevent desired taxa from colonizing when conditions improve. These…
Publication
Integrative analysis of stressor gradients reveals multiple discrete trait‐defined axes underlie community assembly
The generalizable functional attributes of organisms (traits) relate strongly to their environment across multiple levels of biological organization, making trait-based approaches a powerful mechanistic framework…
Publication
Negative resistance and resilience: biotic mechanisms underpin delayed biological recovery in stream restoration
Traditionally, resistance and resilience are associated with good ecological health, often underpinning restoration goals. However, degraded ecosystems can also be highly resistant and resilient, making…
Publication
The potential role of biotic interactions in stream restoration
Biotic interactions perform an important role in structuring freshwater communities; however, these are rarely considered during stream restoration. Degraded stream communities are often dominated by…
Publication
Community type and disturbance type interact to determine disturbance response: implications for extending the environmental filter metaphor
Ecological disturbances act as environmental filters by removing species with particular characteristics, resulting in community types associated with different disturbance histories. However, studies to date…