Dear colleagues, The 2016 Society for Freshwater Science meeting will be held in Sacramento, California USA from May 21st-26th, 2016.
We are organizing a special session titled “Rivers at risk: Existing and emerging threats to river ecosystems”. Our goals with this session are to bring together researchers with particular expertise related to existing or emerging threats to rivers, to review the body of knowledge related to these threats and efforts to minimize their impacts, and to elucidate opportunities for future scientific inquiry to address conservation and management needs. The session abstract is below; note that we are especially interested in recruiting a speaker to address the threat of deforestation (an identified gap in our current topic list). We’d like to invite you to contribute to this special session (oral and poster presentations welcomed). Abstract submissions are now open (Deadline: January 29, 2016): http://sfsannualmeeting.org/ Regards, Laura Craig ([email protected]) Erin Singer McCombs ([email protected]) ## S10: Rivers at risk: Existing and emerging threats to river ecosystems Rivers and streams are the most impacted ecosystems on the planet as a consequence of exploitation for water supply, irrigation, power generation, navigation, and waste disposal. They are also susceptible to the impacts of watershed alteration, a result of their inextricable connection to the terrestrial ecosystem stemming from their low-lying position on the landscape. Threats to river ecosystems include urban and agricultural land use, resource extraction, water withdrawals, climate change, invasive species, habitat fragmentation, and emerging contaminants, among others. These threats directly or indirectly impact stream ecosystems through changes in hydrology, geomorphology, water chemistry, habitat quantity and quality, and species composition. River ecosystems provide habitat for diverse communities, corridors for dispersal and migration, locations for uptake and transformation of nutrients, natural flood control, and other important ecological roles. At the same time, humans continue to benefit from the goods and services provided by rivers. River conservation and management relies on balancing human uses with ecological values and a comprehensive understanding of how various threats - both existing and anticipated - will impact rivers both alone and in combination. Many rivers are experiencing multiple threats simultaneously, leading to the need for complex management approaches. This special session provides a 'big picture' view of the major threats facing rivers. It brings together scientists with particular expertise related to existing or emerging threats to rivers to review the body of knowledge related to each of these threats and efforts to minimize their impacts (e.g., restoration, stormwater management, protection), with a broader goal of elucidating opportunities for future scientific inquiry to address conservation and management needs. Confirmed speaker topics: -Altered river flow regimes -Abandoned mines -Natural gas development -Energy development -Climate change (stream biodiversity) -Nanomaterials -Pharmaceuticals and personal care products -Urbanization -Invasive species -Agriculture (biogeochemistry)
