Monitoring Alpine rivers: recent progress and future challanges
Leopold Füreder, University of Innsbruck (AT)
Alpine freshwaters are sensitive to climate change as hydroecological processes respond to changes in climate and alter ecosystem properties and function. In a long-term monitoring we have been studying environmental conditions, nutrients and benthic invertebrates in glacier-fed/spring-/groundwater-fed streams in four glaciated catchment in order to develop meaningful tools for the abiotic and biotic indication of climate change effects. After eight years of implementation, we report on significant results, recent progress and discuss future challenges.