Scientists previously thought warming temperatures caused by climate change and increased nutrient levels due to pollution might offset each other’s impact on aquatic life.
Scientists previously thought warming temperatures caused by climate change and increased nutrient levels due to pollution might offset each other’s impact on aquatic life. However, a new study has shown warming waters and nutrient overload is a dangerous combination threatening our rivers and lakes.
The research, conducted by an international team of scientists from the University of Sheffield, University of Oxford and University of Savoie Mont Blanc and the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, examined hundreds of lakes and streams, analysing the complex relationships between fish species.
Researchers found that food webs, the intricate networks of who eats who, are becoming less complex in warmer, nutrient-rich waters. This simplification means shorter food chains, and an ecosystem with a degraded functioning. Top predators are particularly vulnerable to these changes, but they are essential to the functioning and the stability of ecosystems.
Read More: University of Sheffield
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