{"id":84835,"date":"2022-11-08T15:32:56","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T20:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=84835"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:08","slug":"outdoor-laboratories-freshwater-biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/outdoor-laboratories-freshwater-biodiversity\/","title":{"rendered":"The use of natural outdoor laboratories can reduce threats to freshwater biodiversity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The use of natural outdoor laboratories can reduce threats to freshwater biodiversity\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

This article is republished<\/a> from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. All photos provided by The Conversation<\/a> from various sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From densely developed cities and geometric agricultural plots to the ubiquitous roadways, pipelines and power grids, an aerial view of the earth reveals our impact on our landscapes. In less populated areas, unprecedented glacial melt<\/a> and deep craters caused by the thawing of frozen soil and rock called permafrost megaslumps<\/a> give stark reminders of the ongoing climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our entire global biodiversity, from these deforested lands and glaciers to coral reefs and tiny freshwater mussels<\/a>, is now in jeopardy<\/a>. The collapsing freshwater systems<\/a> are already affecting our health and well-being by weakening our resilience to extreme climatic events and our local economies, while also disrupting water and food security<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These vital freshwater ecosystems are increasingly affected by various co-occurring threats or “cumulative effects” of human actions including urbanization, agriculture, resource development and climate change<\/a>. However, managing these cumulative effects remains a challenge as their impacts on biodiversity highly vary depending on the specific mixture of threats and other ecological factors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address this growing need for strategic solutions for the biodiversity crisis, our team of scientists from Carleton University and Wildlife Conservation Society Canada conducted a global review of over 150 studies<\/a> to understand the impacts of climate and landscape stressors on freshwater biodiversity in the messy, yet realistic, outdoor environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studying real world threats to biodiversity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Studying how cumulative effects like urbanization, agriculture and climate change, or a combination of such man-made threats, influence freshwater biodiversity outside of a controlled laboratory setting can be complicated and difficult. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aerial
\n Human actions can influence and threaten freshwater biodiversity.<\/span>
\n (Alyssa Murdoch)<\/span>, Author provided<\/span><\/span>
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Climate change and land-use stressors may affect species differently depending on their surrounding environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, some species may benefit from warming air and waters, while others may have wildly different responses to warming<\/a> depending on additional factors such as the level of human disturbance or the presence of an invasive species. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To further complicate things, other seemingly straightforward stressors, such as industrial or road development, can also be challenging to predict. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, less human disturbance may benefit certain species<\/a> due to increased food availability or the exclusion of predators from the impacted area, but may eventually lead to declines with continuous additional stress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To create effective on-the-ground conservation and management solutions, it is crucial to understand how these stressors influence biodiversity across varying ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking the lab outside<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Through our study, we found some examples of scientific discovery that came from outdoor laboratories \u2014 places where scientists could manipulate entire lakes or create artificial streams to mimic the real thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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