DURESS
Mae'r cynnwys hwn ar gael yn Saesneg yn unig.
The Duress project (Diversity of Upland Rivers for Ecosystem Service Sustainability) is
a £3 million National Environment Research Council funded project which has
been assessing the role of Biodiversity as central to the sustainable delivery of upland river ecosystem services
under changing land-use and climate. Led by Sustainable Places Research Fellow
Dr Isabelle Durance, this project brings together more than 30 researchers from
a range of disciplines and institutions and is supported by 7 actively involved
stakeholders who represent the water industry, the leisure industry, policy
makers, land owners and land managers. Find out more about the DURESS project on their website.
The UK's water infrastructure is valued at over
£200 billion and worth over £10 billion per year meaning that Britain's 389,000
km of river ecosystems are among our most important natural assets. They
provide water and other major ecosystem services such as regulating floods and
water quality, supporting adjacent ecosystems with energy and nutrients, and
large cultural value for charismatic organisms, recreation, and education.
The DURESS project has been investigating how organisms and ecosystem functions maintain river ecosystem services. This is crucial knowledge because they are affected by pollution, catchment land use and climate change. The cost implications of these effects are large, for example for recreational fisheries, water treatment and high-value river biodiversity. By contrast, there is large potential to manage rivers and their catchments positively to increase the ecosystem service value of rivers by enhancing beneficial in-river organisms.
Research into ecosystem services is progressing at Llyn Brianne Stream Observatory. The project is now developing this theme further by investigating the role of stream biodiversity in the regulation of water quality and in sustaining wildlife.
The DURESS project intends to help those communities who live, work and depend on the UK's uplands who are most effected by the changing climate, evolving resource demands and economic uncertainty. The project which began in May 2012 is now coming to an end and the team are in the process of distributing their findings about what the future could look like.