Over 200,000 kilometers of free-flowing river habitat in Europe is altered due to impoundments.

European rivers are disconnected by more than one million man-made barriers that physically limit aquatic species migration and contribute to modification of freshwater habitats. Here, a Conceptual Habitat Alteration Model for Ponding is developed to aid in evaluating the effects of impoundments on fish habitats. Fish communities present in rivers with low human impact and their broad environmental settings enable classification of European rivers into 15 macrohabitat types.

More than one million barriers fragment Europe's rivers.

Rivers support some of Earth's richest biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services to society, but they are often fragmented by barriers to free flow. In Europe, attempts to quantify river connectivity have been hampered by the absence of a harmonized barrier database. Here we show that there are at least 1.

Habitat modeling in high-gradient streams: the mesoscale approach and application.

This study aimed to set out a new methodology for habitat modeling in high-gradient streams. The methodology is based on the mesoscale approach of the MesoHABSIM simulation system and can support the definition and assessment of environmental flow and habitat restoration measures. Data from 40 study sites located within the mountainous areas of the Valle d'Aosta, Piemonte and Liguria regions (Northwest Italy) were used in the analysis.

Management of adverse effects of a public water supply well field on the aquatic habitat of a stratified drift stream in eastern Connecticut.

A study was conducted to determine the effect of water withdrawals from the University of Connecticut's (Storrs) water supply wells on the fisheries habitat of the Fenton River adjacent to the well field. The study was designed to investigate the relationships between in-stream flow and selected fish habitat in the section of the Fenton River situated in the main zone of influence of the pumping field. With the aid of historical data, new data collection, and mathematical simulation modeling, the relation between the magnitude and timing of groundwater withdrawals on the stage and flow of water in the stream was derived.