REFRESH Adaptive Strategies to Mitigate the Impacts of Climate Change on European Freshwater Ecosystems
Understanding how freshwater ecosystems will respond to future climate change is essential for the development of policies and strategies to protect aquatic and riparian ecosystems. Deltares participates in a European research project to develop the scientific basis for measures to restore freshwater ecosystems to good ecological health or to sustain priority species as required by EU Directives.
It will develop a system to enable water managers to design cost-effective restoration programmes for freshwater ecosystems at the local and catchment scales that account for the expected future impacts of climate change and land-use change in the context of the WFD and Habitats Directive.
REFRESH will advance our fundamental and applied science in 5 key areas:
- understanding how the functioning of freshwater ecosystems is affected by climate change;
- new indicators of functional response and tools for assessing vulnerability;
- modelling ecological processes;
- integrated modelling; and
- adaptive management.
