@article{Woodward:2012:10.1126/science.1219534,
author = {Woodward, G and Gessner, MO and Giller, PS and Gulis, V and Hladyz, S and Lecerf, A and Malmqvist, B and McKie, BG and Tiegs, SD and Cariss, H and Dobson, M and Elosegi, A and Ferreira, V and Graça, MAS and Fleituch, T and Lacoursière, JO and Nistorescu, M and Pozo, J and Risnoveanu, G and Schindler, M and Vadineanu, A and Vought, LB-M and Chauvet, E},
doi = {10.1126/science.1219534},
journal = {Science},
pages = {1438--1440},
title = {Continental-scale effects of nutrient pollution on stream ecosystem functioning.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1219534},
volume = {336},
year = {2012}
}

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TY  - JOUR
AB  - Excessive nutrient loading is a major threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide that leads to profound changes in aquatic biodiversity and biogeochemical processes. Systematic quantitative assessment of functional ecosystem measures for river networks is, however, lacking, especially at continental scales. Here, we narrow this gap by means of a pan-European field experiment on a fundamental ecosystem process--leaf-litter breakdown--in 100 streams across a greater than 1000-fold nutrient gradient. Dramatically slowed breakdown at both extremes of the gradient indicated strong nutrient limitation in unaffected systems, potential for strong stimulation in moderately altered systems, and inhibition in highly polluted streams. This large-scale response pattern emphasizes the need to complement established structural approaches (such as water chemistry, hydrogeomorphology, and biological diversity metrics) with functional measures (such as litter-breakdown rate, whole-system metabolism, and nutrient spiraling) for assessing ecosystem health.
AU  - Woodward,G
AU  - Gessner,MO
AU  - Giller,PS
AU  - Gulis,V
AU  - Hladyz,S
AU  - Lecerf,A
AU  - Malmqvist,B
AU  - McKie,BG
AU  - Tiegs,SD
AU  - Cariss,H
AU  - Dobson,M
AU  - Elosegi,A
AU  - Ferreira,V
AU  - Graça,MAS
AU  - Fleituch,T
AU  - Lacoursière,JO
AU  - Nistorescu,M
AU  - Pozo,J
AU  - Risnoveanu,G
AU  - Schindler,M
AU  - Vadineanu,A
AU  - Vought,LB-M
AU  - Chauvet,E
DO  - 10.1126/science.1219534
EP  - 1440
PY  - 2012///
SP  - 1438
TI  - Continental-scale effects of nutrient pollution on stream ecosystem functioning.
T2  - Science
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1219534
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22700929
VL  - 336
ER  - 

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