RESIST – a Collaborative Research Centre on multiple stressors affecting streams and rivers

Streams and rivers are degraded by a multitude of stressors – various types of pollution, degradation of hydrology and morphology, invasive species … just to mention a few. Stressors affect all organism groups and the functions and services they provide.

Often, stressors interact: Sometimes they strengthen each other, sometimes they weaken each other. Why and how is not fully understood. But stressor interactions greatly affect ecosystem management. Sometimes, if a river is restored, the biota deteriorate rather than improve.

RESIST aims to unravel the interactions of multiple stressors in rivers. With manipulative lab and field experiments, field studies and models we will test why, when and how stressors interact – and develop options for mitigation and restoration.