Geta Risnoveanu

• PhD
• Director of the Doctoral school at University of Bucharest

Rivers and streams contribute to global carbon cycling by decomposing immense quantities of terrestrial plant matter. However, decomposition rates are highly variable, and large-scale patterns and drivers of this process remain poorly understood. Using a cellulose-based assay to reflect the primary constituent of plant detritus, we generated a pred...

The 9th Aquatic Biodiversity International Conference 2024 (https://conferences.ulbsibiu.ro/abic/2024/index.html) will aim to communicate recent advances in the aquatic biodiversity: assessment, monitoring, conservation and management, aquatic habitats - biodiversity interrelations, aquatic biodiversity and alien species, aquatic microbial ecology,...

Millipedes are soil macrodetritivores with considerable roles in decomposing organic matter and recycling nutrients. This paper aims to identify the effects of land use on millipedes based on a literature review. Land use changes impact species distribution, diversity, and behavior with consequences for litter decomposition and soil quality. Surrou...

23 species of Diplopoda are recorded from the poorly investigated region of the middle basin of the Argeş River, several species being recorded for the first time in this region while for other species like Rumaniulus mammosus it expands the known distribution.

Riparian predatory arthropods represent one of the main trophic links between lotic and terrestrial ecosystems along riverine landscapes. The use of the trait-based approach promises to enhance our understanding of how these predatory communities interact with their environment through their response to various drivers of change and through their t...

As copepods are an important food source for most fish larvae, there is a continuing interest in developing techniques for culturing marine copepods as live food in aquaculture. Studies have shown that several species of calanoid copepods can be used successfully in aquaculture, acclimatized and grown in the laboratory over several generations and...

1. Stellate sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) is a species of great conservation concern throughout its range. Over the past century, it has experienced a dramatic decline in abundance and distribution in the Black Sea basin. Information regarding the genetic structure of the species is very limited in the region, despite its crucial importance for de...

Copepods are an important food source for most fish larvae; therefore, there is an ongoing interest in developing techniques for the culture of marine copepods to be used as live food in aquaculture (Alajmi et al., 2015). The main objective of this study is to create a working method in a laboratory-controlled environment using Acartia (Acartiura)...

Ecotoxicity tests => are designed to determine specific concentrations of chemicals that have a measurable effect on a target organism. No such experiments were conducted on marine copepods from the Romanian Black Sea coast. Aim => to develop a proper methodology for assessing chemicals toxicity in the Black Sea region.

Microbes play a critical role in plant litter decomposition and influence the fate of carbon in rivers and riparian zones. When decomposing low‐nutrient plant litter, microbes acquire nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from the environment (i.e., nutrient immobilization), and this process is potentially sensitive to nutrient loading and changing clima...

Riparian forest buffers have multiple benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services in both freshwater and terrestrial habitats but are rarely implemented in water ecosystem management, partly reflecting the lack of information on the effectiveness of this measure. In this context, social learning is valuable to inform stakeholders of the effica...

The fast growth of the human population and its preference for living in urban areas pose a great challenge on governance to find solutions addressing urban resilience and sustainability objectives. In the transition toward resilient cities, the concept of ecosystem services offered by natural systems is considered an efficient tool of interconnect...

The increased density of the human population globally and the negative impact of some human actions put pressure on the components of natural capital and its ability to regulate and support the effects of human activities. The high complexity of urban systems, multidisciplinarity of issues and multiple impacts they face (resulting from overpopulat...

In the Black Sea basin, still survives the last wild population of stellate sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus, Pallas 1771) able to undertake upstream spawning migration into the Danube River. During the 20th century, unsustainable exploitation, habitat contraction, and degradation reduced the population size to critical levels. In the past decades, sp...

Protecting stream integrity represents a fundamental condition underpinning the supply of essential ecosystem services vital to sustaining well-being and future economic and social development. To date, a variety of approaches, mainly associated with legislation and enforcement of government policies, are used to assess streams' ecological state. T...

One of the last wild populations of the critically endangered stellate sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) survives in the Danube River. Limited knowledge about the genetic structure, ecology, and evolution of this species led to poor and inconsistent management decisions with an increased risk for species extinction in the wild. Here we show the result...

Riparian zones form the interface between stream and terrestrial ecosystems and play a key role through their vegetation structure in determining stream biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and regulating human impacts, such as warming, nutrient enrichment and sedimentation. We assessed how differing riparian vegetation types influence the structura...

Riparian zones form a boundary between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, with dispro-portionate influences on food web dynamics and ecosystem functioning in both habitats. However,riparian boundaries are frequently degraded by human activities, including urbanization, leading todirect impacts on terrestrial communities and indirect changes that a...

Stream and terrestrial ecosystems are intimately connected by riparian zones that support high biodiversity but are also vulnerable to human impacts. Landscape disturbances, overgrazing, and diffuse pollution of agrochemicals threaten riparian biodiversity and the delivery of ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. We assessed how terrestria...

Patches of riparian woody vegetation potentially help mitigate environmental impacts of agriculture and safeguard biodiversity. We investigated the effects of riparian forest on invertebrate diversity in coupled stream-riparian networks using a case study in the Zwalm river basin (Flanders, Belgium). Agriculture is one of the main pressures in the...

Riparian habitats are important ecotones connecting aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, but are often highly degraded by human activities. Riparian buffers might help support impacted riparian communities, and improve trophic connectivity. We sampled spider communities from riparian habitats in an agricultural catchment, and analyzed their polyunsa...

This paper serves as an introduction to the CROSSLINK project and highlights the potential for our study to help inform riparian management.

The Romanian wolf population, one of the largest in Europe, occupies a total home-range of 154500 km² and is spread across a variety of landscapes–from anthropized hills and plateaus to remote, densely forested mountains. However, this population is markedly understudied, and even basic knowledge of the species’ feeding habits is deficient. Wolf di...

Eutrophication of shallow lakes often triggers a series of cascading ecological effects. Among these are shifts in the zooplankton community structure due to phytoplankton changes, or shifts in the fish community reducing size-selective feeding of planktivorous fish. In such conditions, larger zooplankton (e.g. Daphnia) can have a selective advanta...

Due to the worldwide decline of the sturgeon population, stocking programmes were developed for many of these species. The critically endangered anadromous sturgeon populations inhabiting the NW Black Sea and spawning in the Lower Danube River are not an exception. Despite no knowledge of the genetic diversity of the remnant populations, the Romani...

The CROSSLINK project is a pan-European research project with a multidisciplinary research team from five countries. The project focuses on the role of cross-habitat linkages between stream (aquatic) and adjacent riparian (terrestrial) habitats in modified landscapes. Multiple human pressures can affect longitudinal and lateral connectivity in rive...

Inadequate Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is often thought to hinder adaptive management of socio-ecological systems. A key influence on environmental management practices are environmental policies: however, their consequences for M&E practices have not been well-examined. We examine three policy areas - the Water Framework Directive, the Natura...

The data presented in this DiB article provide an overview of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) carried out for 3 European environmental policies (the Water Framework Directive, the Natura 2000 network of protected areas, and Agri-Environment Schemes implemented under the Common Agricultural Policy), as implemented in 9 cases (Catalonia (Spain), Esto...

River ecosystems receive and process vast quantities of terrestrial organic carbon, the fate of which depends strongly on microbial activity. Variation in and controls of processing rates, however, are poorly characterized at the global scale. In response, we used a peer-sourced research network and a highly standardized carbon processing assay to...

River ecosystems receive and process vast quantities of terrestrial organic carbon, the fate of which depends strongly on microbial activity. Variation in and controls of processing rates, however, are poorly characterized at the global scale. In response, we used a peer-sourced research network and a highly standardized carbon processing assay to...

River ecosystems receive and process vast quantities of terrestrial organic carbon, the fate of which depends strongly on microbial activity. Variation in and controls of processing rates, however, are poorly characterized at the global scale. In response, we used a peer-sourced research network and a highly standardized carbon processing assay to...

River ecosystems receive and process vast quantities of terrestrial organic carbon, the fate of which depends strongly on microbial activity. Variation in and controls of processing rates, however, are poorly characterized at the global scale. In response, we used a peer-sourced research network and a highly standardized carbon processing assay to...

final recommendations

Stream-riparian networks comprise strongly-linked ecosystems that underpin landscape integrity. However, they are subject to multiple human uses and pressures that affect connectivity in these networks, driving biodiversity losses, threatening ecosystem services, and causing stakeholder conflicts. A range of approaches were promoted to understand h...

The report is summarising the preliminary findings: Blackstock K.L. et al. (2017) Monitoring and Evaluation for Ecosystem Management (MEEM), Technical Report, James Hutton Institute, 96 pages.

Eutrophication generally favours the growth of cyanobacteria over eukaryotic green algae in freshwater lakes. Cyanobacteria constitute a poor food source for the waterflea Daphnia, an important primary consumer of phytoplankton in lakes. While it is known that some Daphnia species are adapted to eutrophic conditions and can cope with cyanobacteria...

The assessment of links between human modifications and the structure and functioning of aquatic communities has become a major issue in stream research and management. A range of approaches was promoted to understand the ecological importance of hydromorphological changes and deliver science of real management value. Nevertheless, key drivers and...

The assessment of links between human modifications and the structure and functioning of aquatic communities has become a major issue in stream research and management. A range of approaches was promoted to understand the ecological importance of hydromorphological changes and deliver science of real management value. Nevertheless, key drivers and...

The development of classification systems for the assessment of ecological status of surface water bodies is one of the most challenging tasks in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. Important progresses have been made by the member states in the development of the overall methodology. Nevertheless, the integration of physical, chem...

The structure and functions of stream systems reflect the deterioration caused by different types of human induced pressures, particularly hydromorphological adjustments. While the existence of this complex relationship is widely accepted, empirical evidence does not necessarily support it. Accordingly, this study adresses the complex linkages betw...

The analysis of spatial and temporal variability of biotic indices is a major concern for water quality monitoring programs. The analysis of biotic indices currently used to assess the ecological status of water bodies is essential in guiding further development and refinement of assessment methods. Based on the quantitative row data (composition o...

Multiple stressors of anthropogenic origin have impacted ecosystems worldwide. A particular concern for streams is represented by multiple stressors introduced simultaneously by hydromorphological changes and riparian invasive plants. The combined effects of these multiple stressors on streams biodiversity and ecosystem functions are poorly underst...

RivFunction is a pan-European initiative that started in 2002 and was aimed at establishing a novel functional-based approach to assessing the ecological status of rivers. Litter decomposition was chosen as the focal process because it plays a central role in stream ecosystems and is easy to study in the field. Impacts of two stressors that occur a...

Concerns about understanding the consequences of anthropic pressures on biodiversity and the goods and services it provides are still a priority in ecological research. Composition and structure of insect communities were frequently reported as major factors that modulate both the rates and patterns of ecological processes at different spatial and...

Produs al unei echipe multidisciplinare de cercetători din cadrul Universităţii din Bucureşti şi Institutului pentru Sănătate Publică din Norvegia, lucrarea fructifică nu numai experienţa autorilor în sfera testării, evaluării şi clasificării substanţelor chimice, dar şi experienţa didactică acumulată în cadrul proiectului ProExpert, prin implement...

The Romanian wolf population, one of the largest in Europe, occupies a total home-range of 90000 sqkm and is spread across a variety of landscapes - from highly anthropized hills and plateaus to remote, densely forested mountains. However, up to now there are no reliable studies to document the feeding habits of the species. From November 2013 to O...

Implementation of the Water Framework Directive and achieving its objective of good ecological status of all water bodies it is an ongoing process. Its success depends on the robustness of the classification schemes currently used by the monitoring system. Good quality, long-term data series gathered in a certain environmental context are key stone...

The accelerating rate of change in biodiversity patterns demands a better understanding of the structure of biological communities and its relationship with ecosystem functioning. Environmental variation induced by the anthropogenic changes may explain the observed differences in the distribution of arthropod species. Apart of this, biases induced...

At European level, wolf diet has been subject to numerous studies, and local and regional variations have been observed. Understanding wolf’s feeding habits is of highly importance, especially for proper substantiation of management measures. Although the Carpathian mountains are home-range to one of the greatest wolf populations in Europe, reliabl...

The political and socio-economical aspects of European countries led, over time, to particular wildlife management approaches, with a high impact on the range and viability of European large carnivore populations (LCp). Currently, Romania plays an essential role in the process of ensuring long-term conservation of LCp in Central-Eastern Europe. The...

The assessment of current status of aquatic systems and the analysis of spatial and temporal variability of uni-and multi-criterial indices currently used in the monitoring and evaluation of the ecological status of lotic systems, are essential conditions to guide further development and refinement of the existing methods. Based on the data sets ge...

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-Eu...

The benthic invertebrates are one of the most important components of the aquatic ecosystems and are considered in the research and monitoring programs dealing with dynamics of the ecological state of the Lower Danube Wetland System. During 2009-2010 period, field observations were made on the benthic fauna of the shallow lakes and channels in the...

The loss of native riparian vegetation and its replacement with non-native species or grazing land for agriculture is a worldwide phenomenon, but one that is particularly prevalent in Europe, reflecting the heavily-modified nature of the continent’s landscape. The replacement of woodland with pasture across Europe has occurred on a large scale sinc...

As a result of structural changes recorded in the last half of century in the Lower Danube River System, the aquatic ecosystems remained under a natural flooding regime showed a pregnant tendency of transition toward hypertrophy. As a consequence, the energy input into the shallow lakes of the Small Island of Braila (SIB) increased through excessiv...

1. Human land-use has altered catchments on a large scale in most parts of the world, with one of the most profound changes relevant for streams and rivers being the widespread clearance of woody riparian vegetation to make way for livestock grazing pasture. Increasingly, environmental legislation, such as the EU Water Framework Directive (EU WFD),...

Invertebrates inhabiting alpine water bodies are sensitive to environmental variability and lake faunal communities can therefore be important indicators of long-range airborne pollution, climate change and other human impacts. Information about the trophic structure and species composition of alpine lake ecosystems over space and time should there...

EU rural policy needs to address the dramatic changes that have taken place in the rural areas in the last two decades. In most rural regions the monofunctional role of the rural landscape as resource supply (i.e. agricultural and forestry sectors) has shifted to a multifunctional role, which includes other functions and sectors such as tourism, na...

ABSTRACT Conservation of biological diversity, a goal institutionalised through international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, or the Habitats Directive in Europe, has important implications for the management of all natural resources, as it requires a re- arrangement,of management ,practices in a ,multi-faceted fashion. W...

In view of growing interest in understanding how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning, we investigated effects of riparian plant diversity on litter decomposition in forest streams. Leaf litter from 10 deciduous tree species was collected during natural leaf fall at two locations (Massif Central in France and Carpathians in Romania) and expos...

Nitrogen and phosphorous exchange at the water–sediment interface is controlled both by complex physico-chemical factors and biological processes. Zoobenthos excretion is one of the most important processes in the mineralization of sedimented organic mater. In polluted freshwaters, tubificid worms are among the dominant components of the benthic co...