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As rural populations decrease and cities expand, the importance of urban ecological research becomes globally significant. Urban ecology seeks to understand the complex relationships between human settlements and their ecological contexts in an attempt to ensure sustainable futures. The discipline of urban ecology is at the forefront of the conflict between human perceptions, economy, and politics. Despite numerous studies conducted in urban areas in South Africa, no one city has yet synthesized all the amassed research conducted within its city limits. A shortage of detailed ecological data, therefore, led to an extensive study of urban open spaces in some cities of the North-West Province encompassing multiple disciplines. Consequently, this study attempts to consolidate and evaluate all the existing urban ecological research in South Africa and specifically, in the city of Potchefstroom. Firstly, a comprehensive overview of South African urban ecological literature discussing the early development, research themes and the future of urban ecology in South Africa was carried out. Three hundred and fourteen publications were reviewed and categorized into the following research themes: physical environment, biodiversity, management, conservation, planning, human needs, sustainability, public participation, ecosystem services, and resilience. Secondly, as researchers have long been interested in studying and explaining patterns of biodiversity in natural and anthropogenic landscapes, many theories have been proposed on the drivers of these patterns and numerous studies compare current land-use effects with biotic assemblages. However, a much-neglected perspective in urban ecological research is the impact of the history of the landscape. Consequently, the second paper investigated the possible time lags in the response of temperate natural grasslands to urbanization and the factors driving these changes. Thirdly, a study of the temporal vegetation dynamics of urban grasslands in Potchefstroom over a 17-year period was carried out. Open grasslands, woody vegetation sites, and vacant lots were resurveyed within the city limits. The potential change in species richness and abundance of species, and the differences in species composition between these three habitat types were compared. Lastly, the fourth paper synthesizes all the relevant existing interdisciplinary research carried out of urban open spaces in Potchefstroom. This is evaluated against municipal governance and management strategies, environmental law, public opinion and the steep spatially organized socio-economic gradient found in Potchefstroom, informing the progress towards a sustainable, liveable city. The results of the literature study indicated that there were various gaps within each theme that need to be addressed in future. In the study on the effects of urbanization history on observed vegetation patterns, the woody vegetation showed important time lags in the response of indigenous species richness to urbanization. The measures altitude and the road network density of natural areas were the most frequent predictors of species richness. Results of the temporal vegetation dynamics of urban grasslands indicated that in the relatively short 17 year period most vegetation diversity indices changed significantly, specifically a significant decrease in indigenous species richness of both grasslands and woody communities were noted. The synthesis of all the studies carried out in Potchefstroom revealed an impressive number of studies carried out, however most of the biodiversity groups were represented by a single investigation only. Evaluating the results with the IDP revealed than much of the known ecological information in Potchefstroom remains undiscovered by municipal policymakers. Moreover, proposed future development is planned for some of the highest biodiversity sites. This synthesis and the subsequent identification of the gaps in our understanding and research themes will allow a purposeful and informed advancement of the science of urban ecology in South Africa and the contribution thereof towards advancing urban ecology globally. In addition, the history of urbanization affects contemporary vegetation assemblages in urban areas indicating potential extinction debts. Moreover, the significant decreases in indigenous species richness of woody and grassland sites have important consequences for urban grassland conservation in South Africa. Subsequently, the knowledge and the identification of research gaps allow decision makers in Potchefstroom to plan for sustainable future solutions and for this city to emerge as a leading role player in the South African urban ecological context. The results of this thesis could be a substantial practical aid in policy and management strategies furthering decision makers in the pursuit of the elusive goal of developing sustainable cities. / PhD (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

As rural populations decrease and cities expand, the importance of urban ecological research becomes globally significant. Urban ecology seeks to understand the complex relationships between human settlements and their ecological contexts in an attempt to ensure sustainable futures. The discipline of urban ecology is at the forefront of the conflict between human perceptions, economy, and politics. Despite numerous studies conducted in urban areas in South Africa, no one city has yet synthesized all the amassed research conducted within its city limits. A shortage of detailed ecological data, therefore, led to an extensive study of urban open spaces in some cities of the North-West Province encompassing multiple disciplines. Consequently, this study attempts to consolidate and evaluate all the existing urban ecological research in South Africa and specifically, in the city of Potchefstroom. Firstly, a comprehensive overview of South African urban ecological literature discussing the early development, research themes and the future of urban ecology in South Africa was carried out. Three hundred and fourteen publications were reviewed and categorized into the following research themes: physical environment, biodiversity, management, conservation, planning, human needs, sustainability, public participation, ecosystem services, and resilience. Secondly, as researchers have long been interested in studying and explaining patterns of biodiversity in natural and anthropogenic landscapes, many theories have been proposed on the drivers of these patterns and numerous studies compare current land-use effects with biotic assemblages. However, a much-neglected perspective in urban ecological research is the impact of the history of the landscape. Consequently, the second paper investigated the possible time lags in the response of temperate natural grasslands to urbanization and the factors driving these changes. Thirdly, a study of the temporal vegetation dynamics of urban grasslands in Potchefstroom over a 17-year period was carried out. Open grasslands, woody vegetation sites, and vacant lots were resurveyed within the city limits. The potential change in species richness and abundance of species, and the differences in species composition between these three habitat types were compared. Lastly, the fourth paper synthesizes all the relevant existing interdisciplinary research carried out of urban open spaces in Potchefstroom. This is evaluated against municipal governance and management strategies, environmental law, public opinion and the steep spatially organized socio-economic gradient found in Potchefstroom, informing the progress towards a sustainable, liveable city. The results of the literature study indicated that there were various gaps within each theme that need to be addressed in future. In the study on the effects of urbanization history on observed vegetation patterns, the woody vegetation showed important time lags in the response of indigenous species richness to urbanization. The measures altitude and the road network density of natural areas were the most frequent predictors of species richness. Results of the temporal vegetation dynamics of urban grasslands indicated that in the relatively short 17 year period most vegetation diversity indices changed significantly, specifically a significant decrease in indigenous species richness of both grasslands and woody communities were noted. The synthesis of all the studies carried out in Potchefstroom revealed an impressive number of studies carried out, however most of the biodiversity groups were represented by a single investigation only. Evaluating the results with the IDP revealed than much of the known ecological information in Potchefstroom remains undiscovered by municipal policymakers. Moreover, proposed future development is planned for some of the highest biodiversity sites. This synthesis and the subsequent identification of the gaps in our understanding and research themes will allow a purposeful and informed advancement of the science of urban ecology in South Africa and the contribution thereof towards advancing urban ecology globally. In addition, the history of urbanization affects contemporary vegetation assemblages in urban areas indicating potential extinction debts. Moreover, the significant decreases in indigenous species richness of woody and grassland sites have important consequences for urban grassland conservation in South Africa. Subsequently, the knowledge and the identification of research gaps allow decision makers in Potchefstroom to plan for sustainable future solutions and for this city to emerge as a leading role player in the South African urban ecological context. The results of this thesis could be a substantial practical aid in policy and management strategies furthering decision makers in the pursuit of the elusive goal of developing sustainable cities. / PhD (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Long-term coral reef monitoring programs have been established and used efficiently in many parts of the world to assess the state of coral reefs under increasing anthropogenic pressures and natural disturbances, as well as to evaluate the efficiency of established marine protected areas (MPAs) or other conservation strategies. Over the past decade, Red Sea coral reefs have experienced two major bleaching events in 2010 and five years later, in 2015/2016, with severe coral loss along the central and southern Saudi Arabian coast. With this study we present the first characterization of fish community changes through time in the Red Sea. Fish abundance data from twenty-three reefs from two different regions in Saudi Arabia, central (Thuwal) and south-central (Al Lith), surveyed between 2008 and 2019 were examined. A significant decline of hard coral was observed on nearshore reefs in both regions following two bleaching events. The results revealed a persistent cross-shelf partitioning of fish communities before and following a substantial drop in coral cover. Offshore reef fish communities appeared to be more stable and homogeneous through time, whereas nearshore reef fish communities had less similar composition throughout the study period. Species-specific analyses revealed the decline in the abundance of several obligatory corallivorous species, a contrasting response from most herbivore fish species that generally experienced an increase in their abundance since 2008. These findings indicate that the bleaching events from this period had less effect on communities as a whole, but instead cause changes in abundance in several key species, mostly affected by coral loss and subsequent algal increase. While a well-structured and standardized long-term monitoring system is yet to be established for Saudi Arabian coral reefs, our findings provide a sound baseline of fish assemblages over the last decade. These findings are critical for future studies as well as effective conservation strategies in the face of ongoing coastal developments, overfishing and climate change.

For centuries, river catchments and their constituent habitats have been altered and modified through various human activities to maximise provision of tangible benefits like food and water, while impacting on their capacity to provide other less obvious but equally important benefits for human survival. However, in the last few decades, perceptions on the role of catchments as mere providers of tangible benefits have been changing, as recognition has been given to other human beneficial services like regulation of floods. This recognition has drawn increased interest in both science and policy, towards understanding human-nature relations and how approaches like the ecosystem services concept can inform sustainable management of catchments. Although, the multiple and differently weighted relationships existing between habitats and ecosystem services have been acknowledged, the relationship between spatio-temporal change in habitats and spatio-temporal change in ecosystem services delivery, has not received as much attention in the research literature. In this thesis, it is argued that this is an important omission as spatio-temporal habitat change could have broader consequences for ecosystem services provided by a catchment. On this basis, this study maps and assesses the influence of habitat changes across space and time on ecosystem services delivery at a local catchment scale. Approaches to assessing ecosystem service delivery across landscapes and catchments draw on habitat mapping data for those landscapes or catchments. Such data are in turn used as proxies for estimating different ecosystem services delivered by the landscape or catchment based on their integration with other spatial or non-spatial data. To date this approach has been applied to assess contemporary delivery of different ecosystem services. The basis of the approach taken in this study involved comparing a pre-existing contemporary ecosystem service assessment of two chosen sub catchments of the Tweed catchment in Scotland, with a similar assessment based on a set of older “historic” habitat maps for the mid-20th century period. Derivation of the digital map base for the latter was a major focus of the present study. Aerial photography taken during the Royal Air Force surveys in the 1940s archived in the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland were obtained and first scanned digitally, arranged into a mosaic of adjacent images and ortho-rectified to remove camera distortion. These photo mosaics were then visually interpreted and, aided with ancillary data, the current (2009) habitat maps were edited and backdated to derive the historic habitat maps for the study catchments. The Spatial Evidence for Natural Capital Evaluation (SENCE) ecosystem services mapping approach was then used to translate generated habitat maps into ecosystem service supply maps. Findings show that the study catchments changed from multifunctional to intensively managed landscapes by 2009, with a higher capacity for supplying provisioning ecosystem services, while their capacity to supply regulating and supporting ecosystem services was reduced. Findings also show that a change in one habitat type results in changes in multiple ecosystem services, while changes in the spatial configuration of habitats reduces areas with high supply capacity for regulating and supporting ecosystem services. This study concludes that ecosystem service delivery is not only affected by changes in gross area of constituent habitats but also by spatial changes in the configuration and distribution of these habitats. In this regard, it is argued that recognising and understanding changes in ecosystem services adds an important strand in catchment management. It is therefore suggested that planning for future ecosystem services in catchment management needs to be informed by historic baselines.

This thesis consists of two major parts. In the first part, I monitor the temporal change of S-wave velocity in shallow soil layers using seismic data collected in an experiment at Panola Mt. Atlanta, GA, 2006. I use the cross correlation function to find the arrival time differences for different water levels, and then calculate the change of Rayleigh wave phase velocity according to different frequencies in the range 5 to 50 Hz. After that, I find a reference 1-D layered P and S-wave velocity model from the measured Rayleigh wave dispersion curve, and put 6 sets of Gaussian perturbations into the reference velocity structure to invert for the actual temporal change of velocity structure in the experiment. I find a clear increase of S-wave velocity in the water injection area, and the S-wave velocity gradually recovers to the initial value after we stop pumping water. In the second part, I analyze temporal changes in fault zone site response along the Karadere-Düzce branch of the North Anatolian Fault, starting 8 days before and ending 72 days after the 1999 Mw7.1 Düzce, Turkey, earthquake. The analysis involves comparisons of strong motion seismic records at station VO inside the Karadere fault and station FP about 300 m away from the fault. I compare all available seismic waveforms at these stations, including those generated by foreshocks, the mainshock, aftershocks and seismic noise, and cut them into 10 s windows with a 5 s overlap. Fourier amplitude spectra are computed for seismic data in each window, and the average amplitude spectra for the two horizontal components are used to obtain the spectral ratio for each on/off fault pair of seismic records. The spectral ratios are smoothed over every 10 points in the frequency domain (0.5 Hz). The results show a shift of the spectral peak to lower frequencies during the main shock. The peak frequency reduces from 4.3 Hz several days before the main shock to 2.9 Hz (67.4% of the pre mainshock value) right after the mainshock. It quickly recovers to 3.8 Hz (64% recovery of the dropped value) after a day, and then gradually recovers to 4.0 Hz (79% recovery of the dropped value) after 72 days. I also compare the results from all the seismic data including direct S-wave, S coda waves and seismic noise and from coda waves only and find that the results from coda waves which are generally less scattered than those from all the data, and show lower amplitude of spectra ratio with higher peak frequencies. The observations suggest a nonlinear behavior of the fault zone material under strong ground motion of nearby major earthquakes. Finally I attempt to link the two parts by identifying their implications for the nonlinear site effects.

I carried out an observational study of historic high resolution aerial imagery spanning six decades (1950-2014) to identify recent and historic spatial extent of mangrove forests, within the municipal boundaries of the City of Tampa, Florida USA. My objectives were to map mangrove distribution and spatial extent and any change or patterns of change discernable. I observed variable patterns of change and rates of expansion varied between sites spatially as well as within sites between time intervals. I found notable changes in mangrove extent in the Tampa from historic and modern aerial imagery for the ~64-year period between 1950 and 2014. There were significant losses in areal extent between 1950 and 1973, much of which could be directly attributed to anthropogenic modification of the Tampa coastal landscape. All the regions observed had recovered or surpassed their original extent by the end of the period reviewed (1950-2014). It appears much of the recovery observed is a result of recolonization of created or modified shorelines. Results of these observations may contribute to the body of information used to inform conservation and management objectives in the City of Tampa and Tampa Bay.

Through distributed stream network routing, it has quantitatively been shown that the relationship between flow travel time and discharge varies strongly nonlinearly with stream stage and with catchment-specific properties. Physically derived distributions of water travel times through a stream network were successfully used to parameterise the streamflow response function of a compartmental hydrological model. Predictions were found to improve compared to conventional statistically based parameterisation schemes, for most of the modelled scenarios, particularly for peakflow conditions. A Fourier spectral analysis of 55-110 years of daily discharge time series from 79 unregulated catchments in Sweden revealed that the discharge power spectral slope has gradually increased over time, with significant increases for 58 catchments. The results indicated that the catchment scaling function power spectrum had steepened in most of the catchments for which historical precipitation series were available. These results suggest that (local) land-use changes within the catchments may affect the discharge power spectra more significantly than changes in precipitation (climate change). A case study from an agriculturally intense catchment using historical (from the 1880s) and modern stream network maps revealed that the average stream network flow distance as well as average water levels were substantially diminished over the past century, while average bottom slopes increased. The study verifies the hypothesis that anthropogenic changes (determined through scenario modelling using a 1D distributed routing model) of stream network properties can have a substantial influence on the travel times through the stream networks and thus on the discharge hydrographs. The findings stress the need for a more hydrodynamically based approach to adequately describe the variation of streamflow response, especially for predictions of higher discharges. An increased physical basis of response functions can be beneficial in improving discharge predictions during conditions in which conventional parameterisation based on historical flow patterns may not be possible - for example, for extreme peak flows and during periods of nonstationary conditions, such as during periods of climate and/or land use change. / <p>QC 20150903</p>

Abstract The aim of this work was to evaluate the frequency of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in children &#60;15 years of age at the time of diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) at Oulu University Hospital over a period of 33 years (1982−2014) and throughout Finland in 2002−2005. The aim was to assess the effect of certain host characteristics (age at diagnosis, family history of T1D, T1D-associated HLA risk genotypes and participation in T1D prediction and prevention trials) on the frequency on DKA. A further aim was to assess temporal changes in the frequency of DKA. The overall frequency of diabetic ketoacidosis at the diagnosis of T1D in children &#60;15 years was low both at Oulu University Hospital and over the whole country. A decrease in the frequency of DKA was observed at the university hospital during the years 1982−2001, but it then seemed to stabilize at just under 20.0%. The frequency in the whole of Finland during the period 2002−2005 was similar, i.e. 19.4%. The frequency of DKA at diagnosis in very young children (&#60;2 years of age) at Oulu University Hospital decreased markedly during the period in question, being 50.0% in 1982−1991, 39.1% in 1992−2001 and 17.1% in 2002−2014 (p=0.021), and a similar decrease was seen in children &#60;5 years (32.1% in 1982−1991, 17.7% in 1992−2001 and 13.0% in 2002−2014, p=0.007). The children aged 10−14.9 years at diagnosis, however, had an increased risk of DKA over the whole period studied here, and more attention should definitely be paid to this group in the future to reduce its DKA frequency. In the analysis of the data based on all children in Finland diagnosed with T1D in 2002−2005 the risk of DKA at diagnosis was lower in those with a first-degree relative affected by T1D. The children carrying a higher HLA-conferred risk of T1D had DKA less frequently at the manifestation of the disease. Prospective studies based on screening for HLA-DQB1-associated genetic susceptibility to T1D from cord blood and subsequent regular clinical, immunological and metabolic follow-up have been going on in Oulu University Hospital since 1995, and the children taking part have been found to have a reduced frequency of DKA (5%) at diagnosis. Genetic screening without follow-up did not prevent DKA at disease presentation. / Tiivistelmä Väitöstyön tarkoituksena oli tutkia diabeettisen ketoasidoosin (DKA) esiintymistä alle 15–vuotiailla lapsilla tyypin 1 diabeteksen toteamisvaiheessa Oulun yliopistollisessa sairaalassa vuosina 1982–2014 ja koko Suomessa vuosina 2002–2005. Tavoitteena oli selvittää tiettyjen lapsen erityispiirteiden (ikä diagnoosihetkellä, perheen diabeteshistoria, diabetekseen liittyvien HLA riskigenotyyppien esiintyminen ja osallistuminen prospektiivisiin tyypin 1 diabeteksen seurantatutkimuksiin) vaikutusta ketoasidoosin esiintymiseen. Lisäksi tärkeänä tavoitteena oli tutkia mahdollisia ajallisia muutoksia ketoasidoosin esiintymisessä. Kaikkiaan ketoasidoosin esiintyminen oli matala alle 15–vuotiailla lapsilla tyypin 1 diabeteksen diagnoosihetkellä Oulun yliopistollisessa sairaalassa tutkimusjakson aikana. Ketoasidoosin esiintymisessä nähtiin vähenemistä kahden ensimmäisen 10–vuotisjakson aikana (1982–1991 ja 1992–2001), minkä jälkeen sen esiintyminen vakiintui alle 20 %:n tasolle. Koko Suomessa ketoasidoosin kokonaisesiintyvyys vuosina 2002–2005 oli 19,4 % mikä vastasi Oulun yliopistollisessa sairaalassa havaittua esiintyvyyttä. Pienillä, alle 2–vuotiailla lapsilla ketoasidoosin esiintyminen diabeteksen toteamisvaiheessa väheni huomattavasti tutkimusjakson aikana Oulun yliopistollisessa sairaalassa ollen 50,0 % 1982–2001, 39,1 % 1992–2001 ja 17,1 % 2002–2014 (p=0,021). Samanlainen laskeva suunta havaittiin tuona ajanjaksona myös alle 5–vuotiailla lapsilla (32,1 % 1982–1991, 17,7 % 1992–2001 ja 13,0 % 2002–2014, p=0,007). Sen sijaan ketoasidoosiriski pysyi huomattavan korkeana yli 10–vuotiailla lapsilla koko tutkimusjakson ajan. Tulevaisuudessa on tärkeä kiinnittää erityishuomio tähän ikäluokkaan ketoasidoosin vähentämiseksi. Analysoitaessa kaikkia Suomessa 2002–2005 tyypin 1 diabetekseen sairastuneita lapsia, havaittiin lapsilla, joilla oli ensimmäisen asteen tyypin 1 diabetesta sairastava sukulainen (vanhemmat, sisarukset), ketoasidoosiriski matalammaksi. Lisäksi niillä lapsilla, joilla oli korkeaan sairastumisriskiin liittyvä HLA–genotyyppi, oli ketoasidoosin esiintyminen vähäisempää tyypin 1 diabeteksen diagnoosihetkellä. Prospektiivinen tyypin 1 diabeteksen kehittymistä selvittävä seurantatutkimus aloitettiin Oulussa 1995. Tutkimuksessa lapsen napaverinäytteestä analysoidaan perinnöllinen diabetesalttius ja riskiryhmiä seurataan säännöllisesti. Seurantatutkimukseen osallistuneiden lasten ketoasidoosiriski diabeteksen diagnoosihetkellä oli vähentynyt taudin toteamishetkellä (5,0 %). Pelkkä geneettiseen seulontatutkimukseen osallistuminen ei kuitenkaan suojannut lasta ketoasidoosilta.

Abstract Community assembly results from a combination of deterministic and stochastic mechanisms, whose relative effects can vary in response to environmental heterogeneity, connectivity, disturbance regimes and anthropogenic stressors. Understanding how community assembly mechanisms vary in response to environmental changes and connectivity is crucial for the management and conservation of river ecosystems. In this thesis, I tested the effects of connectivity and natural flow disturbances on riverine invertebrate communities by assessing assembly mechanism changes in response to (I) habitat connectivity, (II) seasonal flow intermittency and (III) inter–annual hydrological variability. I also conducted a field experiment to test for (IV) the effects of human–induced nutrient enrichment on community assembly of microorganisms (diatoms and aquatic fungi) and stream ecosystem functioning under different environmental settings. Invertebrate community assembly changed gradually with habitat connectivity. While limited dispersal resulted in higher community variability in the most isolated streams, mass effects caused community homogenization in the most connected ones. Natural and human induced disturbances lead to changes in the relative importance of deterministic and stochastic factors but often through different, or even opposite, mechanisms depending on the natural background of the ecosystem and organism type considered. For instance, seasonal drying and high–flow periods in intermittent Mediterranean rivers promoted deterministic and stochastic assembly processes respectively, whereas environmental sorting and stochastic processes respectively dominated during high and low flow years in boreal streams. Diatom and fungal communities responded differently to nutrient enrichment, with detrital processes and fungal communities responding more in naturally acidic than in circumneutral streams. The results of this thesis highlight the complexity of community assembly mechanisms: they tend to be highly context dependent and temporally variable. Therefore, stream bioassessment and conservation will benefit from explicitly incorporating connectivity and natural disturbance regimes. Assessing the interactive effects of connectivity and disturbances at the river network scale would provide a greater understanding of community assembly mechanisms and river ecosystem functioning. / Tiivistelmä Eliöyhteisöjen koostumus heijastelee determinististen ja stokastisten mekanismien vuorovaikutusta. Niiden suhteellinen merkitys vaihtelee suhteessa yhteisöjen kytkeytyneisyyteen sekä luontaisiin ja ihmisen aiheuttamiin häiriöihin. Yhteisöjen säätelymekanismit vaihtelevat jokiverkoston eri osissa ja tietoa tästä vaihtelusta tarvitaan jokiekosysteemien hoidon kehittämiseksi. Tässä tutkielmassa testasin elinympäristöjen kytkeytyneisyyden ja luontaisten häiriöiden (virtaamavaihtelut) vaikutuksia jokien selkärangatonyhteisöihin. Suoritin myös kenttäkokeen, jossa testattiin ihmisen aiheuttaman rehevöitymisen vaikutuksia mikro–organismeihin (piilevät, mikrobit) ja ekosysteemitoimintoihin erilaisissa ympäristöoloissa (luontaisesti happamat vs. neutraalit purot). Selkärangattomien yhteisökoostumus muuttui asteittain jokiverkostossa. Yhteisökoostumuksen vaihtelu oli suurinta eristäytyneimmissä latvapuroissa, kun taas isommissa, uomaston keskivaiheilla sijaitsevissa koskissa voimakas levittäytyminen eri suunnista (ns. massatekijät) aiheutti yhteisöjen rakenteen homogenisoitumista. Kuivuusjaksot ja niitä seuraavat korkean virtaaman jaksot edistivät determinististen prosessien merkitystä Välimeren alueen joissa, kun taas boreaalisissa puroissa Pohjois–Suomessa äärevät virtaamaolot, erityisesti poikkeuksellisen kuivat kesät, edistivät satunnaismekanismien vaikutusta. Perustuottajat (piilevät) ja hajottajat (akvaattiset sienet) vastasivat eri tavoin ravinnelisäykseen. Sienten hajotustoiminta nopeutui ravinnelisäyksen myötä, mutta vain luontaisesti happamissa puroissa. Tämän opinnäytetyön tulokset korostavat yhteisön kokoonpanomekanismien monimutkaisuutta: ne ovat usein erittäin tilanneriippuvaisia ja ajallisesti vaihtelevia. Siksi jokien ekologisen tilan arvioinnissa tulisi huomioida tutkimuspaikkojen kytkeytyneisyys jokimaisemassa.