Scientific Results

This catalogue is obtained by conducting a systematic literature review of scientific studies and reviews related to monitoring, forecasting, and simulating the inland water cycle. The analysis maps scientific expertise across research groups and classifies findings by the type of inland water studied, application focus, and geographical scope. A gap analysis will identify missing research areas and assess their relevance to policymaking.

ID ▲	Type	Year	Authors	Title	Venue/Journal	DOI	Research type	Water System	Abstract	Link with Projects
publications-2011	Peer reviewed articles	2023	Schiavon, A., Comoglio, C., Candiotto, A., Hölker, F., Ashraf, M. U., & Nyqvist, D.	Survival and swimming performance of a small-sized Cypriniformes (Telestes muticellus) tagged with passive integrated transponders.	Journal of Limnology	10.4081/jlimnol.2023.2129	Simulation & Modeling	Precipitation & Ecological Systems	Italian riffle dace (Telestes muticellus, Bonaparte 1837) is a small-bodied Leuciscidae native to the Italian Peninsula, of which little is known about the ecology and individual movements in nature. Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) telemetry is used to track fish movements and behaviour. The basic assumption is that the PIT-tagged organism's performances do not differ considerably from their natural behaviour. Here we present the first evaluation of potential tagging effects in the genus Telestes. The survival rate and tag retention were compared between two different tag implantation methods – injector gun and scalpel incision - and pit-tagging effects on swimming performance were evaluated. Five weeks after tagging, Italian riffle dace demonstrated high survival rates in all treatments: 94.8% for fish tagged with injector gun (n=58), 100% for scalpel incision method (n=58), and 98.3% for controls (n=58). The tag retention was 96.6% for gun treatment and 100% for scalpel treatment. Prolonged swimming performance, tested 22-23 days after tagging, showed a reduction in endurance (time-to-fatigue) for scalpel treatment (n=22) compared to the control group (n=21), while no difference in maximum swimming velocity was observed. We conclude that PIT tagging is a suitable technique for Italian riffle dace, showing high survival and PIT retention and no effect on maximum swimming speed. Significantly lower prolonged swimming performance, although likely less ecologically important, shows that tagging is not without costs. Potential biases need to be evaluated on a study-by-study basis, and future studies should explore behavioural tagging effects in nature.	860800
publications-2012	Peer reviewed articles	2023	Hansen, H. H., Andersen, K. H., & Bergman, E.	Projecting fish community responses to dam removal – Data-limited modeling. Ecological Indicators	Ecological Indicators	10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110805	Uncategorized	Uncategorized	No abstract available	860800
publications-2013	Peer reviewed articles	2023	Elings, J., Mawer, R., Bruneel, S., Pauwels, I. S., Pickholtz, E., Pickholtz, R., Coeck, J., Schneider, M, & Goethals, P.	Linking fine-scale behaviour to the hydraulic environment shows behavioural responses in riverine fish.	Movement Ecology	10.1186/s40462-023-00413-1	Data Management & Analytics	Precipitation & Ecological Systems	AbstractBackgroundFish migration has severely been impacted by dam construction. Through the disruption of fish migration routes, freshwater fish communities have seen an incredible decline. Fishways, which have been constructed to mitigate the problem, have been shown to underperform. This is in part due to fish navigation still being largely misunderstood. Recent developments in tracking technology and modelling make it possible today to track (aquatic) animals at very fine spatial (down to one meter) and temporal (down to every second) scales. Hidden Markov models are appropriate models to analyse behavioural states at these fine scales. In this study we link fine-scale tracking data of barbel (Barbus barbus) and grayling (Thymallus thymallus) to a fine-scale hydrodynamic model. With a HMM we analyse the fish’s behavioural switches to understand their movement and navigation behaviour near a barrier and fishway outflow in the Iller river in Southern Germany.MethodsFish were tracked with acoustic telemetry as they approached a hydropower facility and were presented with a fishway. Tracking resulted in fish tracks with variable intervals between subsequent fish positions. This variability stems from both a variable interval between tag emissions and missing detections within a track. After track regularisation hidden Markov models were fitted using different parameters. The tested parameters are step length, straightness index calculated over a 3-min moving window, and straightness index calculated over a 10-min window. The best performing model (based on a selection by AIC) was then expanded by allowing flow velocity and spatial velocity gradient to affect the transition matrix between behavioural states.ResultsIn this study it was found that using step length to identify behavioural states with hidden Markov models underperformed when compared to models constructed using straightness index. Of the two different straightness indices assessed, the index calculated over a 10-min moving window performed better. Linking behavioural states to the ecohydraulic environment showed an effect of the spatial velocity gradient on behavioural switches. On the contrary, flow velocity did not show an effect on the behavioural transition matrix.ConclusionsWe found that behavioural switches were affected by the spatial velocity gradient caused by the attraction flow coming from the fishway. Insight into fish navigation and fish reactions to the ecohydraulic environment can aid in the construction of fishways and improve overall fishway efficiencies, thereby helping to mitigate the effects migration barriers have on the aquatic ecosystem.	860800
publications-2014	Peer reviewed articles	2022	Nyqvist, D., Schiavon, A., Candiotto, A., Mozzi, G., Eggers, F., & Comoglio, C.	PIT ‐tagging Italian spined loach (Cobitis bilineata) – methodology, survival, and behavioral effects	Journal of Fish Biology	10.1111/jfb.15289	Data Management & Analytics	Precipitation & Ecological Systems	AbstractThe Italian spined loach (Cobitis bilineata) is an elongated, small‐sized (<12 cm) spined loach native to northern Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. As for loaches in general, little is known about the individual movements of this loach in nature. Passive integrated transponders (PIT‐tags) are small (typically 7–32 mm), relatively cheap and allow tracking of individual fish movements and behaviour. A fundamental assumption in animal telemetry is that the performance of a tagged animal does not deviate substantially from its natural performance. Although PIT‐tagged fish often display high survival and tag retention, the effect varies between species and contexts, and few studies have looked at behavioural effects of PIT‐tagging. Here we demonstrate a PIT‐tagging methodology for spined loaches, and compare survival, activity and provoked escape response (maximum swimming speed) between tagged and control fish. We also track tag retention in the tagged fish. Italian spined loaches tagged with 12 mm PIT‐tags displayed high tag retention and no extra mortality, and no effects of tagging on activity or maximum swimming speed were observed. The tag‐to‐fish weight and length ratios in our study ranged from 2% to 5% and from 10% to 16%, respectively, and we conclude that PIT‐tagging, within these ratios, appears suitable for Italian spined loach.	860800
publications-2015	Peer reviewed articles	2022	Khan, A. H., Hussmann, K. R., Powalla, D., Hoerner, S., Kruusmaa, M., & Tuhtan, J. A.	An open 3D CFD model for the investigation of flow environments experienced by freshwater fish	Ecological Informatics	10.1016/j.ecoinf.2022.101652	Data Management & Analytics	Precipitation & Ecological Systems	No abstract available	860800
publications-2016	Peer reviewed articles	2023	Mawer, R., Pauwels, I. S., Bruneel, S., P., Goethals, P. L. M., Kopecki, I., Elings, J., Coeck, J., & Schneider, M.	Individual based models for the simulation of fish movement near barriers: Current work and future directions	Journal of Environmental Management	10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117538	Simulation & Modeling	Precipitation & Ecological Systems	No abstract available	860800
publications-2017	Peer reviewed articles	2023	Vega, C. P., Jechow, A., Campbell, J. A., Zielinska-Dabkowska, K. M., & Hölker, F.	Light pollution from illuminated bridges as a potential barrier for migrating fish—Linking measurements with a proposal for a conceptual model.	Basic and Applied Ecology	10.1016/j.baae.2023.11.001	Simulation & Modeling	Precipitation & Ecological Systems	No abstract available	860800
publications-2018	Peer reviewed articles	2024	Enrique Playán, Nataša Čereković, Mihajlo Marković, Željko Vaško, Marinko Vekić, Alen Mujčinović, Sabrija Čadro, Đurađ Hajder, Milan Šipka, Emir Bećirović, Osman Musić, Jasmin Grahić, Mladen Todorović, Nevena Stojaković, Wilk S. Almeida, Teresa A. Paço, Farida Dechmi, Piluca Paniagua, Nery Zapata	A roadmap to consolidate research and innovation in agricultural water management in Bosnia and Herzegovina	Agricultural Water Management	10.1016/j.agwat.2024.108699	Data Management & Analytics	Precipitation & Ecological Systems	No abstract available	952396
publications-2019	Peer reviewed articles	2023	Daniela Soares, Teresa A. Paço, João Rolim	Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Irrigation Water Requirements under Mediterranean Conditions—A Review of the Methodological Approaches Focusing on Maize Crop	Agronomy	10.3390/agronomy13010117	AI & Machine Learning	Precipitation & Ecological Systems	Climate change is a challenging fact influencing diverse sectors in society including the agricultural one, which is heavily dependent on natural resources and climate. In the Mediterranean region, climate change-related increases in air temperature, and in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as droughts, boost the pressure on the agricultural systems and affect crop yield potential. The growth of the world population implies that production needs to increase in a sustainable manner. Therefore, this study focuses on the maize crop due to its importance for food security and because it is a crop with significant water consumption that occupies a large worldwide area. In order to study climate change impacts on crop production, plant water requirements, and provide farmers guidelines helping them to adapt, it is necessary to simultaneously evaluate a large number of factors. For this reason, modelling tools are normally used to measure the future impact of climate change on crop yield by using historical and future climate data. This review focuses on climate change impacts on maize crop irrigation requirements and compares—by means of critical analysis—existing approaches that allow for the building a set of mitigation and adaptation measures throughout the study of climate.	952396
publications-2020	Peer reviewed articles	2023	Ivana Mitrović; Mladen Todorović; Mihajlo Marković; Andi Mehmeti	Eco-efficiency analysis of rainfed and irrigated maize systems in Bosnia and Herzegovina	Journal of Water and Climate Change	10.2166/wcc.2023.271	Simulation & Modeling	Uncategorized	AbstractThis study evaluated the eco-efficiency of rainfed and irrigated maize production in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Environmental impact assessments were performed through energy, carbon footprint, and water scarcity footprint analysis. For economic analysis, gross and net returns and benefit–cost ratios were calculated. Eco-efficiency was measured by the ratio between the net return and environmental criteria. The findings indicate that the transition from rainfed to irrigated maize cultivation per unit of land results in a 53.7% higher yield and gross value of production, but also a 69.8% increase in energy input, a 22% rise in greenhouse gas emissions, and a 3.6-fold increase in the water scarcity footprint. While a positive link exists in irrigated maize between higher yield and lower carbon footprint per unit of product, rainfed systems outperform in energy efficiency, productivity, profitability, water scarcity footprint, and overall eco-efficiency. Both systems rely heavily on nonrenewable energy sources, with fertilization (affecting energy and carbon footprint), mechanization (affecting carbon footprint), and irrigation (exacerbating water scarcity) as the main contributors to the negative environmental impacts. The implementation of optimization strategies for these inputs is of paramount importance to reduce environmental impacts and promote sustainability in maize farming in Bosnia and Herzegovina.	952396