The electric ecology of freshwater habitats

Essential to all biomes, freshwater is put under pressure by urbanisation and human populations, by demands of intensive agriculture, and various damages incurred through anthropogenic pollution. There is a pressing need to increase our understanding of freshwater ecosystems, their resilience and vulnerabilities, ensuring their continued support of human populations and roles in biosphere-level processes. Enhancing our knowledge of freshwater habitats and the biodiversity they support will further our capacity to develop effective and timely protection strategies. This task necessitates the development of efficient, affordable and deployable methods. Specifically, this project aims to further our understanding of the invertebrate fauna, using innovative sampling methods based on the electric recording.