Articles | Volume 25, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-735-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-735-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
18 Feb 2021
Research article |
| 18 Feb 2021
| 18 Feb 2021
Environmental DNA simultaneously informs hydrological and biodiversity characterization of an Alpine catchment
Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Anham Salyani
Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Jean-Claude Walser
Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich, Genetic Diversity Centre, CHN E 55 Universitätstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
Annegret Larsen
Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Soil Geography and Landscape Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands
Bettina Schaefli
Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Geography Institute, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Switzerland
Florian Altermatt
Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Department of Aquatic Ecology, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Natalie Ceperley
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Geography Institute, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Switzerland
Related authors
No articles found.
Malve Heinz, Annelie Holzkämper, Rohini Kumar, Sélène Ledain, Pascal Horton, and Bettina Schaefli
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5447, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5447, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
Droughts increasingly threaten agriculture. Improving soils to store more water, for example by increasing soil organic carbon, can help. We simulated this in a Swiss catchment and found that more soil carbon slightly increased soil water storage and evapotranspiration, modestly reduced floods, and shortened periods with very little streamflow. However in warmer, drier areas, these periods with little streamflow could sometimes last longer.
Marco M. Lehmann, Josie Geris, Ilja van Meerveld, Daniele Penna, Youri Rothfuss, Matteo Verdone, Pertti Ala-Aho, Matyas Arvai, Alise Babre, Philippe Balandier, Fabian Bernhard, Lukrecija Butorac, Simon D. Carrière, Natalie C. Ceperley, Zuosinan Chen, Alicia Correa, Haoyu Diao, David Dubbert, Maren Dubbert, Fabio Ercoli, Marius G. Floriancic, Alligin Ghazoul, Teresa E. Gimeno, Damien Gounelle, Frank Hagedorn, Christophe Hissler, Frédéric Huneau, Alberto Iraheta, Tamara Jakovljević, Nerantzis Kazakis, Zoltan Kern, Laura Kinzinger, Karl Knaebel, Johannes Kobler, Jiri Kocum, Charlotte Koeber, Gerbrand Koren, Angelika Kübert, Dawid Kupka, Samuel Le Gall, Aleksi Lehtonen, Thomas Leydier, Philippe Malagoli, Francesca Sofia Manca di Villahermosa, Chiara Marchina, Núria Martínez-Carreras, Nicolas Martin-StPaul, Hannu Marttila, Aline Meyer Oliveira, Gael Monvoisin, Natalie Orlowski, Kadi Palmik-Das, Aurel Persoiu, Andrei Popa, Egor Prikaziuk, Cécile Quantin, Katja T. Rinne-Garmston, Clara Rohde, Martin Sanda, Matthias Saurer, Daniel Schulz, Michael P. Stockinger, Christine Stumpp, Jean-Stéphane Vénisse, Lukas Vlcek, Stylianos Voudouris, Björn Weeser, Mark E. Wilkinson, Giulia Zuecco, and Katrin Meusburger
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 6129–6147, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6129-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6129-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study describes a unique large-scale isotope dataset to study water dynamics in European forests. Researchers collected data from 40 beech and spruce forest sites in spring and summer 2023, using a standardized method to ensure consistency. The results show that water sources for trees change between seasons and vary by tree species. This large dataset offers valuable information for understanding plant water use, improving ecohydrological models, and mapping water cycles across Europe.
Pau Wiersma, Jan Magnusson, Nadav Peleg, Bettina Schaefli, and Grégoire Mariéthoz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3610, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3610, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
Using a newly introduced inverse hydrological modeling framework, we demonstrate that streamflow observations have the potential to improve snow mass reconstructions, but that non-uniqueness in the snow-streamflow relationship and uncertainties in the inverse modeling chain can easily stand in the way. We also show that streamflow is most helpful in estimating catchment-aggregated properties of snow mass reconstructions, in particular catchment-aggregated melt rates.
Florentin Hofmeister, Xinyang Fan, Madlene Pfeiffer, Ben Marzeion, Bettina Schaefli, and Gabriele Chiogna
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3256, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3256, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We use the WRF model for dynamically downscaling a global reanalysis product for the period 1850 to 2015 for the central European Alps. We demonstrate a workflow for transferring coarse-resolution (2 km) WRF temperature and precipitation to a much finer spatial resolution (25 m) of a physics-based hydrological model (WaSiM) and evaluate the results in a multi-data approach covering different simulation periods. Our results highlight the need for plausible and consistent elevation gradients.
Xinyang Fan, Florentin Hofmeister, Bettina Schaefli, and Gabriele Chiogna
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1500, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1500, 2025
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
We adopt a fully-distributed, physics-based hydrological modeling approach, to understand streamflow variations and their interactions with groundwater in a high-elevation glaciated environment. We demonstrate opportunities and challenges of integrating point-scale groundwater observations into a distributed model. This study sheds new lights on surface-subsurface processes in high alpine environments and highlights the importance of improving subsurface representation in hydrological modeling.
Malve Heinz, Maria Eliza Turek, Bettina Schaefli, Andreas Keiser, and Annelie Holzkämper
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1807–1827, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1807-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1807-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Potato farmers in Switzerland are facing drier conditions and water restrictions. We explored how improving soil health and planting early-maturing potato varieties might help them to adapt. Using a computer model, we simulated potato yields and irrigation water needs under water scarcity. Our results show that earlier-maturing potato varieties reduce the reliance on irrigation but result in lower yields. However, improving soil health can significantly reduce yield losses.
Anne-Laure Argentin, Pascal Horton, Bettina Schaefli, Jamal Shokory, Felix Pitscheider, Leona Repnik, Mattia Gianini, Simone Bizzi, Stuart N. Lane, and Francesco Comiti
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1725–1748, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1725-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1725-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this article, we show that by taking the optimal parameters calibrated with a semi-lumped model for the discharge at a catchment's outlet, we can accurately simulate runoff at various points within the study area, including three nested and three neighboring catchments. In addition, we demonstrate that employing more intricate melt models, which better represent physical processes, enhances the transfer of parameters in the simulation, until we observe overparameterization.
Adrià Fontrodona-Bach, Bettina Schaefli, Ross Woods, and Joshua R. Larsen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1214, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1214, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Investigating changing snow in response to global warming can be done with a simple model and only temperature and precipitation data, simplifying snow dynamics with assumptions and parameters. We provide a large-scale and long-term evaluation of this approach and its performance across diverse climates. Temperature thresholds are more robust over cold climates but melt parameters are more robust over warmer climates with deep snow. The model performs well across climates despite its simplicity.
Tom Müller, Mauro Fischer, Stuart N. Lane, and Bettina Schaefli
The Cryosphere, 19, 423–458, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-423-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-423-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Based on extensive field observations in a highly glacierized catchment in the Swiss Alps, we develop a combined isotopic and glacio-hydrological model. We show that water stable isotopes may help to better constrain model parameters, especially those linked to water transfer. However, we highlight that separating snow and ice melt for temperate glaciers based on isotope mixing models alone is not advised and should only be considered if their isotopic signatures have clearly different values.
Moctar Dembélé, Mathieu Vrac, Natalie Ceperley, Sander J. Zwart, Josh Larsen, Simon J. Dadson, Grégoire Mariéthoz, and Bettina Schaefli
Proc. IAHS, 385, 121–127, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-385-121-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-385-121-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study assesses the impact of climate change on the timing, seasonality and magnitude of mean annual minimum (MAM) flows and annual maximum flows (AMF) in the Volta River basin (VRB). Several climate change projection data are use to simulate river flow under multiple greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Future projections show that AMF could increase with various magnitude but negligible shift in time across the VRB, while MAM could decrease with up to 14 days of delay in occurrence.
Tom Müller, Matteo Roncoroni, Davide Mancini, Stuart N. Lane, and Bettina Schaefli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 735–759, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-735-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-735-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the role of a newly formed floodplain in an alpine glaciated catchment to store and release water. Based on field measurements, we built a numerical model to simulate the water fluxes and show that recharge occurs mainly due to the ice-melt-fed river. We identify three future floodplains, which could emerge from glacier retreat, and show that their combined storage leads to some additional groundwater storage but contributes little additional baseflow for the downstream river.
Bikem Ekberzade, A. Rita Carrasco, Adam Izdebski, Adriano Sofo, Annegret Larsen, Felicia O. Akinyemi, Viktor J. Bruckman, Noel Baker, Simon Clark, and Chloe Hill
Geosci. Commun., 7, 57–61, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-7-57-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-7-57-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The world is facing a critical issue of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, despite efforts to address it. While positive steps are being taken in the adoption of comprehensive conservation policies, more effective science-for-policy approaches are necessary to foster connectivity, engage communities, and promote transformative change. This study outlines how scientists can drive impactful change within and beyond their communities to contribute to meeting global biodiversity targets.
Paulina Grigusova, Annegret Larsen, Roland Brandl, Camilo del Río, Nina Farwig, Diana Kraus, Leandro Paulino, Patricio Pliscoff, and Jörg Bendix
Biogeosciences, 20, 3367–3394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3367-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3367-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In our study, we included bioturbation into a soil erosion model and ran the model for several years under two conditions: with and without bioturbation. We validated the model using several sediment fences in the field. We estimated the modeled sediment redistribution and surface runoff and the impact of bioturbation on these along a climate gradient. Lastly, we identified environmental parameters determining the positive or negative impact of bioturbation on sediment redistribution.
Adrià Fontrodona-Bach, Bettina Schaefli, Ross Woods, Adriaan J. Teuling, and Joshua R. Larsen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2577–2599, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2577-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2577-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We provide a dataset of snow water equivalent, the depth of liquid water that results from melting a given depth of snow. The dataset contains 11 071 sites over the Northern Hemisphere, spans the period 1950–2022, and is based on daily observations of snow depth on the ground and a model. The dataset fills a lack of accessible historical ground snow data, and it can be used for a variety of applications such as the impact of climate change on global and regional snow and water resources.
Alessio Gentile, Davide Canone, Natalie Ceperley, Davide Gisolo, Maurizio Previati, Giulia Zuecco, Bettina Schaefli, and Stefano Ferraris
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 2301–2323, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2301-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2301-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
What drives young water fraction, F*yw (i.e., the fraction of water in streamflow younger than 2–3 months), variations with elevation? Why is F*yw counterintuitively low in high-elevation catchments, in spite of steeper topography? In this paper, we present a perceptual model explaining how the longer low-flow duration at high elevations, driven by the persistence of winter snowpacks, increases the proportion of stored (old) water contributing to the stream, thus reducing F*yw.
Anthony Michelon, Natalie Ceperley, Harsh Beria, Joshua Larsen, Torsten Vennemann, and Bettina Schaefli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 1403–1430, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1403-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1403-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Streamflow generation processes in high-elevation catchments are largely influenced by snow accumulation and melt. For this work, we collected and analyzed more than 2800 water samples (temperature, electric conductivity, and stable isotopes of water) to characterize the hydrological processes in such a high Alpine environment. Our results underline the critical role of subsurface flow during all melt periods and the presence of snowmelt even during the winter periods.
Diana Kraus, Roland Brandl, Jörg Bendix, Paulina Grigusova, Sabrina Köhler, Annegret Larsen, Patricio Pliscoff, Kirstin Übernickel, and Nina Farwig
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1427, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1427, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the effect of bioturbators on near-surface soil by measuring the physical properties clay, silt and sand and the chemical macronutrients C, N and P for soil samples taken from mounds created via bioturbation and soil samples from surrounding soil as controls in three different climatic regions (arid, semi-arid and Mediterranean) in coastal Chile. Our findings show that already minor input of especially C and N by bioturbators in arid climates can impact ecosystem functioning.
Paulina Grigusova, Annegret Larsen, Sebastian Achilles, Roland Brandl, Camilo del Río, Nina Farwig, Diana Kraus, Leandro Paulino, Patricio Pliscoff, Kirstin Übernickel, and Jörg Bendix
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 1273–1301, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1273-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1273-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In our study, we developed, tested, and applied a cost-effective time-of-flight camera to autonomously monitor rainfall-driven and animal-driven sediment redistribution in areas affected by burrowing animals with high temporal (four times a day) and spatial (6 mm) resolution. We estimated the sediment redistribution rates on a burrow scale and then upscaled the redistribution rates to entire hillslopes. Our findings can be implemented into long-term soil erosion models.
Tom Müller, Stuart N. Lane, and Bettina Schaefli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 6029–6054, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-6029-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-6029-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This research provides a comprehensive analysis of groundwater storage in Alpine glacier forefields, a zone rapidly evolving with glacier retreat. Based on data analysis of a case study, it provides a simple perceptual model showing where and how groundwater is stored and released in a high Alpine environment. It especially points out the presence of groundwater storages in both fluvial and bedrock aquifers, which may become more important with future glacier retreat.
Feiko Bernard van Zadelhoff, Adel Albaba, Denis Cohen, Chris Phillips, Bettina Schaefli, Luuk Dorren, and Massimiliano Schwarz
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2611–2635, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2611-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2611-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Shallow landslides pose a risk to people, property and infrastructure. Assessment of this hazard and the impact of protective measures can reduce losses. We developed a model (SlideforMAP) that can assess the shallow-landslide risk on a regional scale for specific rainfall events. Trees are an effective and cheap protective measure on a regional scale. Our model can assess their hazard reduction down to the individual tree level.
Alexandre Tuel, Bettina Schaefli, Jakob Zscheischler, and Olivia Martius
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2649–2669, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2649-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2649-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
River discharge is strongly influenced by the temporal structure of precipitation. Here, we show how extreme precipitation events that occur a few days or weeks after a previous event have a larger effect on river discharge than events occurring in isolation. Windows of 2 weeks or less between events have the most impact. Similarly, periods of persistent high discharge tend to be associated with the occurrence of several extreme precipitation events in close succession.
Stefan Brönnimann, Peter Stucki, Jörg Franke, Veronika Valler, Yuri Brugnara, Ralf Hand, Laura C. Slivinski, Gilbert P. Compo, Prashant D. Sardeshmukh, Michel Lang, and Bettina Schaefli
Clim. Past, 18, 919–933, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-919-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-919-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Floods in Europe vary on time scales of several decades. Flood-rich and flood-poor periods alternate. Recently floods have again become more frequent. Long time series of peak stream flow, precipitation, and atmospheric variables reveal that until around 1980, these changes were mostly due to changes in atmospheric circulation. However, in recent decades the role of increasing atmospheric moisture due to climate warming has become more important and is now the main driver of flood changes.
Moctar Dembélé, Mathieu Vrac, Natalie Ceperley, Sander J. Zwart, Josh Larsen, Simon J. Dadson, Grégoire Mariéthoz, and Bettina Schaefli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1481–1506, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1481-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1481-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change impacts on water resources in the Volta River basin are investigated under various global warming scenarios. Results reveal contrasting changes in future hydrological processes and water availability, depending on greenhouse gas emission scenarios, with implications for floods and drought occurrence over the 21st century. These findings provide insights for the elaboration of regional adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change.
Adrien Michel, Bettina Schaefli, Nander Wever, Harry Zekollari, Michael Lehning, and Hendrik Huwald
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1063–1087, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1063-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1063-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents an extensive study of climate change impacts on river temperature in Switzerland. Results show that, even for low-emission scenarios, water temperature increase will lead to adverse effects for both ecosystems and socio-economic sectors throughout the 21st century. For high-emission scenarios, the effect will worsen. This study also shows that water seasonal warming will be different between the Alpine regions and the lowlands. Finally, efficiency of models is assessed.
Anthony Michelon, Lionel Benoit, Harsh Beria, Natalie Ceperley, and Bettina Schaefli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2301–2325, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2301-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2301-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Rainfall observation remains a challenge, particularly in mountain environments. Unlike most studies which are model based, this analysis of the rainfall–runoff response of a 13.4 km2 alpine catchment is purely data based and relies on measurements from a network of 12 low-cost rain gauges over 3 months. It assesses the importance of high-density rainfall observations in informing hydrological processes and helps in designing a permanent rain gauge network.
Anna E. Sikorska-Senoner, Bettina Schaefli, and Jan Seibert
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 3521–3549, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-3521-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-3521-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This work proposes methods for reducing the computational requirements of hydrological simulations for the estimation of very rare floods that occur on average less than once in 1000 years. These methods enable the analysis of long streamflow time series (here for example 10 000 years) at low computational costs and with modelling uncertainty. They are to be used within continuous simulation frameworks with long input time series and are readily transferable to similar simulation tasks.
Cited articles
Abbott, B. W., Baranov, V., Mendoza-Lera, C., Nikolakopoulou, M., Harjung, A., Kolbe, T., Balasubramanian, M. N., Vaessen, T. N., Ciocca, F., Campeau, A., Wallin, M. B.,
Romeijn, P.,
Antonelli, M.,
Gonçalves, J.,
Datry, T.,
Laverman, A. M.,
de Dreuzy, J.,
Hannah, D. M.,
Krause, S.,
Oldham, C., and Pinaya, G.: Using multi-tracer inference to move beyond single-catchment ecohydrology, Earth-Sci. Rev., 160, 19–42, 2016. a
Altermatt, F., Little, C. J., Mächler, E., Wang, S., Zhang, X., and Blackman, R. C.: Uncovering the complete biodiversity structure in spatial networks: the example of riverine systems, Oikos, 129, 607–618, 2020. a
Apothéloz-Perret-Gentil, L., Cordonier, A., Straub, F., Iseli, J., Esling, P., and Pawlowski, J.: Taxonomy-free molecular diatom index for high-throughput eDNA biomonitoring, Mol. Ecol. Resour., 17, 1231–1242, 2017. a
Aschwanden, H. and Weingartner, R.: Abschätzungen im Mittelwasserbereich, Beitr. Geol. Schweiz: Hydrol., 33, 101–139, 1985. a
Bates, D., Sarkar, D., Bates, M. D., and Matrix, L.: The lme4 package, R package version, 2, 74, 2007. a
Battin, T. J., Wille, A., Psenner, R., and Richter, A.: Large-scale environmental controls on microbial biofilms in high-alpine streams, Biogeosciences, 1, 159–171, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-1-159-2004, 2004. a
Beria, H., Larsen, J. R., Ceperley, N. C., Michelon, A., Vennemann, T., and Schaefli, B.: Understanding snow hydrological processes through the lens of stable water isotopes, Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Water, 5, e1311, https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1311, 2018. a, b
Biswal, B. and Marani, M.: Geomorphological origin of recession curves, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L24403, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL045415, 2010. a, b
Blume, T. and Van Meerveld, H.: From hillslope to stream: methods to investigate subsurface connectivity, Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Water, 2, 177–198, 2015. a
Bohmann, K., Evans, A., Gilbert, M. T. P., Carvalho, G. R., Creer, S., Knapp, M., Douglas, W. Y., and De Bruyn, M.: Environmental DNA for wildlife biology and biodiversity monitoring, Trends Ecol. Evol., 29, 358–367, 2014. a
Bracken, L., Wainwright, J., Ali, G., Tetzlaff, D., Smith, M., Reaney, S., and Roy, A.: Concepts of hydrological connectivity: research approaches, pathways and future agendas, Earth-Sci. Rev., 119, 17–34, 2013. a
Bracken, L. J. and Croke, J.: The concept of hydrological connectivity and its contribution to understanding runoff-dominated geomorphic systems, Hydrol. Process., 21, 1749–1763, 2007. a
Carraro, L., Hartikainen, H., Jokela, J., Bertuzzo, E., and Rinaldo, A.: Estimating species distribution and abundance in river networks using environmental DNA, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 115, 11724–11729, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1813843115, 2018. a
Carraro, L., Stauffer, J. B., and Altermatt, F.: How to design optimal eDNA sampling strategies for biomonitoring in river networks, Environmental DNA, 3, 157–172, 2020b. a
Ceperley, N., Michelon, A., Escoffier, N., Mayoraz, G., Boix Canadell, M., Horgby, A., Hammer, F., Antoniazza, G., Schaefli, B., Lane, S., Rickenmann, D., and Boss, S.: Salt gauging and stage-discharge curve, Avançon de Nant, outlet Vallon de Nant catchment, Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1154798, 2018. a
Chorley, R. J.: The hillslope hydrological cycle, John Wiley, Chichester, 1978. a
Comola, F., Schaefli, B., Rinaldo, A., and Lehning, M.: Thermodynamics in the hydrologic response: Travel time formulation and application to Alpine catchments, Water Resour. Res., 51, 1671–1687, 2015. a
Constantz, J.: Interaction between stream temperature, streamflow, and groundwater exchanges in alpine streams, Water Resour. Res., 34, 1609–1615, 1998. a
Coplen, T. B.: Reporting of stable hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen isotopic abundances (technical report), Pure Appl. Chem., 66, 273–276, 1994. a
Cordier, T., Forster, D., Dufresne, Y., Martins, C. I., Stoeck, T., and Pawlowski, J.: Supervised machine learning outperforms taxonomy-based environmental DNA metabarcoding applied to biomonitoring, Mol. Ecol. Resour., 18, 1381–1391, 2018. a
Coxe, S., West, S. G., and Aiken, L. S.: The analysis of count data: A gentle introduction to Poisson regression and its alternatives, J. Pers. Assess., 91, 121–136, 2009. a
Crawley, M. J.: The R book, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK, 2012. a
Ceperley, N., Michelon, A., Beria, H., Salyani, A., Ba, R., Larsen, A., Mächler, E., Altermatt, F., Schaefli, B., and Vennemann, T. W.: Isotopes and related data associated with water tracing with environmental DNA in a high-Alpine catchment [Data set], Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3515061, 2019. a
Dahlke, H. E., Williamson, A. G., Georgakakos, C., Leung, S., Sharma, A. N., Lyon, S. W., and Walter, M. T.: Using concurrent DNA tracer injections to infer glacial flow pathways, Hydrol. Process., 29, 5257–5274, 2015. a
De Caceres, M., Jansen, F., and De Caceres, M. M.: Package indicspecies, Relationship between species and groups of sites. R package version, 1, 2016. a
Deiner, K., Fronhofer, E. A., Mächler, E., Walser, J.-C., and Altermatt, F.: Environmental DNA reveals that rivers are conveyer belts of biodiversity information, Nat. Commun., 7, 12 544, 2016. a
Deiner, K., Bik, H. M., Mächler, E., Seymour, M., Lacoursière-Roussel, A., Altermatt, F., Creer, S., Bista, I., Lodge, D. M., De Vere, N., et al.: Environmental DNA metabarcoding: Transforming how we survey animal and plant communities, Mol. Ecol., 26, 5872–5895, 2017. a
Eawag: Environmental DNA simultaneously informs hydrological and biodiversity characterization of an Alpine catchment, available at: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB32569,
last access: 15 February 2021. a
Edgar, R. C.: UNOISE2: improved error-correction for Illumina 16S and ITS amplicon sequencing, BioRxiv, p. 081257, 2016. a
Elbrecht, V. and Leese, F.: Can DNA-based ecosystem assessments quantify species abundance? Testing primer bias and biomass–sequence relationships with an innovative metabarcoding protocol, PLOS ONE, 10, e0130 324, 2015. a
Evans, N. T., Li, Y., Renshaw, M. A., Olds, B. P., Deiner, K., Turner, C. R., Jerde, C. L., Lodge, D. M., Lamberti, G. A., and Pfrender, M. E.: Fish community assessment with eDNA metabarcoding: effects of sampling design and bioinformatic filtering, Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 74, 1362–1374, 2017. a
Fallot, J.-M.: Sentier didactique pour le Vallon de Nant, partie Climatique, Geoguide, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, available at: http://igd.unil.ch/geoguide/fr/ (last access: 1 July 2020), 2013. a
Ficetola, G. F., Miaud, C., Pompanon, F., and Taberlet, P.: Species detection using environmental DNA from water samples, Biol. Lett., 4, 423–425, 2008. a
Foppen, J. W., Seopa, J., Bakobie, N., and Bogaard, T.: Development of a methodology for the application of synthetic DNA in stream tracer injection experiments, Water Resour. Res., 49, 5369–5380, 2013. a
Geller, J., Meyer, C., Parker, M., and Hawk, H.: Redesign of PCR primers for mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I for marine invertebrates and application in all-taxa biotic surveys, Mol. Ecol. Resour., 13, 851–861, 2013. a
Giaccone, E., Luoto, M., Vittoz, P., Guisan, A., Mariéthoz, G., and Lambiel, C.: Influence of microclimate and geomorphological factors on alpine vegetation in the Western Swiss Alps, Earth Surf. Process. Landf., 44, 3093–3107, 2019. a
GLAMOS: The Swiss Glaciers 1881-2016/17, Glaciological Reports No. 1–138, Yearbooks of the Cryospheric Commission of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), published since 1964, VAW/ETH Zürich, https://doi.org/10.18752/glrep_series, 1881–2018. a
Godsey, S. and Kirchner, J.: Dynamic, discontinuous stream networks: hydrologically driven variations in active drainage density, flowing channels and stream order, Hydrol. Process., 28, 5791–5803, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10310, 2014. a, b
Good, S., URycki, D., and Crump, B.: Predicting Hydrologic Function With Aquatic Gene Fragments, Water Resour. Res., 54, 2424–2435, 2018. a
Grabherr, G.: Biodiversity in the high ranges of the Alps: ethnobotanical and climate change perspectives, Glob. Environ. Change, 19, 167–172, 2009. a
Hahn, H. J.: Studies on classifying of undisturbed spring in Southwestern Germany by macrobenthic communities, Limnologica, 30, 247–259, 2000. a
Hebert, P. D., Ratnasingham, S., and de Waard, J. R.: Barcoding animal life: cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 divergences among closely related species, Proc. R. Soc. B, 270, S96–S99, 2003. a
Hieber, M., Robinson, C. T., Rushforth, S. R., and Uehlinger, U.: Algal communities associated with different alpine stream types, Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res., 33, 447–456, 2001. a
Hoehn, E. and Cirpka, O. A.: Assessing residence times of hyporheic ground water in two alluvial flood plains of the Southern Alps using water temperature and tracers, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 10, 553–563, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-10-553-2006, 2006. a
Ingelrest, F., Barrenetxea, G., Schaefer, G., Vetterli, M., Couach, O., and Parlange, M.: Sensorscope: Application-specific sensor network for environmental monitoring, ACM Trans. Sens. Netw. (TOSN), 6, 1–32, 2010. a
Jacobsen, D., Milner, A. M., Brown, L. E., and Dangles, O.: Biodiversity under threat in glacier-fed river systems, Nat. Clim. Change, 2, 361–364, 2012. a
Klaus, J. and McDonnell, J.: Hydrograph separation using stable isotopes: Review and evaluation, J. Hydrol., 505, 47–64, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.09.006, 2013. a
Kobierska, F., Jonas, T., Kirchner, J. W., and Bernasconi, S. M.: Linking baseflow separation and groundwater storage dynamics in an alpine basin (Dammagletscher, Switzerland), Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 3681–3693, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-3681-2015, 2015. a
Körner, C.: Impact of atmospheric changes on high mountain vegetation, in: Mountain environments in changing climates, 149–157, Routledge, London, 2002. a
Kruskal, J. B.: Nonmetric multidimensional scaling: a numerical method, Psychometrika, 29, 115–129, 1964. a
Kruskal, W. H. and Wallis, W. A.: Use of ranks in one-criterion variance analysis, J. Am. Stat. Assoc., 47, 583–621, 1952. a
Lan, B., Zhang, D., Yang, Y., He, L., Zhang, X., and Zhong, R.: Diatom-based reconstructions of hydrological variations and the underlying mechanisms during the past 520 years in the central Tianshan Mountains, J. Hydrol., 575, 945–954, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.06.001, 2019. a
Laudon, H.: Hydrograph separation using stable isotopes, silica and electrical conductivity: an alpine example, J. Hydrol., 201, 82–101, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(97)00030-9, 1997. a
Leray, M., Yang, J. Y., Meyer, C. P., Mills, S. C., Agudelo, N., Ranwez, V., Boehm, J. T., and Machida, R. J.: A new versatile primer set targeting a short fragment of the mitochondrial COI region for metabarcoding metazoan diversity: application for characterizing coral reef fish gut contents, Front. Zool., 10, 1–14, 2013. a
Lozupone, C. and Knight, R.: UniFrac: a new phylogenetic method for comparing microbial communities, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 71, 8228–8235, 2005. a
Lyon, S. W., Ploum, S. W., van der Velde, Y., Rocher-Ros, G., Mörth, C.-M., and Giesler, R.: Lessons learned from monitoring the stable water isotopic variability in precipitation and streamflow across a snow-dominated subarctic catchment, Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res., 50, e1454778, https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1454778, 2018. a
Mächler, E., Deiner, K., Spahn, F., and Altermatt, F.: Fishing in the water: effect of sampled water volume on environmental DNA-based detection of macroinvertebrates, Environ. Sci. Technol., 50, 305–312, 2015. a
Mächler, E., Osathanunkul, M., and Altermatt, F.: Shedding light on eDNA: neither natural levels of UV radiation nor the presence of a filter feeder affect eDNA-based detection of aquatic organisms, PLOS ONE, 13, e0195529, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195529, 2018. a
Malard, F., Tockner, K., and Ward, J. V.: Shifting dominance of subcatchment water sources and flow paths in a glacial floodplain, Val Roseg, Switzerland, Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res., 31, 135–150, 1999. a
Mansfeldt, C., Deiner, K., Mächler, E., Fenner, K., Eggen, R. I., Stamm, C., Schönenberger, U., Walser, J.-C., and Altermatt, F.: Microbial community shifts in streams receiving treated wastewater effluent, Sci. Total Environ., 709, 135727, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135727, 2020. a, b
McDonnell, J. J., Sivapalan, M., Vache, K., Dunn, S., Grant, G., Haggerty, R., Hinz, C., Hooper, R., Kirchner, J., Roderick, M. L., Selker, J., and Weiler, M.: Moving beyond heterogeneity and process complexity: A new vision for watershed hydrology, Water Resour. Res., 43, W07301, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005467, 2007. a
McGuire, K. J. and McDonnell, J. J.: Tracer advances in catchment hydrology, Hydrol. Process., 29, 5135–5138, 2015. a
McMurdie, P. J. and Holmes, S.: phyloseq: an R package for reproducible interactive analysis and graphics of microbiome census data, PLOS ONE, 8, e61217, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0061217, 2013. a
McNew, C. P., Wang, C., Walter, M. T., and Dahlke, H. E.: Fabrication, detection, and analysis of DNA-labeled PLGA particles for environmental transport studies, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 526, 207–219, 2018. a
MeteoSwiss: Documentation of MeteoSwiss Grid-Data Products: Daily Precipitation (final analysis): RhiresD, Tech. Rep., MeteoSwiss, Switzerland, 2011. a
MeteoSwiss: Automatic monitoring network SWISSMETNET, available at: https://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/home/measurement-and-forecasting-systems/land-based-stations/automatisches-messnetz.html (last accss: 20 June 2020), 2019. a
Michelon, A.: Weather dataset from Vallon de Nant, Switzerland, until July 2017, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1042473, This will be expanded to include more data (hydrological& meteorological), and more complete metadata, 2017. a
Michelon, A., Ceperley, N., Beria, H., Larsen, J., and Schaefli, B.: Quantification of snowmelt processes in a high Alpine catchment from hydrographs and satellite images and stable water isotopes., in: General Assembly, 8–13 April 2018, presentation: 9 April 2018, European Geosciences Union, Vienna, Austria, 2018. a
Michelon, A., Benoit, L., Beria, H., Ceperley, N., and Schaefli, B.: On the value of high density rain gauge observations for small Alpine headwater catchments, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-683, 2020. a
Milner, A. M. and Petts, G. E.: Glacial rivers: physical habitat and ecology, Freshw. Biol., 32, 295–307, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.1994.tb01127.x, 1994. a, b, c, d
Mosquera, G., Segura, C., and Crespo, P.: Flow Partitioning Modelling Using High-Resolution Isotopic and Electrical Conductivity Data, Water, 10, 904, 2018. a
Nolin, A. W.: Perspectives on climate change, mountain hydrology, and water resources in the Oregon Cascades, USA, Mt. Res. Dev., 32, S1, https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-11-00038.S1, 2012. a
Ohlanders, N., Rodriguez, M., and McPhee, J.: Stable water isotope variation in a Central Andean watershed dominated by glacier and snowmelt, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 1035–1050, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1035-2013, 2013. a
Penna, D., Engel, M., Mao, L., Dell'Agnese, A., Bertoldi, G., and Comiti, F.: Tracer-based analysis of spatial and temporal variations of water sources in a glacierized catchment, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 5271–5288, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-5271-2014, 2014. a
Penna, D., Hopp, L., Scandellari, F., Allen, S. T., Benettin, P., Beyer, M., Geris, J., Klaus, J., Marshall, J. D., Schwendenmann, L., Volkmann, T. H. M., von Freyberg, J., Amin, A., Ceperley, N., Engel, M., Frentress, J., Giambastiani, Y., McDonnell, J. J., Zuecco, G., Llorens, P., Siegwolf, R. T. W., Dawson, T. E., and Kirchner, J. W.: Ideas and perspectives: Tracing terrestrial ecosystem water fluxes using hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes – challenges and opportunities from an interdisciplinary perspective, Biogeosciences, 15, 6399–6415, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6399-2018, 2018. a
Pfaundler, M.: Flussordnungszahlen nach Strahler für das digitale Gewässernetz 1 : 25'000 der Schweiz, in: Wasser Engergie Luft, Bundesamt für Umwelt, 5/6 edn., Bern, Switzerland, BAFU,, 2005. a
Pfister, L., McDonnell, J. J., Wrede, S., Hlúbiková, D., Matgen, P., Fenicia, F., Ector, L., and Hoffmann, L.: The rivers are alive: on the potential for diatoms as a tracer of water source and hydrological connectivity, Hydrol. Process., 23, 2841–2845, 2009. a
Pont, D., Rocle, M., Valentini, A., Civade, R., Jean, P., Maire, A., Roset, N., Schabuss, M., Zornig, H., and Dejean, T.: Environmental DNA reveals quantitative patterns of fish biodiversity in large rivers despite its downstream transportation, Sci. Rep.-UK, 8, 10361, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28424-8, 2018. a, b, c
Pringle, C.: What is hydrologic connectivity and why is it ecologically important?, Hydrol. Process., 17, 2685–2689, 2003. a
R Core Team: R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing, R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, available at: https://www.R-project.org/ (last access: 23 June 2020), 2018. a
Schaffner, M., Pfaundler, M., and Göggel, W.: Fliessgewässertypisierung der Schweiz: Eine Grundlage für Gewässerbeurteilung und-entwicklung, in: Umwelt-Wissen, p. 63, Bundesamt für Umwelt, 1329 Edn., Bern, Switzerland, 2013. a
Selker, J. S., Thévenaz, L., Huwald, H., Mallet, A., Luxemburg, W., Van De Giesen, N., Stejskal, M., Zeman, J., Westhoff, M., and Parlange, M. B.: Distributed fiber-optic temperature sensing for hydrologic systems, Water Resour. Res., 42, W12202, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005326, 2006. a
Simberloff, D.: Use of rarefaction and related methods in ecology, in: Biological data in water pollution assessment: quantitative and statistical analyses, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 150–165, 1978. a
Sprenger, M., Leistert, H., Gimbel, K., and Weiler, M.: Illuminating hydrological processes at the soil-vegetation-atmosphere interface with water stable isotopes, Rev. Geophys., 54, 674–704, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015RG000515, 2016. a
Staudacher, K. and Füreder, L.: Habitat complexity and invertebrates in selected alpine springs (Schütt, Carinthia, Austria), Int. Rev. Hydrobiol., 92, 465–479, 2007. a
Taberlet, P., Coissac, E., Hajibabaei, M., and Rieseberg, L. H.: Environmental DNA, Mol. Ecol., 21, 1789–1793, 2012. a
Tetzlaff, D., Buttle, J., Carey, S. K., McGuire, K., Laudon, H., and Soulsby, C.: Tracer-based assessment of flow paths, storage and runoff generation in northern catchments: a review, Hydrol. Process., 29, 3475–3490, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10412, 2015. a
Tockner, K., Malard, F., and Ward, J. V.: An extension of the flood pulse concept, Hydrol. Process., 14, 2861–2883, https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-1085(200011/12)14:16/17<2861::AID-HYP124>3.0.CO;2-F, 2000. a
Valentini, A., Taberlet, P., Miaud, C., Civade, R., Herder, J., Thomsen, P. F., Bellemain, E., Besnard, A., Coissac, E., Boyer, F., et al.: Next-generation monitoring of aquatic biodiversity using environmental DNA metabarcoding, Mol. Ecol., 25, 929–942, 2016. a
van Meerveld, H. J. I., Kirchner, J. W., Vis, M. J. P., Assendelft, R. S., and Seibert, J.: Expansion and contraction of the flowing stream network alter hillslope flowpath lengths and the shape of the travel time distribution, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 4825–4834, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-4825-2019, 2019. a
Viviroli, D., Dürr, H. H., Messerli, B., Meybeck, M., and Weingartner, R.: Mountains of the world, water towers for humanity: Typology, mapping, and global significance, Water Resour. Res., 43, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005653, 2007. a
Wang, C., Parlange, J.-Y., Rasmussen, E., Wang, X., Chen, M., Dahlke, H., and Walter, M.: Modeling the release of Escherichia coli from soil into overland flow under raindrop impact, Adv. Water Resour., 106, 144–153, 2017. a
Ward, J. V., Malard, F., Tockner, K., and Uehlinger, U.: Influence of ground water on surface water conditions in a glacial flood plain of the Swiss Alps, Hydrol. Process., 13, 277–293, 1999. a
Weigand, H., Beermann, A. J., Čiampor, F., Costa, F. O., Csabai, Z., Duarte, S., Geiger, M. F., Grabowski, M., Rimet, F., Rulik, B., et al.: DNA barcode reference libraries for the monitoring of aquatic biota in Europe: Gap-analysis and recommendations for future work, Sci. Total Environ., 678, 499–542, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.247, 2019. a, b, c
Weiler, M., Seibert, J., and Stahl, K.: Magic components – why quantifying rain, snowmelt, and icemelt in river discharge is not easy, Hydrol. Process., 32, 160–166, 2018. a
Westhoff, M. C., Savenije, H. H. G., Luxemburg, W. M. J., Stelling, G. S., van de Giesen, N. C., Selker, J. S., Pfister, L., and Uhlenbrook, S.: A distributed stream temperature model using high resolution temperature observations, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 1469–1480, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-11-1469-2007, 2007. a
Wilhelm, L., Singer, G. A., Fasching, C., Battin, T. J., and Besemer, K.: Microbial biodiversity in glacier-fed streams, ISME J., 7, 1651–1660, 2013. a
Williams, M. W., Knauf, M., Caine, N., Liu, F., and Verplanck, P. L.: Geochemistry and source waters of rock glacier outflow, Colorado Front Range, Permafr. Periglac. Process., 17, 13–33, 2006. a
Williams, M. W., Siebold, C., and Chowanski, K.: Storage and Release of Solutes from a subalpine Seasonal Snowpack: Soil and Stream Water Response, Niwot Ridge Colorado, Biogeochemistry, 95, 77–94, 2009. a
Zhang, J., Song, J., Long, Y., Kong, F., Wang, L., Zhang, Y., Li, Q., Wang, Y., and Hui, Y.: Seasonal variability of hyporheic water exchange of the Weihe River in Shaanxi Province, China, Ecol. Indic., 92, 278–287, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.06.039, multi-Scale Ecological Indicators for Supporting Sustainable Watershed Management, 2018. a
Zuecco, G., Carturan, L., De Blasi, F., Seppi, R., Zanoner, T., Penna, D., Borga, M., Carton, A., and Dalla Fontana, G.: Understanding hydrological processes in glacierized catchments: Evidence and implications of highly variable isotopic and electrical conductivity data, Hydrol. Process., 33, 816–832, 2019. a
Short summary
In this study, we collected water from an Alpine catchment in Switzerland and compared the genetic information of eukaryotic organisms conveyed by eDNA with the hydrologic information conveyed by naturally occurring hydrologic tracers. At the intersection of two disciplines, our study provides complementary knowledge gains and identifies the next steps to be addressed for using eDNA to achieve complementary insights into Alpine water sources.
In this study, we collected water from an Alpine catchment in Switzerland and compared the...
