The authors used stable water isotopes to trace the origin of precipitation and are developing a new, isotope-based Evaporation and Moisture Recycling Index (iEMI). The iEMI can identify anomalous dry periods and links evaporation-driven precipitation to droughts in Europe, Africa, and Australia. This innovative index can help improve drought monitoring and optimize water management worldwide.

Shoals of sulphur mollies blanket the water surface of toxic sulphur springs in Mexico. The tiny fish survive attacks of birds through creating collective waves. New research now shows that their avian predators are adapting too, changing where they attack to avoid triggering the fish’s powerful group defence. The fish, in turn, appear to fight back with a surprising form of collective “memory.” 

This study provides high-resolution, field-based evidence of the importance of accounting for short-term flow interruptions in river management strategies. It demonstrated that a one-day streamflow interruption of the side channel of the River Erpe caused a significant decrease in diel surface water oxygen amplitude and porewater oxygen concentrations, as well as a metabolic shift after rewetting.