| REFRESH is a 7 M euro large-scale integrating project funded by the EU. It aims to predict the effects of future global change on Europe's freshwater ecosystems and to provide the European countries with appropriate mitigation, restoration and conservation management strategies. The project is co-ordinated by the Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London and has 25 partners. The research programme is relevant to the EU Water Framework Directive, Habitats Directive and other European and international directives and protocols and supports the EU's charter on Sustainable Development. Within this project, the Ecology and Biodiversity group (formerly Landscape Ecology group) at Utrecht University is involved in research on effects of global change on stream riparian wetlands. We investigate effects on riparian wetland environmental conditions, ecological functioning (including water retention, nutrient removal, habitat provisioning, corridor functioning and connectivity) and biodiversity. |
