Temporary rivers and streams are shaped by high hydrological variability and associated environmental conditions making them one of the most dynamic and vulnerable freshwater ecosystems. These systems are not only typical in the Mediterranean, Semi-Arid and Arid climate regions but are common in many other climatic areas of the globe. Under the likely scenarios of global climate change, temporary aquatic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the impact of changing flow conditions, with a predictable increase in the degree of intermittency and therefore harsher environmental conditions. In the last few decades, the increase of human-induced disturbances combined with the strong seasonal and inter-annual flow variations of temporary rivers have led to the decline of the aquatic biotic integrity and biodiversity of temporary freshwaters.
Among the aquatic organisms, fish integrate the whole complex net of environmental factors shaping the biota of temporary rivers. Water discharge and flow pattern, water availability and quality, habitat connectivity and persistence during the harsh dry season are all critical factors sustaining the ecosystems of temporary waters. Although the fish fauna seems to be a promising group for bioassessment, many problems regarding the accuracy of fish-based assessments still persist. In temporary rivers, the fish fauna is typically subject to strong natural disturbances combined with human-induced pressures, and these interactions increase the challenge, and justify the need, to improve bioassessment methods.
The management and conservation of freshwater biota in temporary rivers therefore requires an integrated approach involving recognition of their natural ecohydrology and variability as well as responses to imposed human pressures. Understanding the relative importance and interactions of these twin pressures on temporary freshwater systems is essential for sound environmental assessment.

This Conference aims to bring together scientists, technicians and water managers with a strong interest on temporary rivers ecology.
The sessions will be organized around the topics:

Hydrological modelling
Critical dry-season conditions and ecological response
Climate change and its effects on hydrology and ecological processes
Assessment of ecological status under higher flow variability conditions
Challenges and potentialities of fish fauna for bioassessment
Vulnerability, conservation and management under global change conditions