Global and regional climate change models5-9 predict likely trends in the magnitude and amplitude of event-driven
systems, primarily rainfall and air temperature. Changes include shifts in mean condition, variance and frequency
of extremes of climatic variables, which result in changes in water quantity, especially in arid and semi-arid
regions.5 Historically, focus on the consequences of global climate change trends has tended to be on terrestrial
ecosystems, with less attention given to aquatic ecosystems. In the last decade, focus has shifted to freshwater
ecosystems and the number of studies published annually has increased dramatically.10 This shift follows the
recognition that freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to climate change, that aquatic organisms are highly
sensitive to climate change11,12 and that climate change is expected to worsen freshwater conditions, especially in
Mediterranean regions13. Several climate model projections warn of widespread biological invasions, extinctions
and the redistribution and loss of critical ecosystem functions