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Professor Isabelle Durance
- Media commentator
Teams and roles for Isabelle Durance
Professor and Director of the Water Research Institute
School of Biosciences
Overview
Freshwater is critical to life, the environment and economies, but its sustainable management worldwide is at risk from global change, burgeoning demand and inadequate control. Given the complexities of the problem, safeguarding freshwaters for future generations requires a whole-systems approach that brings together multiple sectors, and integrates complementary disciplinary lenses.
My interests lie in these interdisciplinary initiatives that focus on freshwaters as an integrating lens through which we can start to tackle the nature and climate emergencies.
Roles
Director, Water Research Institute
The Water Research Institute was launched in 2015 to address the grand challenge of sustainable water management for people and ecosystems in a changing world.
Our mission is to foster world-leading interdisciplinary research that will have strong impact and be used as evidence by decision makers. We do this by providing a creative environment where researchers from different disciplines co-design and co-deliver research with stakeholders and end-users to provide integrated understanding and solutions to tackle global water challenges.
Publication
2025
- Allison, T., Ward, B. D., Harbottle, M. and Durance, I. 2025. Cellulose-based wet wipes undergo limited degradation in river environments. Environmental Pollution 384, article number: 126971. (10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126971)
- Perry, W. B. et al. 2025. Quantitative insights into the spatio‐temporal variation of Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) biomass in a river catchment using eDNA metabarcoding. Journal of Fish Biology (10.1111/jfb.70172)
- Tarring, E. C., Robison-Smith, C., Ceballos-Ramirez, A. D., Durance, I., Harbottle, M. J., Cable, J. and Ward, B. D. 2025. Toxicity of the water-soluble polymer PVP is dependent on molecular weight and feed concentration for a freshwater model species. Science of the Total Environment 983, article number: 179686. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179686)
- Allison, T., Ward, B. D., Durance, I. and Harbottle, M. 2025. Predicting flushed wet wipe emissions into rivers. Water Research 268(Part B), article number: 122733. (10.1016/j.watres.2024.122733)
2024
- Navarro Law, I., Durance, I., Benstead, R., Fryer, M. E. and Brown, C. D. 2024. The influence of abiotic factors on the distribution of macrophytes in small water bodies in temperate ecosystems. Limnological Review 24(4), pp. 616-636. (10.3390/limnolrev24040036)
- Knight, M. E. et al. 2024. National-scale antimicrobial resistance surveillance in wastewater: A comparative analysis of HT qPCR and metagenomic approaches. Water Research 262, article number: 121989. (10.1016/j.watres.2024.121989)
- Tarring, E., Robison-Smith, C., Cable, J., Durance, I., Harbottle, M. and Ward, B. D. 2024. Detection of polyvinylpyrrolidone in Daphnia magna: Development of a refractive index quantification method for water-soluble polymers in aquatic organisms. Science of the Total Environment 935, article number: 173428. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173428)
- Perry, W. B. et al. 2024. An integrated spatio-temporal view of riverine biodiversity using environmental DNA metabarcoding. Nature Communications 15(1), article number: 4372. (10.1038/s41467-024-48640-3)
- Perry, W. B. et al. 2024. Cross-continental comparative experiences of wastewater surveillance and a vision for the 21st century. Science of the Total Environment 919, article number: 170842. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170842)
- Perry, W. B., Ahmadian, R., Munday, M., Jones, O., Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2024. Addressing the challenges of combined sewer overflows. Environmental Pollution 343, article number: 123225. (10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123225)
- Larsen, S., Joyce, F., Vaughan, I. P., Durance, I., Walter, J. A. and Ormerod, S. J. 2024. Climatic effects on the synchrony and stability of temperate headwater invertebrates over four decades. Global Change Biology 30(1), article number: e17017. (10.1111/gcb.17017)
- Tarring, E. C., Durance, I., Harbottle, M. J., Lucas, R., Read, D. S. and Ward, B. D. 2024. Water-soluble polymers: emerging contaminants detected, separated and quantified by a novel Gpc/Maldi-Tof method. Environmental Pollution 340(1), article number: 122888. (10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122888)
2023
- Allison, T., Ward, B. D., Harbottle, M. and Durance, I. 2023. Do flushed biodegradable wet wipes really degrade?. Science of the Total Environment 894, article number: 164912. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164912)
- Portela, A. P., Durance, I., Vieira, C. and Honrado, J. 2023. Environmental filtering and environmental stress shape regional patterns of riparian community assembly and functional diversity. Freshwater Biology 68(8), pp. 1428-1441. (10.1111/fwb.14138)
- Portela, A. P., Gonçalves, J. F., Durance, I., Vieira, C. and Honrado, J. 2023. Riparian forest response to extreme drought is influenced by climatic context and canopy structure. Science of the Total Environment 881, article number: 163128. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163128)
- Hayes, L. et al. 2023. The occurrence and zoonotic potential of Cryptosporidium species in freshwater biota. Parasites and Vectors 16, article number: 209. (10.1186/s13071-023-05827-9)
- Schröter, M. et al. 2023. Science on ecosystems and people to support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Ecosystems and People 19(1), article number: 2220913. (10.1080/26395916.2023.2220913)
- Portela, A. P., Durance, I., Vieira, C. and Honrado, J. 2023. Response-effect trait overlap and correlation in riparian plant communities suggests sensitivity of ecosystem functioning and services to environmental change. Science of the Total Environment 860, article number: 160549. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160549)
2022
- Pye, M. C., Vaughan, I. P., Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2022. Organic litter dynamics in headwater streams draining contrasting land uses. Hydrobiologia (10.1007/s10750-022-05084-4)
- Whelan, M. J. et al. 2022. Is water quality in British rivers "better than at any time since the end of the Industrial Revolution"?. Science of the Total Environment 843, article number: 157014. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157014)
- Wilde, H. et al. 2022. Accounting for dilution of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples using physico-chemical markers. Water 14(18), article number: 2885. (10.3390/w14182885)
- Jones, L. et al. 2022. Can we model cultural ecosystem services, and are we measuring the right things?. People and Nature 4(1), pp. 166-179. (10.1002/pan3.10271)
- Eastwood, N. et al. 2022. The Time Machine framework: monitoring and prediction of biodiversity loss. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 37(2), pp. 138-146. (10.1016/j.tree.2021.09.008)
- Perry, I. et al. 2022. Challenges to implementing environmental-DNA monitoring in Namibia. Frontiers in Environmental Science 9, article number: 773991. (10.3389/fenvs.2021.773991)
2021
- Casas-Mulet, R., Matthews, E., Geist, J., Durance, I. and Cable, J. 2021. Negative effects of parasite exposure and variable thermal stress on brown trout (Salmo trutta) under future climatic and hydropower production scenarios. Climate Change Ecology 2, article number: 100039. (10.1016/j.ecochg.2021.100039)
- Portela, A. P., Vieira, C., Carvalho-Santos, C., Gonçalves, J., Durance, I. and Honrado, J. 2021. Regional planning of river protection and restoration to promote ecosystem services and nature conservation. Landscape and Urban Planning 211, article number: 104101. (10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104101)
- Gutierrez-Canovas, C. et al. 2021. Populations of high-value predators reflect the traits of their prey. Ecography 44(5), pp. 690-702. (10.1111/ecog.05438)
- Perkins, D. M. et al. 2021. Systematic variation in food web body-size structure linked to external subsidies. Biology Letters 17(3), article number: 20200798. (10.1098/rsbl.2020.0798)
2020
- Worthington, T. A., Worthington, I., Vaughan, I. P., Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2020. Testing the ecosystem service cascade framework for Atlantic salmon. Ecosystem Services 46, article number: 101196. (10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101196)
- Stone, C., Windsor, F. M., Munday, M. and Durance, I. 2020. Natural or synthetic – how global trends in textile usage threaten freshwater environments. Science of the Total Environment 718, article number: 134689. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134689)
- Jams, I. B., Windsor, F. M., Poudevigne-Durance, T., Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2020. Estimating the size distribution of plastics ingested by animals. Nature Communications 11, article number: 1594. (10.1038/s41467-020-15406-6)
2019
- Windsor, F. M., Durance, I., Horton, A. A., Thompson, R. C., Tyler, C. R. and Ormerod, S. J. 2019. A catchment-scale perspective of plastic pollution. Global Change Biology 25(4), pp. 1207-1221. (10.1111/gcb.14572)
2018
- Perkins, D. M. et al. 2018. Bending the rules: exploitation of allochthonous resources by a top-predator modifies size-abundance scaling in stream food webs. Ecology Letters 21(12), pp. 1771-1780. (10.1111/ele.13147)
- Larsen, S., Chase, J. M., Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2018. Lifting the veil: richness measurements fail to detect systematic biodiversity change over three decades. Ecology 99(6), pp. 1316-1326. (10.1002/ecy.2213)
- Seymour, M. et al. 2018. Acidity promotes degradation of multi-species environmental DNA in lotic mesocosms. Communications Biology 1, article number: 4. (10.1038/s42003-017-0005-3)
2017
- Small, N., Munday, M. and Durance, I. 2017. The challenge of valuing ecosystem services that have no material benefits. Global Environmental Change 44, pp. 57-67. (10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.03.005)
- Hildrew, A. G., Durance, I. and Statzner, B. 2017. Persistence in the longitudinal distribution of lotic insects in a changing climate: a tale of two rivers. Science of the Total Environment 574, pp. 1294-1304. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.212)
2016
- Jackson, M. et al. 2016. Recommendations for the next generation of global freshwater biological monitoring tools. Advances in Ecological Research 55, pp. 615-636. (10.1016/bs.aecr.2016.08.008)
- Verberk, W. C. E. P., Durance, I., Vaughan, I. P. and Ormerod, S. J. 2016. Field and laboratory studies reveal interacting effects of stream oxygenation and warming on aquatic ectotherms. Global Change Biology 22(5), pp. 1769-1778. (10.1111/gcb.13240)
- Woodward, G. et al. 2016. The effects of climatic fluctuations and extreme events on running water ecosystems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences 371(1694), article number: 20150274. (10.1098/rstb.2015.0274)
- Durance, I. et al. 2016. The challenges of linking ecosystem services to biodiversity. Advances in Ecological Research 54, pp. 87-134. (10.1016/bs.aecr.2015.10.003)
2015
- Mulder, C. et al. 2015. 10 years later: revisiting priorities for science and society a decade after the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Advances in Ecological Research 53, pp. 1-53. (10.1016/bs.aecr.2015.10.005)
- Watts, G. et al. 2015. Climate change and water in the UK - past changes and future prospects. Progress in Physical Geography 39(1), pp. 6-28. (10.1177/0309133314542957)
2014
- Raffaelli, D. et al. 2014. Big Data and ecosystem research programmes. Advances in Ecological Research 51, pp. 41-77. (10.1016/B978-0-08-099970-8.00004-X)
- Morrissey, C. A., Stanton, D. W., Tyler, C. R., Pereira, M. G., Newton, J., Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2014. Developmental impairment in eurasian dipper nestlings exposed to urban stream pollutants. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33(6), pp. 1315-1323. (10.1002/etc.2555)
2013
- Merrix-Jones, F. L., Thackeray, S. J., Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2013. Spatial structure in the zooplankton of a newly formed and heavily disturbed urban lake. Fundamental and Applied Limnology / Archiv fur Hydrobiologie 183(1), pp. 1-14. (10.1127/1863-9135/2013/0459)
- Morrissey, C., Stanton, D. W. G., Pereira, M. G., Newton, J., Durance, I., Tyler, C. R. and Ormerod, S. J. 2013. Eurasian dipper eggs indicate elevated organohalogenated contaminants persist in urban rivers. Environmental Science & Technology 47(15), pp. 8931-8939. (10.1021/es402124z)
2012
- Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2012. Understanding and managing climate change effects on river ecosystems. In: Boon, P. and Raven, P. eds. River Conservation and Management. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 107-121.
2011
- Gaotlhobogwe, M., Laugharne, J. and Durance, I. 2011. The potential of multivariate analysis in assessing students' attitude to curriculum subjects. Educational Research 53(1), pp. 65-83. (10.1080/00131881.2011.552241)
- Vaughan, I. P., Larsen, S., Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2011. Student-centred experiments with stream invertebrates. Journal of Biological Education 45(2), pp. 106-111. (10.1080/00219266.2010.546007)
- Maltby, E. et al. 2011. Freshwaters – openwaters, wetlands and floodplains. In: UK National Ecosystem Assessment: Technical Report. Cambridge: United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), pp. 295-360.
2010
- Clews, E., Durance, I., Vaughan, I. P. and Ormerod, S. J. 2010. Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate. Global Change Biology 16(12), pp. 3271-3283. (10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02211.x)
- Ormerod, S. J., Durance, I., Terrier, A. and Swanson, A. M. 2010. Priority wetland invertebrates as conservation surrogates. Conservation Biology 24(2), pp. 573-582. (10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01352.x)
- Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2010. Evidence for the role of climate in the local extinction of a cool-water triclad. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 29(4), pp. 1367-1378. (10.1899/09-159.1)
2009
- Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2009. Trends in water quality and discharge confound long-term warming effects on river macroinvertebrates. Freshwater Biology 54(2), pp. 388-405. (10.1111/j.1365-2427.2008.02112.x)
- Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2009. Restoration and recovery from acidification in upland Welsh streams over 25 years. Journal of Applied Ecology 46(1), pp. 164-174. (10.1111/j.1365-2664.2008.01587.x)
2007
- Niggebrugger, K., Durance, I., Watson, A. and Ormerod, S. J. 2007. Applying landscape ecology to conservation biology: Spatially explicit analysis reveals dispersal limits on threatened wetland gastropods. Biological Conservation 139(3-4), pp. 286-296. (10.1016/j.biocon.2007.07.003)
- Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2007. Climate-change effects on upland stream macroinvertebrates over a 25-year period. Global Change Biology 13(5), pp. 942-957. (10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01340.x)
2006
- Durance, I., Lepichon, C. and Ormerod, S. J. 2006. Recognizing the importance of scale in the ecology and management of riverine fish. River Research and Applications 22(10), pp. 1143-1152. (10.1002/rra.965)
2004
- de Nooij, R. J. W. et al. 2004. BIO-SAFE: assessing the impact of physical reconstruction on protected and endangered species. River Research and Applications 20(3), pp. 299-315. (10.1002/rra.779)
2003
- Ernoult, A., Bureau, F. and Durance, I. 2003. Patterns of organisation in changing landscapes: implications for the management of biodiversity. Landscape Ecology 18(3), pp. 239-251. (10.1023/A:1024457031235)
- Durance, I. and Baudry, J. 2003. The implication of past and present landscape patterns for biodiversity research: Introduction and overview. Landscape Ecology 18(3), pp. 223-225. (10.1023/A:1024405014396)
2002
- Durance, I., Alard, D., Leuven, R. S. E. W. and Nienhuis, P. H. 2002. A systems approach to river restoration: a case study in the lower Seine valley, France. River Research and Applications 18(3), pp. 239-247. (10.1002/rra.667)
- Leuven, R. S. E. W. and Durance, I. 2002. Riverine landscape dynamics and ecological risk assessment. Freshwater Biology 47(4), pp. 845-865. (10.1046/j.1365-2427.2002.00918.x)
2001
- Chabrerie, O. et al. 2001. Biodiversity and ecosystem functions in wetlands: A case study in the estuary of the Seine River, France. Estuaries 24(6), pp. 1088-1096. (10.2307/1353020)
- Nebbache, S., Feeny, V., Durance, I. and Alard, D. 2001. Turbidity and nitrate transfer in karstic aquifers in rural areas: The Brionne Basin case-study. Journal of Environmental Management 62(4), pp. 389-398. (10.1006/jema.2001.0444)
2000
- Alard, D. and Durance, I. 2000. Diversity patterns in grasslands along a landscape gradient in northwestern France. Journal of Vegetation Science 11(2), pp. 287-294. (10.2307/3236809)
1999
- Alard, D. and Durance, I. 1999. Factors controlling plant diversity in a rural landscape: a functional approach. Landscape and Urban Planning 46(1-3), pp. 29-39. (10.1016/S0169-2046(99)00044-4)
1998
- Alard, D., Durance, I., Dutoit, T. and Decaëns, T. 1998. Dynamique de la biodiversité dans un espace en mutation. Le cas des pelouses calcicoles de la basse vallée de Seine. Acta Oecologica 19(3), pp. 275-284. (10.1016/S1146-609X(98)80031-3)
1997
- Durance, I., van Rooij, S., Morin, P. and Alard, D. 1997. Dynamics of rural landscapes and their main driving factors: A case study in the Seine Valley, Normandy, France. Landscape and Urban Planning 38(1-2), pp. 93-103. (10.1016/S0169-2046(97)00025-X)
- Durance, I. and Alard, D. 1997. Landscape and agricultural patterns in rural areas: a case study in the Brionne basin, Normandy, France. Journal of Environmental Management 50(4), pp. 335-349. (10.1006/jema.1997.0134)
- Durance, I. and Alard, D. 1997. Agricultural landscape dynamics: A case study in the Odessa region, the Ukraine and a comparative analysis with the Brionne basin case study, France. Ekologia Bratislava 16(3), pp. 295-308.
1996
- Baudry, J., Alard, D., Thenail, C., Durance, I., Leconte, D., Bourcier, J. F. and Girard, C. M. 1996. Gestion de la biodiversite dans une reion d'elevage bovin: Les prairies permanentes du Pays d'Auge, France. Acta Botanica Gallica: Botany Letters 143(4-5), pp. 367-381. (10.1080/12538078.1996.10515733)
Articles
- Allison, T., Ward, B. D., Harbottle, M. and Durance, I. 2025. Cellulose-based wet wipes undergo limited degradation in river environments. Environmental Pollution 384, article number: 126971. (10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126971)
- Perry, W. B. et al. 2025. Quantitative insights into the spatio‐temporal variation of Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) biomass in a river catchment using eDNA metabarcoding. Journal of Fish Biology (10.1111/jfb.70172)
- Tarring, E. C., Robison-Smith, C., Ceballos-Ramirez, A. D., Durance, I., Harbottle, M. J., Cable, J. and Ward, B. D. 2025. Toxicity of the water-soluble polymer PVP is dependent on molecular weight and feed concentration for a freshwater model species. Science of the Total Environment 983, article number: 179686. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179686)
- Allison, T., Ward, B. D., Durance, I. and Harbottle, M. 2025. Predicting flushed wet wipe emissions into rivers. Water Research 268(Part B), article number: 122733. (10.1016/j.watres.2024.122733)
- Navarro Law, I., Durance, I., Benstead, R., Fryer, M. E. and Brown, C. D. 2024. The influence of abiotic factors on the distribution of macrophytes in small water bodies in temperate ecosystems. Limnological Review 24(4), pp. 616-636. (10.3390/limnolrev24040036)
- Knight, M. E. et al. 2024. National-scale antimicrobial resistance surveillance in wastewater: A comparative analysis of HT qPCR and metagenomic approaches. Water Research 262, article number: 121989. (10.1016/j.watres.2024.121989)
- Tarring, E., Robison-Smith, C., Cable, J., Durance, I., Harbottle, M. and Ward, B. D. 2024. Detection of polyvinylpyrrolidone in Daphnia magna: Development of a refractive index quantification method for water-soluble polymers in aquatic organisms. Science of the Total Environment 935, article number: 173428. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173428)
- Perry, W. B. et al. 2024. An integrated spatio-temporal view of riverine biodiversity using environmental DNA metabarcoding. Nature Communications 15(1), article number: 4372. (10.1038/s41467-024-48640-3)
- Perry, W. B. et al. 2024. Cross-continental comparative experiences of wastewater surveillance and a vision for the 21st century. Science of the Total Environment 919, article number: 170842. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170842)
- Perry, W. B., Ahmadian, R., Munday, M., Jones, O., Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2024. Addressing the challenges of combined sewer overflows. Environmental Pollution 343, article number: 123225. (10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123225)
- Larsen, S., Joyce, F., Vaughan, I. P., Durance, I., Walter, J. A. and Ormerod, S. J. 2024. Climatic effects on the synchrony and stability of temperate headwater invertebrates over four decades. Global Change Biology 30(1), article number: e17017. (10.1111/gcb.17017)
- Tarring, E. C., Durance, I., Harbottle, M. J., Lucas, R., Read, D. S. and Ward, B. D. 2024. Water-soluble polymers: emerging contaminants detected, separated and quantified by a novel Gpc/Maldi-Tof method. Environmental Pollution 340(1), article number: 122888. (10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122888)
- Allison, T., Ward, B. D., Harbottle, M. and Durance, I. 2023. Do flushed biodegradable wet wipes really degrade?. Science of the Total Environment 894, article number: 164912. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164912)
- Portela, A. P., Durance, I., Vieira, C. and Honrado, J. 2023. Environmental filtering and environmental stress shape regional patterns of riparian community assembly and functional diversity. Freshwater Biology 68(8), pp. 1428-1441. (10.1111/fwb.14138)
- Portela, A. P., Gonçalves, J. F., Durance, I., Vieira, C. and Honrado, J. 2023. Riparian forest response to extreme drought is influenced by climatic context and canopy structure. Science of the Total Environment 881, article number: 163128. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163128)
- Hayes, L. et al. 2023. The occurrence and zoonotic potential of Cryptosporidium species in freshwater biota. Parasites and Vectors 16, article number: 209. (10.1186/s13071-023-05827-9)
- Schröter, M. et al. 2023. Science on ecosystems and people to support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Ecosystems and People 19(1), article number: 2220913. (10.1080/26395916.2023.2220913)
- Portela, A. P., Durance, I., Vieira, C. and Honrado, J. 2023. Response-effect trait overlap and correlation in riparian plant communities suggests sensitivity of ecosystem functioning and services to environmental change. Science of the Total Environment 860, article number: 160549. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160549)
- Pye, M. C., Vaughan, I. P., Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2022. Organic litter dynamics in headwater streams draining contrasting land uses. Hydrobiologia (10.1007/s10750-022-05084-4)
- Whelan, M. J. et al. 2022. Is water quality in British rivers "better than at any time since the end of the Industrial Revolution"?. Science of the Total Environment 843, article number: 157014. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157014)
- Wilde, H. et al. 2022. Accounting for dilution of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples using physico-chemical markers. Water 14(18), article number: 2885. (10.3390/w14182885)
- Jones, L. et al. 2022. Can we model cultural ecosystem services, and are we measuring the right things?. People and Nature 4(1), pp. 166-179. (10.1002/pan3.10271)
- Eastwood, N. et al. 2022. The Time Machine framework: monitoring and prediction of biodiversity loss. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 37(2), pp. 138-146. (10.1016/j.tree.2021.09.008)
- Perry, I. et al. 2022. Challenges to implementing environmental-DNA monitoring in Namibia. Frontiers in Environmental Science 9, article number: 773991. (10.3389/fenvs.2021.773991)
- Casas-Mulet, R., Matthews, E., Geist, J., Durance, I. and Cable, J. 2021. Negative effects of parasite exposure and variable thermal stress on brown trout (Salmo trutta) under future climatic and hydropower production scenarios. Climate Change Ecology 2, article number: 100039. (10.1016/j.ecochg.2021.100039)
- Portela, A. P., Vieira, C., Carvalho-Santos, C., Gonçalves, J., Durance, I. and Honrado, J. 2021. Regional planning of river protection and restoration to promote ecosystem services and nature conservation. Landscape and Urban Planning 211, article number: 104101. (10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104101)
- Gutierrez-Canovas, C. et al. 2021. Populations of high-value predators reflect the traits of their prey. Ecography 44(5), pp. 690-702. (10.1111/ecog.05438)
- Perkins, D. M. et al. 2021. Systematic variation in food web body-size structure linked to external subsidies. Biology Letters 17(3), article number: 20200798. (10.1098/rsbl.2020.0798)
- Worthington, T. A., Worthington, I., Vaughan, I. P., Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2020. Testing the ecosystem service cascade framework for Atlantic salmon. Ecosystem Services 46, article number: 101196. (10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101196)
- Stone, C., Windsor, F. M., Munday, M. and Durance, I. 2020. Natural or synthetic – how global trends in textile usage threaten freshwater environments. Science of the Total Environment 718, article number: 134689. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134689)
- Jams, I. B., Windsor, F. M., Poudevigne-Durance, T., Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2020. Estimating the size distribution of plastics ingested by animals. Nature Communications 11, article number: 1594. (10.1038/s41467-020-15406-6)
- Windsor, F. M., Durance, I., Horton, A. A., Thompson, R. C., Tyler, C. R. and Ormerod, S. J. 2019. A catchment-scale perspective of plastic pollution. Global Change Biology 25(4), pp. 1207-1221. (10.1111/gcb.14572)
- Perkins, D. M. et al. 2018. Bending the rules: exploitation of allochthonous resources by a top-predator modifies size-abundance scaling in stream food webs. Ecology Letters 21(12), pp. 1771-1780. (10.1111/ele.13147)
- Larsen, S., Chase, J. M., Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2018. Lifting the veil: richness measurements fail to detect systematic biodiversity change over three decades. Ecology 99(6), pp. 1316-1326. (10.1002/ecy.2213)
- Seymour, M. et al. 2018. Acidity promotes degradation of multi-species environmental DNA in lotic mesocosms. Communications Biology 1, article number: 4. (10.1038/s42003-017-0005-3)
- Small, N., Munday, M. and Durance, I. 2017. The challenge of valuing ecosystem services that have no material benefits. Global Environmental Change 44, pp. 57-67. (10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.03.005)
- Hildrew, A. G., Durance, I. and Statzner, B. 2017. Persistence in the longitudinal distribution of lotic insects in a changing climate: a tale of two rivers. Science of the Total Environment 574, pp. 1294-1304. (10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.212)
- Jackson, M. et al. 2016. Recommendations for the next generation of global freshwater biological monitoring tools. Advances in Ecological Research 55, pp. 615-636. (10.1016/bs.aecr.2016.08.008)
- Verberk, W. C. E. P., Durance, I., Vaughan, I. P. and Ormerod, S. J. 2016. Field and laboratory studies reveal interacting effects of stream oxygenation and warming on aquatic ectotherms. Global Change Biology 22(5), pp. 1769-1778. (10.1111/gcb.13240)
- Woodward, G. et al. 2016. The effects of climatic fluctuations and extreme events on running water ecosystems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences 371(1694), article number: 20150274. (10.1098/rstb.2015.0274)
- Durance, I. et al. 2016. The challenges of linking ecosystem services to biodiversity. Advances in Ecological Research 54, pp. 87-134. (10.1016/bs.aecr.2015.10.003)
- Mulder, C. et al. 2015. 10 years later: revisiting priorities for science and society a decade after the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Advances in Ecological Research 53, pp. 1-53. (10.1016/bs.aecr.2015.10.005)
- Watts, G. et al. 2015. Climate change and water in the UK - past changes and future prospects. Progress in Physical Geography 39(1), pp. 6-28. (10.1177/0309133314542957)
- Raffaelli, D. et al. 2014. Big Data and ecosystem research programmes. Advances in Ecological Research 51, pp. 41-77. (10.1016/B978-0-08-099970-8.00004-X)
- Morrissey, C. A., Stanton, D. W., Tyler, C. R., Pereira, M. G., Newton, J., Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2014. Developmental impairment in eurasian dipper nestlings exposed to urban stream pollutants. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33(6), pp. 1315-1323. (10.1002/etc.2555)
- Merrix-Jones, F. L., Thackeray, S. J., Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2013. Spatial structure in the zooplankton of a newly formed and heavily disturbed urban lake. Fundamental and Applied Limnology / Archiv fur Hydrobiologie 183(1), pp. 1-14. (10.1127/1863-9135/2013/0459)
- Morrissey, C., Stanton, D. W. G., Pereira, M. G., Newton, J., Durance, I., Tyler, C. R. and Ormerod, S. J. 2013. Eurasian dipper eggs indicate elevated organohalogenated contaminants persist in urban rivers. Environmental Science & Technology 47(15), pp. 8931-8939. (10.1021/es402124z)
- Gaotlhobogwe, M., Laugharne, J. and Durance, I. 2011. The potential of multivariate analysis in assessing students' attitude to curriculum subjects. Educational Research 53(1), pp. 65-83. (10.1080/00131881.2011.552241)
- Vaughan, I. P., Larsen, S., Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2011. Student-centred experiments with stream invertebrates. Journal of Biological Education 45(2), pp. 106-111. (10.1080/00219266.2010.546007)
- Clews, E., Durance, I., Vaughan, I. P. and Ormerod, S. J. 2010. Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate. Global Change Biology 16(12), pp. 3271-3283. (10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02211.x)
- Ormerod, S. J., Durance, I., Terrier, A. and Swanson, A. M. 2010. Priority wetland invertebrates as conservation surrogates. Conservation Biology 24(2), pp. 573-582. (10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01352.x)
- Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2010. Evidence for the role of climate in the local extinction of a cool-water triclad. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 29(4), pp. 1367-1378. (10.1899/09-159.1)
- Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2009. Trends in water quality and discharge confound long-term warming effects on river macroinvertebrates. Freshwater Biology 54(2), pp. 388-405. (10.1111/j.1365-2427.2008.02112.x)
- Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2009. Restoration and recovery from acidification in upland Welsh streams over 25 years. Journal of Applied Ecology 46(1), pp. 164-174. (10.1111/j.1365-2664.2008.01587.x)
- Niggebrugger, K., Durance, I., Watson, A. and Ormerod, S. J. 2007. Applying landscape ecology to conservation biology: Spatially explicit analysis reveals dispersal limits on threatened wetland gastropods. Biological Conservation 139(3-4), pp. 286-296. (10.1016/j.biocon.2007.07.003)
- Durance, I. and Ormerod, S. J. 2007. Climate-change effects on upland stream macroinvertebrates over a 25-year period. Global Change Biology 13(5), pp. 942-957. (10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01340.x)
- Durance, I., Lepichon, C. and Ormerod, S. J. 2006. Recognizing the importance of scale in the ecology and management of riverine fish. River Research and Applications 22(10), pp. 1143-1152. (10.1002/rra.965)
- de Nooij, R. J. W. et al. 2004. BIO-SAFE: assessing the impact of physical reconstruction on protected and endangered species. River Research and Applications 20(3), pp. 299-315. (10.1002/rra.779)
- Ernoult, A., Bureau, F. and Durance, I. 2003. Patterns of organisation in changing landscapes: implications for the management of biodiversity. Landscape Ecology 18(3), pp. 239-251. (10.1023/A:1024457031235)
- Durance, I. and Baudry, J. 2003. The implication of past and present landscape patterns for biodiversity research: Introduction and overview. Landscape Ecology 18(3), pp. 223-225. (10.1023/A:1024405014396)
- Durance, I., Alard, D., Leuven, R. S. E. W. and Nienhuis, P. H. 2002. A systems approach to river restoration: a case study in the lower Seine valley, France. River Research and Applications 18(3), pp. 239-247. (10.1002/rra.667)
- Leuven, R. S. E. W. and Durance, I. 2002. Riverine landscape dynamics and ecological risk assessment. Freshwater Biology 47(4), pp. 845-865. (10.1046/j.1365-2427.2002.00918.x)
- Chabrerie, O. et al. 2001. Biodiversity and ecosystem functions in wetlands: A case study in the estuary of the Seine River, France. Estuaries 24(6), pp. 1088-1096. (10.2307/1353020)
- Nebbache, S., Feeny, V., Durance, I. and Alard, D. 2001. Turbidity and nitrate transfer in karstic aquifers in rural areas: The Brionne Basin case-study. Journal of Environmental Management 62(4), pp. 389-398. (10.1006/jema.2001.0444)
- Alard, D. and Durance, I. 2000. Diversity patterns in grasslands along a landscape gradient in northwestern France. Journal of Vegetation Science 11(2), pp. 287-294. (10.2307/3236809)
- Alard, D. and Durance, I. 1999. Factors controlling plant diversity in a rural landscape: a functional approach. Landscape and Urban Planning 46(1-3), pp. 29-39. (10.1016/S0169-2046(99)00044-4)
- Alard, D., Durance, I., Dutoit, T. and Decaëns, T. 1998. Dynamique de la biodiversité dans un espace en mutation. Le cas des pelouses calcicoles de la basse vallée de Seine. Acta Oecologica 19(3), pp. 275-284. (10.1016/S1146-609X(98)80031-3)
- Durance, I., van Rooij, S., Morin, P. and Alard, D. 1997. Dynamics of rural landscapes and their main driving factors: A case study in the Seine Valley, Normandy, France. Landscape and Urban Planning 38(1-2), pp. 93-103. (10.1016/S0169-2046(97)00025-X)
- Durance, I. and Alard, D. 1997. Landscape and agricultural patterns in rural areas: a case study in the Brionne basin, Normandy, France. Journal of Environmental Management 50(4), pp. 335-349. (10.1006/jema.1997.0134)
- Durance, I. and Alard, D. 1997. Agricultural landscape dynamics: A case study in the Odessa region, the Ukraine and a comparative analysis with the Brionne basin case study, France. Ekologia Bratislava 16(3), pp. 295-308.
- Baudry, J., Alard, D., Thenail, C., Durance, I., Leconte, D., Bourcier, J. F. and Girard, C. M. 1996. Gestion de la biodiversite dans une reion d'elevage bovin: Les prairies permanentes du Pays d'Auge, France. Acta Botanica Gallica: Botany Letters 143(4-5), pp. 367-381. (10.1080/12538078.1996.10515733)
Book sections
- Ormerod, S. J. and Durance, I. 2012. Understanding and managing climate change effects on river ecosystems. In: Boon, P. and Raven, P. eds. River Conservation and Management. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 107-121.
- Maltby, E. et al. 2011. Freshwaters – openwaters, wetlands and floodplains. In: UK National Ecosystem Assessment: Technical Report. Cambridge: United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), pp. 295-360.
Research
Research
My research interests span a wide array of environmental challenges. From a background in agronomy, I am particualry interested in interdiscplinary endeavours and use freshwaters as an integrating lens through which to tackle these challenges.
This research has been funded over the past decade by a range of funders (UKRI, EU, industry, charities) and over the past 10 years I have been involved as PI or co-PI in environmental research endeavours totalling over £20m.
Biography
Following a degree in Natural Sciences and a Masters in Engineering (Ingenieur Agronome, Agrotech Paris), I worked in Research & Development in an industrial context (Danone Belgium). I then embarked on a PhD in Landscape Ecology working in Ukraine and France, and developed my research increasingly using freshwater ecosystems as a model during a 10 year lectureship in France.
With the support of the Daphne Jackson charity, a charity established to help women back into science, I obtained 3 independent research fellowships after my career break, and now hold a Chair in Integrated Water Sciences.
In turn, I now have the chance to contribute to academic and public life, for example through involvement with comittees and panels:
UK research, namely the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the UKRI, as panel member but also as part of advisory groups:
- NERC Water Quality programme Advisory group since 2023,
- NERC Floods and Drought (FDRI) Steering committee since 2020,
- UKRI Talent Panel College since 2022,
- Recent roles include: Chair NERC ReFIT Steering Committee 2023/24 (Capital), Chair NERC Strategic Needs Advisory Group (2020-21), Chair NERC Deep Dive Working Group 2022, NERC Strategic Programme Advisory group and Joint Capacity Advisory group (2016-2019, 2 terms).
International research, as part of a range of advisory roles which recently involved for example:
- Chair of the Water4All 160m€ Horizon Europe research programme 2024,
- Swiss National Science Foundation evaluation panel for the establishment of new National Centres of Competence in Research 2024,
- Agence Nationale de Recherche France ‘One Water’ committee allocating >25million to risky research on water 2025,
- Evaluation committee for the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB, 2025).
Education and Research sector more broadly, nationally and internationally, in advisory roles for:
- EPSRC Sustainable Plastics Doctoral Training Hub co-lead 2020-26,
- NERC ECORISC Centre for Doctoral Training 2020-28
- NERC RED-ALERT Centre for Doctoral Training co-Director 2024-30,
- H2O Doctoral Scheme (France) International Advisory Board since 2020,
- Brazil Water Research Centre International Advisory Board since 2020,
- Environment Platform Wales Advisory Board since 2023.
Water and Environmental sector, for example in advisory roles as part of:
- Independent Water Commission member led by Sir Jon Cunliffe tasked with reviewing the water sector for England and Wales (2024-25),
- DCWW – Welsh Water Independent Environment Advisory Panel since 2019,
- Lead of the DCWW-CU strategic partneship since 2023,
- CastCo steering group (2022-25),
- WWF UK programme committee (2018-24).
