1 Introduction Riverine stream networks are social-ecological systems that support diverse flora and fauna communities and provide valuable ecosystem services (Parsons et al. 2016; Pascual et al. 2017; Perry et al. 2024). Unfortunately, climate change coupled with other anthropogenic disturbances that affect rivers and their surrounding catchments has resulted in rivers being classified as one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth (Dynesius and Nilsson 1994; Palmer et al. 2009; Barbarossa et al.