Assessing the conservation status of Mediterranean temporary ponds using biodiversity: a new tool for practitioners

The assessment of the habitat condition is the first step of conservation actions and several tools are available to assess wetlands. However, only a few tools are adapted to the priority habitat Mediterranean temporary ponds. Thus, our objectives were (i) to identify biological indicators associate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrobiologia 2016-11, Vol.782 (1), p.187-199
Main Authors: Lumbreras, A., Marques, J. T., Belo, A. F., Cristo, M., Fernandes, M., Galioto, D., Machado, M., Mira, A., Sá-Sousa, P., Silva, R., Sousa, L. G., Pinto-Cruz, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphibians
Aquatic life
Bats
Biogeography
Biological indicators
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Conservation
Conservation status
Ecology
Environmental management
Flowers & plants
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Habitats
Indicator species
Intermittent lakes
Life Sciences
Mediterranean Temporary Ponds
Ponds
Protection and preservation
Species richness
Wildlife conservation
Zoology
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Summary:The assessment of the habitat condition is the first step of conservation actions and several tools are available to assess wetlands. However, only a few tools are adapted to the priority habitat Mediterranean temporary ponds. Thus, our objectives were (i) to identify biological indicators associated with the different conservation status of Mediterranean temporary ponds and (ii) to create an efficient evaluation tool for non-experts using indicators of conservation status. A total of 87 ponds were sampled in southwest Portugal to assess the presence of plants, large branchiopods, amphibians, threatened voles and bats. Ponds with favourable conservation status showed higher species richness of plants, large branchiopods and amphibians. We identified eighteen indicators for favourable ponds: 15 plants, one large branchiopod and two amphibian taxa. We propose a new tool to assess the conservation status of Mediterranean temporary ponds based on the presence of these indicators. This tool is an alternative to other common, but time-consuming, methods and can be readily used by trained practitioners. The replication and adaptation of this tool to other regions and habitats enables the collection of comparable data and the geographical scaling-up of the assessments.
ISSN:0018-8158
1573-5117
DOI:10.1007/s10750-016-2697-7