Dramatic decline of two freshwater killifishes, main anthropogenic drivers and appropriate conservation actions

Abstract

Freshwater fish biodiversity loss in the Mediterranean Basin is regarded as among the highest globally, with long-term population data sets required to discern long-term population trends of threatened species, in order to design appropriate conservation interventions. In this study, we assessed the population trends of two threatened freshwater fishes, Valencia letourneuxi and Valencia robertae, employing the most recent and largest compiled database to date (16 populations over 14 years). We applied the innovative methodology of the Living Planet Index (LPI) to assess the average rate of change over time across a set of V. letourneuxi and V. robertae populations in Greece. The LPI application revealed a dramatic decline of both species, with V. letourneuxi declining by 97.7% and V. robertae by 91.0%. Beta regression showed that water pollution, eutrophication and alien Eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki’ presence were the three best fitting predictors of the decline of V. letourneuxi and V. robertae populations. Based on the above, we outline the conservation measures urgently required to revert the near collapse of the populations of the two species. Conservation actions include the strict protection of the their lowland spring habitats, habitat improvement through changes in water management and agricultural practices, mosquitofish invasion prevention and mosquitofish impact mitigation measures, as well as translocation actions and captive breeding. Lastly, the association patterns of the proposed conservation actions with anthropogenic pressures and their expected outcomes were analysed through an alluvial diagram, providing insights on the scale of pressures mitigated by conservation actions and on their conservation benefits.