Abstract
Biodiversity and nature values in anthropogenic landscapes often depend on land use practices and management. Evaluations of the association between management and biodiversity remain, however, comparatively scarce, especially in aquatic systems. Furthermore, studies also tend to focus on a limited set of organism groups at the local scale, whereas a multi-group approach at the landscape scale is to be preferred. This study aims to investigate the effect of pond management on the diversity of multiple aquatic organism groups (e.g. phytoplankton, zooplankton, several groups of macro-invertebrates, submerged and emergent macrophytes) at local and regional spatial scales. For this purpose, we performed a field study of 39 shallow man-made ponds representing five different management types. Our results indicate that fish stock management and periodic pond drainage are crucial drivers of pond biodiversity. Furthermore, this study provides insight in how the management of eutrophied ponds can contribute to aquatic biodiversity. A combination of regular draining of ponds with efforts to keep ponds free of fish seems to be highly beneficial for the biodiversity of many groups of aquatic organisms at local and regional scales. Regular draining combined with a stocking of fish at low biomass is also preferable to infrequent draining and lack of fish stock control. These insights are essential for the development of conservation programs that aim long-term maintenance of regional biodiversity in pond areas across Europe.
Highlights
In an effort to restore and maintain biodiversity, the European Union has directed efforts towards the conservation of habitats and species through the designation of protected areas [1]
We observed a remarkable concordance in the diversity response of organism groups to pond management types in the studied pond cluster
A management focusing on keeping ponds free of fish via repeated and carefully applied pond drainage combined with additional measures aimed at preventing fish from entering ponds through inlets appeared to be the best guarantee for high local diversity across organism groups
Summary
In an effort to restore and maintain biodiversity, the European Union has directed efforts towards the conservation of habitats and species through the designation of protected areas [1] Many of these habitats are located in heterogeneous anthropogenic landscapes [2,3] and the intended nature values often result from traditional land-use practices [4]. While most studies are geared at evaluating restoration measures at relatively small, local scales, conservation schemes should take a regional perspective and try to ensure the long-term maintenance of biodiversity at the landscape scale Such aims require a profound knowledge of how different groups of organisms respond to different management regimes and which combinations of these regimes may ensure a maximization of biodiversity at larger spatial scales
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