Testing a typology system of running waters for conservation planning in Hungary

Abstract

Landscape and site classifications are increasingly being used in conservation planning and biodiversity management. We examined the utility of a simple typology system for predicting the conservation value of running-water sites in Hungary using aquatic invertebrates. Aquatic invertebrates (444 species) were collected by kick and sweep sampling technique, in a few cases also with a net, at 317 running-water sites covering the entire area of Hungary. On the basis of three criteria (naturalness, altitude and size of catchment area) we obtained a typology scheme distinguishing five running-water types: artificial lowland stream, natural highland river, natural highland stream, natural lowland river and natural lowland stream. We expressed the conservation value of each site using the numbers of native species, unique native species, red-list species, protected species and alien species. Furthermore, the conservation value of each river type was expressed by a measure of beta diversity. Our results show that any interpretation of the effect of a single criterion might be misleading. Consequently, the use of the whole typology system is recommended. The study revealed that all stream types are valuable to a certain extent because they maintain distinct biological communities. We found that the conservation value of artificial watercourses is comparable to that of natural running-water sites. We identified that natural lowland rivers and artificial lowland streams are the ones mostly exposed to species invasions. These findings are essential in maintaining and protecting conservation values of any freshwater ecosystem, and may contribute to management decisions on running waters in Hungary.