The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt

P Haase; DE Bowler; NJ Baker; N Bonada; S Domisch; JR Garcia Marquez; J Heino; D Hering; SC Jähnig; A Schmidt-Kloiber; R Stubbington; F Altermatt; M Álvarez-Cabria; G Amatulli; DG Angeler; G Archambaud-Suard; IA Jorrín; T Aspin; I Azpiroz; I Bañares; JB Ortiz; CL Bodin; L Bonacina; Roberta Bottarin; M Cañedo-Argüelles; Z Csabai; T Datry; E de Eyto; A Dohet; G Dörflinger; E Drohan; KA Eikland; J England; TE Eriksen; V Evtimova; MJ Feio; M Ferréol; M Floury; M Forcellini; MAE Forio; R Fornaroli; N Friberg; JF Fruget; G Georgieva; P Goethals; MAS Graça; W Graf; A House; KL Huttunen; TC Jensen; RK Johnson; JI Jones; J Kiesel; L Kuglerová; A Larrañaga; P Leitner; L L'Hoste; MH Lizée; AW Lorenz; JAM Arnaiz; A Maire; BG McKie; A Millán; D Monteith; T Muotka; JF Murphy; D Ozolins; R Paavola; P Paril; FJ Peñas; F Pilotto; M Polášek; JJ Rasmussen; M Rubio; D Sánchez-Fernández; L Sandin; RB Schäfer; A Scotti; LQ Shen; A Skuja; S Stoll; M Straka; H Timm; VG Tyufekchieva; I Tziortzis; Y Uzunov; GH van der Lee; R Vannevel; E Varadinova; G Várbíró; G Velle; PFM Verdonschot; RCM Verdonschot; Y Vidinova; P Wiberg-Larsen; EAR Welti

doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06400-1

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The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt

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The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt

P Haase, DE Bowler, NJ Baker, N Bonada, S Domisch, JR Garcia Marquez, J Heino, D Hering, SC Jähnig, A Schmidt-Kloiber, …

Nature, Vol.620, pp.582-588

620

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06400-1

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/10863/36750

Abstract

Freshwater biodiversity

macroinvertebrates

Limnology

Owing to a long history of anthropogenic pressures, freshwater ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to biodiversity loss1. Mitigation measures, including wastewater treatment and hydromorphological restoration, have aimed to improve environmental quality and foster the recovery of freshwater biodiversity2. Here, using 1,816 time series of freshwater invertebrate communities collected across 22 European countries between 1968 and 2020, we quantified temporal trends in taxonomic and functional diversity and their responses to environmental pressures and gradients. We observed overall increases in taxon richness (0.73% per year), functional richness (2.4% per year) and abundance (1.17% per year). However, these increases primarily occurred before the 2010s, and have since plateaued. Freshwater communities downstream of dams, urban areas and cropland were less likely to experience recovery. Communities at sites with faster rates of warming had fewer gains in taxon richness, functional richness and abundance. Although biodiversity gains in the 1990s and 2000s probably reflect the effectiveness of water-quality improvements and restoration projects, the decelerating trajectory in the 2010s suggests that the current measures offer diminishing returns. Given new and persistent pressures on freshwater ecosystems, including emerging pollutants, climate change and the spread of invasive species, we call for additional mitigation to revive the recovery of freshwater biodiversity.

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Title: The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt
Creators: P Haase - Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt/M
DE Bowler - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research
NJ Baker - Nature Research Centre
N Bonada - Universitat de Barcelona
S Domisch - Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
JR Garcia Marquez
J Heino - University of Oulu
D Hering - University of Duisburg-Essen
SC Jähnig - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
A Schmidt-Kloiber
R Stubbington - Nottingham Trent University
F Altermatt - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
M Álvarez-Cabria
G Amatulli - Yale University
DG Angeler - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
G Archambaud-Suard
IA Jorrín
T Aspin
I Azpiroz
I Bañares - Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa
JB Ortiz
CL Bodin - NORCE Norwegian Research Centre
L Bonacina - University of Milano-Bicocca
Roberta Bottarin - Eurac Research
M Cañedo-Argüelles
Z Csabai - University of Pecs
T Datry - Urban Community of Lyon
E de Eyto - Marine Institute
A Dohet - Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology
G Dörflinger - Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment
E Drohan - Dundalk Institute of Technology
KA Eikland - Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
J England - Environment Agency
TE Eriksen - Norwegian Institute for Water Research
V Evtimova - Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research
MJ Feio - University of Coimbra
M Ferréol - Urban Community of Lyon
M Floury - Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
M Forcellini - Urban Community of Lyon
MAE Forio
R Fornaroli - University of Milano-Bicocca
N Friberg - University of Copenhagen
JF Fruget
G Georgieva - Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research
P Goethals - Ghent University
MAS Graça
W Graf - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
A House - Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
KL Huttunen - University of Oulu
TC Jensen - Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
RK Johnson - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
JI Jones - Queen Mary University of London
J Kiesel - Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
L Kuglerová - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
A Larrañaga - University of the Basque Country
P Leitner - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
L L'Hoste
MH Lizée - Centre for Research and Teaching in Environmental Geoscience
AW Lorenz - University of Duisburg-Essen
JAM Arnaiz
A Maire
BG McKie - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
A Millán - Universidad de Murcia
D Monteith - UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
T Muotka - University of Oulu
JF Murphy - Queen Mary University of London
D Ozolins - University of Latvia
R Paavola - University of Oulu
P Paril - Masaryk University
FJ Peñas - Instituto de Física de Cantabria
F Pilotto - Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
M Polášek - Masaryk University
JJ Rasmussen - Norwegian Institute for Water Research
M Rubio
D Sánchez-Fernández
L Sandin - Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
RB Schäfer - University of Koblenz and Landau
A Scotti - Eurac Research
LQ Shen
A Skuja - University of Latvia
S Stoll - Trier University of Applied Sciences
M Straka - T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute
H Timm - Estonian University of Life Sciences
VG Tyufekchieva - Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research
I Tziortzis - Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment
Y Uzunov - Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research
GH van der Lee - Wageningen University & Research
R Vannevel - Flanders Environment Agency
E Varadinova - South-West University "Neofit Rilski"
G Várbíró - Centre for Ecological Research
G Velle - University of Bergen
PFM Verdonschot
RCM Verdonschot
Y Vidinova - Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research
P Wiberg-Larsen
EAR Welti
Publication Details: Nature, Vol.620, pp.582-588
ISSN: 0028-0836
EISSN: 1476-4687
Series / Volume: 620
Publisher: Nature Research
Identifiers: (EURAC)27710290
991006614096701241
Web of Science ID: WOS:001049610700016
Copyright: Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Academic Unit: Institute for Alpine Environment
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Description coverage: international
Description audience: Scientific
Local Fields: Scientific
Author Names String: Haase P, Bowler DE, Baker NJ, Bonada N, Domisch S, Garcia Marquez JR, Heino J, Hering D, Jähnig SC, Schmidt-Kloiber A, Stubbington R, Altermatt F, Álvarez-Cabria M, Amatulli G, Angeler DG, Archambaud-Suard G, Jorrín IA, Aspin T, Azpiroz I, Bañares I, Ortiz JB, Bodin CL, Bonacina L, Bottarin R, Cañedo-Argüelles M, Csabai Z, Datry T, de Eyto E, Dohet A, Dörflinger G, Drohan E, Eikland KA, England J, Eriksen TE, Evtimova V, Feio MJ, Ferréol M, Floury M, Forcellini M, Forio MAE, Fornaroli R, Friberg N, Fruget JF, Georgieva G, Goethals P, Graça MAS, Graf W, House A, Huttunen KL, Jensen TC, Johnson RK, Jones JI, Kiesel J, Kuglerová L, Larrañaga A, Leitner P, L'Hoste L, Lizée MH, Lorenz AW, Maire A, Arnaiz JAM, McKie BG, Millán A, Monteith D, Muotka T, Murphy JF, Ozolins D, Paavola R, Paril P, Peñas FJ, Pilotto F, Polášek M, Rasmussen JJ, Rubio M, Sánchez-Fernández D, Sandin L, Schäfer RB, Scotti A, Shen LQ, Skuja A, Stoll S, Straka M, Timm H, Tyufekchieva VG, Tziortzis I, Uzunov Y, van der Lee GH, Vannevel R, Varadinova E, Várbíró G, Velle G, Verdonschot PFM, Verdonschot RCM, Vidinova Y, Wiberg-Larsen P, Welti EAR

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