Bioindicator role of aquatic <i>Ranunculus</i> in Mediterranean freshwater habitats

Lumbreras, Ana; Pardo, Carmen; Molina, José Antonio

doi:10.1002/aqc.2327

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…However, rather few studies have specifically addressed HT 3260, and those doing so were often limited or focused on particular syntaxonomic units and river types. So far, emphasis has been mainly on the Ranunculion communities of submontane, Mediterranean or limestone regions (Mony et al, 2006;Lumbreras et al, 2009;Lansdown and Pankhurst, 2010;Lumbreras et al, 2013). Low-gradient streams with muddy to fine-sandy substrata, such as commonly occur in lower Belgium and adjacent regions, have been considered more sparingly (Hatton-Ellis and Grieve, 2003;Hurford and Guest, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and environmental requirements of stream habitat with Ranunculion fluitantis and Callitricho‐Batrachion vegetation in lower Belgium (Flanders)

Leyssen

Denys

Schneiders

et al. 2014

Aquatic Conservation

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Streams with Ranunculion fluitantis and Callitricho‐Batrachion vegetation – or habitat type 3260 according to the European Habitats Directive – require particular conservation at biogeographic level but Member States carry individual responsibility. Within this framework, the environmental requirements of this habitat type in lower Belgium (Flanders) were analysed.Overall, current vegetation composition was not significantly related to adjacent land‐use but correlated mainly with physical–chemical conditions and to a lesser extent with distance to source and channel width. Even though sites with habitat 3260 generally showed lower levels of human impact, their abiotic features overlapped considerably with those of sites without habitat 3260 but still showing hydrophyte development.Thresholds occurred in the distribution of responsive macrophyte taxa, including the more common characteristic species of the habitat type, along gradients of increasing solutes and nutrients. Comparison with water quality standards proposed so far to support good ecological status for the European Water Framework Directive in lowland rivers suggests that compliance would probably allow this habitat to persist in most cases, although some discrepancies occur. This implies that more stringent objectives may be required in some water bodies.The present analysis focuses on the conditions delimiting occurrence of HT 3260, and therefore its range and area in lower Belgium. A comprehensive understanding of its favourable conservation status remains difficult in lowland regions where most rivers are subject to strong human impact and will require a more long‐term perspective that also considers management regime, physical habitat structure and connectivity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and environmental requirements of stream habitat with Ranunculion fluitantis and Callitricho‐Batrachion vegetation in lower Belgium (Flanders)

Leyssen

Denys

Schneiders

et al. 2014

Aquatic Conservation

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“…In our set of indicators, plants were the most represented biological group, probably because they are extremely sensitive to habitat disturbances (Rhazi et al, 2001(Rhazi et al, , 2006Crosslé & Brock, 2002;Bagella et al, 2010;Bouahim et al, 2010). Plant composition in wetlands is influenced mainly by hydrologic regime (Casanova & Brock, 2000;Della Bella et al, 2008) and water quality (Lumbreras et al, 2013;Rosset et al, 2014;Chappuis et al, 2015). The disturbance of these two factors by drainage, excavation, irrigation or eutrophication may have severe impacts on plant species in wetlands and specifically in Mediterranean temporary ponds (Rhazi et al, 2001;Serrano & Zunzunegui, 2008;Lumbreras et al, 2012;Rosset et al, 2014).…”

Section: Indicators Of Conservation Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2016

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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 timeconsuming, 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.

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“…Six sites from Eastern Europe (four Greek and two Czech) were chosen and studied with the same procedures used in the Iberian localities. Within each of the final locations, we took two samples of water, once; we consider this procedure guarantees the representativity of our data in extensive studies (Lumbreras et al, 2009(Lumbreras et al, , 2013.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some habitat studies on Batrachium communities have been undertaken in Western Europe (Mony et al, 2006;Lumbreras et al, 2009Lumbreras et al, , 2013. However, there are as yet no specific studies on the distribution patterns of Batrachium communities growing in baserich waters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%