Freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas in the north-western Mediterranean sub-region

Abstract

Identifying Key Biodiversity Areas in the Mediterranean region relies on the willingness of dedicated experts to contribute and pool their collective knowledge. Without their enthusiastic commitment to biodiversity conservation, this work would not be possible. We would therefore like to acknowledge the committed work of the Mediterranean experts who participated in the KBA workshop held in Madrid, Spain, in

New and interesting species of Penicillium (Eurotiomycetes, Aspergillaceae) in freshwater sediments from Spain

“…Most of the new species described here were mainly recovered from samples collected in rivers and streams of the north-western Mediterranean region, an area recognized as one of the most species-rich regions in Southern Europe (Máiz-Tomé et al 2017;Rundel et al 2018). This fact was particularly highlighted in the study of Guevara-Suarez et al (2020) on species diversity of coprophilous penicillium-like fungi, from which the highest number of species identified and novel taxa described were recovered from samples collected in Mediterranean localities.…”

Prioritizing conservation in sub‐Saharan African lakes based on freshwater biodiversity and algal bloom metrics

“…We went beyond previous work on climatic and vegetative patterns in freshwater fish biodiversity (Collen et al., 2014; Darwall et al., 2011) by identifying where high levels of freshwater biodiversity are spatially coincident with potential HABs (Figure 5). By incorporating freshwater‐dependent vertebrate species into our assessment (Figure 2), we also captured a wider range of taxa than has been investigated previously in biodiversity assessments in sub‐Saharan Africa (Holland et al., 2012; Máiz‐Tomé et al., 2017; McManamay et al., 2018). This is important because, in addition to the cascading effects of HABs on surrounding terrestrial ecosystems, algal bloom events can have direct and indirect effects on already‐vulnerable species highly dependent on freshwater ecosystems (Figures 3 & S1.3; Burkholder et al., 2018).…”

Alarming decline of freshwater trigger species in western Mediterranean key biodiversity areas

“…Of all freshwater KBAs in the Mediterranean region (Darwall et al., 2014 ; Maíz‐Tomé et al., 2017 ), we focused on the 14 in the Douro River basin, Iberian Peninsula (Figure 1a ), and on the 4 in Sebou River basin, Morocco (Figure 1b ). Special attention was given to headwaters, lakes, and springs (i.e., focal areas) that were previously defined as regions inside the KBAs of critical importance for the survival and reproduction of freshwater biodiversity (Abell et al., 2007 ) but are now considered boundaries of the KBAs.…”

“…We assessed the representativeness of the trigger species’ distributions and the conservation status of the freshwater KBAs identified in 2 large river basins of the Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot: Douro River Basin in the Iberian Peninsula (Maíz‐Tomé et al., 2017 ) and the Sebou River Basin in Morocco (Darwall et al., 2014 ). Both regions provide excellent case studies because of the distinct availability of biodiversity data, human economic revenue and investment in scientific research, their spatial and climatic heterogeneity, and presence of habitats that encompass many endemic and evolutionarily unique freshwater species (Froufe et al., 2014 ; Sousa et al., 2016 ; Kalkman et al., 2018 ; Gomes‐dos‐Santos et al., 2019 ; Sousa‐Santos et al., 2019 ).…”