The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt

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Authors

HAASE Peter BOWLER Diana E. BAKER Nathan J. BONADA Nuria DOMISCH Sami MARQUEZ Jaime R. Garcia HEINO Jani HERING Daniel JAHNIG Sonja C. SCHMIDT-KLOIBER Astrid STUBBINGTON Rachel ALTERMATT Florian ALVAREZ-CABRIA Mario AMATULLI Giuseppe ANGELER David G. ARCHAMBAUD-SUARD Gait JORRIN Inaki Arrate ASPIN Thomas AZPIROZ Iker BANARES Inaki ORTIZ Jose Barquin BODIN Christian L. BONACINA Luca BOTTARIN Roberta CANEDO-ARGUELLES Miguel CSABAI Zoltán Szabolcs DATRY Thibault DE EYTO Elvira DOHET Alain DORFLINGER Gerald DROHAN Emma EIKLAND Knut A. ENGLAND Judy ERIKSEN Tor E. EVTIMOVA Vesela FEIO Maria J. FERREOL Martial FLOURY Mathieu FORCELLINI Maxence FORIO Marie Anne Eurie FORNAROLI Riccardo FRIBERG Nikolai FRUGET Jean-Francois GEORGIEVA Galia GOETHALS Peter GRACA Manuel A. S. GRAF Wolfram HOUSE Andy HUTTUNEN Kaisa-Leena JENSEN Thomas C. JOHNSON Richard K. JONES J. Iwan KIESEL Jens KUGLEROVA Lenka LARRANAGA Aitor LEITNER Patrick HOSTE Lionel LIZEE Marie-Helene LORENZ Armin W. MAIRE Anthony ARNAIZ Jesus Alberto Manzanos MCKIE Brendan G. MILLAN Andres MONTEITH Don MUOTKA Timo MURPHY John F. OZOLINS Davis PAAVOLA Riku PAŘIL Petr PENAS Francisco J. PILOTTO Francesca POLÁŠEK Marek RASMUSSEN Jes Jessen RUBIO Manu SANCHEZ-FERNANDEZ David G. SANDIN Leonard SCHAFER Ralf B. SCOTTI Alberto SHEN Longzhu Q. SKUJA Agnija STOLL Stefan STRAKA Michal TIMM Henn TYUFEKCHIEVA Violeta G. TZIORTZIS Iakovos UZUNOV Yordan VAN DER LEE Gea H. VANNEVEL Rudy VARADINOVA Emilia VARBIRO Gabor VELLE Gaute VERDONSCHOT Piet F. M. VERDONSCHOT Ralf C. M. VIDINOVA Yanka WIBERG-LARSEN Peter WELTI Ellen A. R.

Year of publication 2023
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Nature
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06400-1
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06400-1
Keywords Freshwater ecology; Limnology
Description Owing to a long history of anthropogenic pressures, freshwater ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to biodiversity loss(1). Mitigation measures, including wastewater treatment and hydromorphological restoration, have aimed to improve environmental quality and foster the recovery of freshwater biodiversity(2). 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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