Conservation Monitoring in Freshwater Habitats

This conservation monitoring reference focuses on the development of clear, site-specific management goals in freshwater habitats. Field trials are discussed, and the results expose areas for improvement in many existing monitoring projects.

As in the terrestrial environment, most data collection from freshwater habitats to date falls into the survey, surveillance or research categories. The critical difference between these exercises and a monitoring project is that a monitoring project will clearly identify when we need to make a management response. A Model for Conservation Management and Monitoring Monitoring (as defined by Hellawell) is essentially a tool of practical conservation management, and Fig. 1.1 shows a simple, but effective, model for nature conser- tion management and monitoring. The need for clear decision-making is implicit in this model. First we must decide what would represent a favourable state for the key habitat or species, and then we must decide when to intervene if the state is (or becomes) unfavourable. A third, often overlooked, but equally important, decision concerns when we would consider the habitat or species to have recovered; this is unlikely to be the same point that we became concerned about it. This decision not only has resource imp- cations, it can also have major implications for other habitats and species (prey species are an obvious example). All of these decisions are essential to the devel- ment of an efficient and effective monitoring project.

Highlights the need for clear conservation management goals, rarely considered in previous publications on freshwater monitoring, though fisheries are more familiar with the concept Promotes the concept of integrated monitoring of biological conservation interest and water quality Uses the results of field trials to draw attention to the shortcomings inherent in many existing monitoring projects

Auteur
Michael Schneider, Dr. phil., ist Privatdozent und Projektleiter am Institut für Sozialwissenschaften der TU München.

Texte du rabat

The predicted changes to global weather patterns and increases in the human population will put unprecedented pressure on European freshwater habitats and the species that depend on them. Our success in conserving the ecological value of these habitats will depend greatly on carefully planned conservation management integrated with efficient and reliable monitoring.

Conservation Monitoring in Freshwater Habitats focuses on the need to develop clear, site-specific, conservation management goals; something rarely considered in previous publications on freshwater monitoring. The early chapters explore the use of biological indicators for monitoring and provide practical guidance for developing and implementing efficient and reliable monitoring projects. The remainder of the book is dedicated to a series of carefully selected case studies illustrating best practice in both decision-making and application across a range of habitats and species.

This timely book will provide a valuable reference for students and researchers in biological and environmental sciences, and for practitioners working in government departments, conservation organisations and ecological consultancies. It will be an essential resource for anyone working towards fulfilling the requirements of both the Water Framework Directive and the EC Habitats Directive.

Contenu
Setting the scene.- Conservation Monitoring in Freshwater Habitats: An Introduction.- Options for Planning Management.- The Water Framework Directive and the Habitats and Birds Directives.- Biological Indicators for Freshwater Habitats.- Freshwater Mammals as Indicators of Habitat Condition.- Waterbirds as Bioindicators of Environmental Conditions.- Monitoring Fish Populations in River SACs.- Assessment of Aquatic Invertebrates.- Riverine Plants as Biological Indicators.- Phytoplankton (Toxic Algae) as Biological Indicators.- Monitoring Biological Invasions in Freshwater Habitats.- Rivers: Threats and Monitoring Issues.- Threats to River Habitats and Associated Plants and Animals.- The Development and Application of Mean Trophic Rank (MTR).- Monitoring the Ranunculion Habitat on the River Itchen: Practical Application and Constraints.- Observer Variation in River Macrophyte Surveys.- The Implications of Observer Variation for Existing Macrophyte Recording Methods.- Unitisation of Protected Rivers.- River Case Studies.- Monitoring the Ranunculion Habitat of the Western Cleddau: A Case Study.- Monitoring of Cryphaea lamyana on the Afon Teifi SSSI/SAC: A Case Study.- Monitoring Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus Ammocoetes in SAC Rivers: A Case Study on the River Wye.- Monitoring Juvenile Atlantic Salmon and Sea Trout in the River Sävarån, Northern Sweden.- Shad Monitoring in the Afon Tywi SAC: A Case Study.- Monitoring the Effects of Acidification and Liming on Water Quality in a Boreal Stream: The River Stridbäcken in Northern Sweden.- Lake and wetland case studies.- A Baseline for Monitoring the Freshwater Natura 2000 Vegetation of the Teifi Pools (Afon Teifi SAC), Wales.- Aquatic Plant Monitoring in the Broads.- Monitoring Stoneworts Chara spp. at Bosherston Lakes.-Monitoring Wetland Mammals: An Ecological Case Study.- Ringed Seals in the Gulf of Bothnia.- Integrated surveillance, monitoring and management at Doñana Natural Space.- An Integrated Monitoring Programme for Doñana Natural Space: The Set-Up and Implementation.- Monitoring Aquatic Ecosystems at Doñana Natural Space.- Endangered Waterbirds at Doñana Natural Space.- Monitoring Marsh Dynamics Through Remote Sensing.- New Technologies for Long-Term Biodiversity Monitoring.