Historical distribution of freshwater fishes and the reference conditions concept in a large Mediterranean basin
Abstract The European Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) defines the ecological status of aquatic systems as the deviation between their present biological state and that which would be expected in the absence of any major human disturbance, referred to by the WFD as the ‘reference condition...
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crwiley:10.1002/aqc.3521 2024-06-02T07:55:13+00:00 Historical distribution of freshwater fishes and the reference conditions concept in a large Mediterranean basin Ramos‐Merchante, Adrián Sáez‐Gómez, Pedro Prenda, José 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3521 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aqc.3521 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/aqc.3521 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems volume 31, issue 4, page 888-902 ISSN 1052-7613 1099-0755 journal-article 2021 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3521 2024-05-03T10:54:17Z Abstract The European Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) defines the ecological status of aquatic systems as the deviation between their present biological state and that which would be expected in the absence of any major human disturbance, referred to by the WFD as the ‘reference condition’ (RC). It assumes that their biotic composition should remain balanced and constant over time. This study tested both assumptions against an analysis of the historical distribution of the fish fauna in a large and highly disturbed Mediterranean basin. If fish communities change substantially over time, it will mean that the validity of the RC concept comes into question. Using presence/absence data for historical native fish fauna from the Guadalquivir Basin, distribution changes among sub‐basins were quantified by mapping between the nineteenth century and today. The range of two native species ( Anguilla anguilla and Salmo trutta ) has changed significantly. In addition, the diadromous species assemblage has almost become locally extinct, with the exception of the eel. Finally, most Guadalquivir sub‐basins (94.7%) have suffered major changes in the composition of their fish communities, either by losing native species or by adding new non‐native species. These results render the definition of any RC unlikely. In Mediterranean areas, the WFD objective of ‘good ecological status’ recovery based on the integrity of aquatic communities is a theoretical rather than a real goal. Nonetheless, the WFD provides an ecological guiding principle that can also be transferred to the conservation of freshwater ecosystems. As an alternative to the RC concept in Mediterranean lotic ecosystems, specific multimetric indices can be used, based on expert criteria, the metrics of which can also relate to the conservation value of water bodies, and not only to their ecological status. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla Wiley Online Library Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 31 4 888 902 |
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Abstract The European Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) defines the ecological status of aquatic systems as the deviation between their present biological state and that which would be expected in the absence of any major human disturbance, referred to by the WFD as the ‘reference condition’ (RC). It assumes that their biotic composition should remain balanced and constant over time. This study tested both assumptions against an analysis of the historical distribution of the fish fauna in a large and highly disturbed Mediterranean basin. If fish communities change substantially over time, it will mean that the validity of the RC concept comes into question. Using presence/absence data for historical native fish fauna from the Guadalquivir Basin, distribution changes among sub‐basins were quantified by mapping between the nineteenth century and today. The range of two native species ( Anguilla anguilla and Salmo trutta ) has changed significantly. In addition, the diadromous species assemblage has almost become locally extinct, with the exception of the eel. Finally, most Guadalquivir sub‐basins (94.7%) have suffered major changes in the composition of their fish communities, either by losing native species or by adding new non‐native species. These results render the definition of any RC unlikely. In Mediterranean areas, the WFD objective of ‘good ecological status’ recovery based on the integrity of aquatic communities is a theoretical rather than a real goal. Nonetheless, the WFD provides an ecological guiding principle that can also be transferred to the conservation of freshwater ecosystems. As an alternative to the RC concept in Mediterranean lotic ecosystems, specific multimetric indices can be used, based on expert criteria, the metrics of which can also relate to the conservation value of water bodies, and not only to their ecological status. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ramos‐Merchante, Adrián Sáez‐Gómez, Pedro Prenda, José |
spellingShingle |
Ramos‐Merchante, Adrián Sáez‐Gómez, Pedro Prenda, José Historical distribution of freshwater fishes and the reference conditions concept in a large Mediterranean basin |
author_facet |
Ramos‐Merchante, Adrián Sáez‐Gómez, Pedro Prenda, José |
author_sort |
Ramos‐Merchante, Adrián |
title |
Historical distribution of freshwater fishes and the reference conditions concept in a large Mediterranean basin |
title_short |
Historical distribution of freshwater fishes and the reference conditions concept in a large Mediterranean basin |
title_full |
Historical distribution of freshwater fishes and the reference conditions concept in a large Mediterranean basin |
title_fullStr |
Historical distribution of freshwater fishes and the reference conditions concept in a large Mediterranean basin |
title_full_unstemmed |
Historical distribution of freshwater fishes and the reference conditions concept in a large Mediterranean basin |
title_sort |
historical distribution of freshwater fishes and the reference conditions concept in a large mediterranean basin |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3521 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aqc.3521 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/aqc.3521 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla |
op_source |
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems volume 31, issue 4, page 888-902 ISSN 1052-7613 1099-0755 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3521 |
container_title |
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
888 |
op_container_end_page |
902 |
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1800747024771973120 |