Conference Agenda

Groundwater constitutes a crucial component of the global water cycle, hosting unique biodiversity and offering indispensable services to societies. Despite being the largest unfrozen freshwater resource, groundwater environments are facing depletion due to extraction, pollution, and climate change. Unfortunately, they have frequently been neglected in global biodiversity conservation agendas. Overlooking the significance of groundwater undermines its pivotal role in safeguarding distinctive subterranean biodiversity and the associated surface biomes. We contend that it is both timely and imperative to evaluate general criteria for the conservation of groundwater biodiversity. Consequently, we explore global solutions aimed at mitigating anthropogenic impacts on groundwater ecosystems, enhancing the inclusion of groundwaters within the global network of protected areas, and raising awareness among people about these often overlooked ecosystems.

Freshwater fish is the most diverse and rich group among European vertebrates and at the same time one of the most endangered. The LIFE Minnow project (LIFE21-NAT-IT-LIFE Minnow/101074559) aims to improve the unfavourable conservation status of six small freshwater fish species included in Annex II of Habitats Directive in tributaries of the upper Po River basin. The target species are Po brook lamprey (Lampetra zanandreai), South European nase (Protochondrostoma genei), Italian nase (Chondrostoma soetta), Italian riffle dace (Telestes muticellus), Italian golden loach (Sabanejewia larvata), and European bullhead (Cottus gobio).

One of the first objectives of the project was to reconstruct the temporal and spatial variation in the distribution area and abundance of the six target species in the Piemonte region. This work was carried out using data mostly from the four regional fish surveys from 1988 to 2019 and provides a comprehensive picture of the local situation of the species, allowing to identify areas affected by population declines or local extinctions. Finally, we also hypothesize some of the causes of range contractions and we suggest the most appropriate conservation measures for each species.

Spring ecosystems occur where groundwater is exposed at the earth’s surface and springs are abundant in subaqueous and both mesic and arid terrestrial settings. Widely recognized as among the most productive, biologically distinctive, and individualistic ecosystems, springs often have complex intrinsic and extrinsic functionality and provide critical headwater baseflow for many rivers. Springs constitute a unique biome-like global archipelago of small, important freshwater point-sources of bio-cultural diversity. Human evolutionary, cultural, and socio-economic development are deeply related to springs, but anthropogenic impacts over recent centuries profoundly threaten their ecological integrity through groundwater extraction, pollution, diversion, livestock management, geomorphic alteration, recreation, balneotherapy, and the desuetude of cultural memory. The extent and intensity of impacts constitute an enormous but little-recognized environmental crisis. However, springs are among the most sustainable and resilient ecosystems. We present reasons for this crisis and outline local to international solutions to recover springs in both ecological and socio-cultural domains. This strategy is based on local conservation actions that enhance functionality while still providing ecosystem goods and services in an environmentally just manner. By emphasizing springs, this strategy also can enhance aquifer and groundwater protection. We encourage improved scientific understanding, stewardship education, and actions across societal scale.

Lotic environments are of great interest for research as they are a small percent of the available fresh water, while also being a dynamic habitat by draining and connecting distant areas. Rivers are pivotal in development of human civilizations and are intimately connected to many human activities, meaning they are also exposed to all insults of a booming Anthropocene. Assessments of environmental conditions with river biota composition can be used as an indicator of river health, where sustained high diversity infers high ecological integrity. In particular, in biomonitoring programs benthic communities (i.e. macroinvertebrates and algae) have long been used profitably. While autotroph and insect richness and abundances are unknown in rivers, for zoological biodiversity, rivers are home to 6% of all known species and as much as 30% of vertebrate species. Here we review current trends of biota conservation in rivers. Taxonomic work on organisms from economically important rivers has documented thousands of species and allows understanding of their biology. For example, documented changes in mobile freshwater primary producers, help with the understanding of the river ecosystem function, which allows these environments to provide important ecosystem services. Rivers have unique biota with diverse adaptations and need for conservation.

Lakes come in a variety of shapes, sizes, geological and geographic situations and support an incredible diversity of habitat and biota. Ancient lakes are outstanding for their endemic biodiversity, with Lake Baikal alone supporting over 2500 endemic taxa. However, lakes globally face severe impacts, for which economic, sustainability, and management choices are crucial. An emblematic case in this respect being the demise of Lake Aral, once the 4th largest lake in the world, where all 24 endemic fish are now thought extinct. Climate-related stressors including warming and extended stratification and water-level fluctuations, together with changes in turbidity and input of nutrients all contribute to changing community patterns, in some cases facilitating mass developments of undesired species such as toxin-producing cyanobacteria. Typically, lakes are exposed to multiple stressors and climate change acts as a threat multiplier, though sometimes mitigating other impacts (e.g., acidification in high-mountain lakes). The littoral zone, which provides unique ecosystem services even in large and deep lakes, is often the tension zone where many human activities affecting the lake unfold. Using literature and our own case studies, we identify five major challenges and discuss how effective conservation of lakes can benefit from systematic analyses of ecosystem service stressors.

Temporary ponds are ephemeral water bodies that play a crucial role in the Mediterranean region, providing unique ecological conditions. They harbour a highly specialized biota that includes rare and threatened plants and animals. Understanding their ecological status is essential for effective ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation facing climate change and anthropogenic pressures. Focusing on the habitat “3170* - Mediterranean Temporary Ponds” (that includes species-poor beds of low-growing water-fringing or amphibious vegetation), in the framework of the Directive 92/43/EEC, we used information archived in the Natura 2000 standard forms, we derived a synoptic snapshot of this habitat at the European scale. The available data suggest that there are several gaps in the knowledge on 3170* habitat in Europe especially in terms of distribution and conservation status. Using data collected at regional scale, our aim is to contribute to solve the problems deriving from the lack of a common view on the ecological characteristics, indicator species and geographical distribution of habitat 3170* in order to apply to the new 2030 EU Biodiversity Strategy. Furthermore, we provide new data on the occurrence of Habitat 3170* outside the Natura 2000 network usable to increase the amount of protected areas at regional and national level.