Priority areas for the conservation of coastal marine vertebrates in Chile

In the past decade, there has been growing concern about the rapid degradation of marine ecosystems due to anthropogenic causes. Consequently, identifying priority areas for the conservation of marine biodiversity has become a crucial conservation issue. Taking into account the influence of human population density, we performed complementarity analyses to identify priority areas for the conservation of all coastal marine vertebrate species in Chile (265 species), and evaluated congruence among the different target groups. The distribution ranges of all species were digitized in a geographic information system and analyses were performed on latitudinal bands of 0.5°. Our results show that 12 latitudinal bands (∼16% of all latitudinal bands) are necessary to conserve at least one population of each species. Ten of these bands are irreplaceable, whereas two are flexible. Many of the irreplaceable sites lie within areas that have high human population density. In order to conserve all threatened and endemic species, six and three latitudinal bands are needed, respectively. Four latitudinal bands are needed to represent all species of fish, reptiles, and mammals, whereas nine bands are needed to protect all bird species. Taking flexible sites into account, reserve networks that meet the minimum representation goal for each taxonomic group, and for threatened and endemic species, represent subsets of the 12 latitudinal band network selected for all species. Spatial congruence among reserve networks selected for each target group was relatively low and only significantly higher than random in 9 out of 21 pairwise comparisons. However, with the exception of reptiles, conservation areas selected for different surrogate groups represented other groups relatively well, compared to randomly selected sites.     

Efficiency and effectiveness in representative reserve design in Canada: The contribution of existing protected areas

To be effective, reserve networks should represent all target species in protected areas that are large enough to ensure species persistence. Given limited resources to set aside protected areas for biodiversity conservation, and competing land uses, a prime consideration for the design of reserve networks is efficiency (the maximum biodiversity represented in a minimum number of sites). However, to be effective, networks may sacrifice efficiency. We used reserve selection algorithms to determine whether collections of existing individual protected areas in Canada were efficient and/or effective in terms of representing the diversity of disturbance-sensitive mammals in Canada in comparison to (1) an optimal network of reserves, and (2) sites selected at random. Unlike previous studies, we restricted our analysis to individual protected areas that met a criterion for minimum reserve size, to address issues of representation and persistence simultaneously. We also tested for effectiveness and efficiency using historical and present-day data to see whether protected area efficiency and/or effectiveness varied over time. In general, existing protected areas did not effectively capture the full suite of mammalian species diversity, nor are most existing protected areas part of a near-optimal solution set. To be effective, Canada’s network of reserves will require at minimum 22 additional areas of >2700 km². This study shows that even when only those reserves large enough to be effective are considered, protected areas systems may not be representative, nor were they representative at the time of establishment.     

Prioritizing avian conservation areas for the Yellowstone to Yukon Region of North America

Prioritizing new areas for conservation in the Rocky Mountains of North America is important because the current intensity and scale of human development poses an immediate threat to biodiversity. We identified priority areas for avian biodiversity within a 3200-km corridor from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, US to the Yukon in Canada (the Y2Y region). We applied the conservation planning tool, MARXAN, to summarize 21 avian values. MARXAN minimizes the area delineated, while simultaneously incorporating multiple criteria (species richness representation, spatial clustering) and biodiversity targets into a single mappable solution. We prioritized avian biodiversity ‘hotspots’ at continental and ecoprovincial scales based on: (1) avian species richness; and (2) habitat associations of 20 focal species. At the continental scale, the single best solution represented 19% of the Y2Y region; 29% of this solution overlapped with existing protected areas. In northern Y2Y, large contiguous areas with high avian value were concentrated on the western edge of the continental divide. In southern Y2Y, contiguous areas were smaller and more numerous than in the north. In contrast to the majority of studies prioritizing conservation areas, we explored the effect of varying the extent of the target region by analyzing data at the scale of the entire Y2Y region and for eight ecoprovinces separately. We found that (1) large contiguous patches characterized only three ecoprovinces, while for the remaining ecoprovinces, numerous single scattered habitat patches of varying sizes were required to meet conservation goals; and (2) generally, only a small percentage of sites was already protected within the existing protected areas network. Our results are important for conservation planners and resource managers in the Y2Y region for incorporating areas of high conservation value for birds at regional and ecoprovincial scales during conservation project design and adaptive planning.     

The efficacy of Romania’s protected areas network in conserving biodiversity

Romania’s protected areas network currently covers 19.29% of the national territory, a significant increase from the 4.1% protected prior to 1989. The increase occurred over the past 20 years with the creation of 27 National and Natural Parks, and recently of 382 protected areas as part of the pan-European Natura 2000 network. Considering the recent increase in number and area of protected lands, we investigated two core topics critical to achieving conservation goals: (1) conservation value and (2) resources for conservation. The newly created Natura 2000 sites overlapped 96.19% of the existing protected areas network, generating up to three different protection statuses for some sites. Conservation goals were often unclear, as the focus switched to protecting species and habitats of European-level concern. Despite the fivefold increase in protected area, many ecoregions were poorly represented in the new system. Planning for conservation neither involved the local communities nor utilized principles for spatial prioritization. Over 80% of the species of European conservation concern were included in at least one protected area, but plants and invertebrates were underrepresented. Administrative bodies were generally under-staffed and poorly financed, conditions that were reflected in a poor enforcement and implementation of conservation goals. Overall, Romania shares many conservation concerns with other Eastern and Central European countries. A regional approach to conserving biodiversity based on spatial prioritization, rigorous scientific documentation, and social acceptance is needed for the Natura 2000 network to achieve its goals.     

Uneven regional distribution of protected areas in Finland: Consequences for boreal forest bird populations

The significance of reserves in maintaining forest bird species of conservation concern (N = 36) was studied by large-scale quantitative line transect bird censuses in Finland, which stretches 1100 km through the boreal zone from the hemiboreal to the subarctic. Altogether 12 245 km of line transect was carried out in 1981-2004 in reserves covering 28 910 km². Bird census data in protected areas were combined into 100 km × 100 km squares. As a group the studied bird species were rather evenly distributed throughout the reserve network. The present reserve network is particularly significant for species having their highest densities in northern Finland, because large proportions of the populations of these species occurred in protected areas. However, over half of the studied species were concentrated in protected areas of southern and central Finland, and only small proportions of their populations were included in the present reserve network. In contrast to the whole species pool of conservation concern, the studied individual forest bird species were not distributed evenly throughout the whole reserve network. This suggests that for most individual species a regionally concentrated network is a preferred option, but for the whole species group the reserve network should clearly be regionally complementary and representative even in the boreal zone, where species have rather wide ranges. Thus, only some species and their habitats can be preserved in a spatially uneven reserve network in boreal forests.     

Conservation planning of vertebrate diversity in a Mediterranean agricultural-dominant landscape

To improve effectiveness of protected areas, selection of priority areas should include consideration of three main components, namely special conservation elements, focal species and representation. We present a three-track approach related to these components for vertebrate conservation planning in Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain. As special conservation elements, we identified Priority Areas for Conservation of species using five criteria: species richness, geographic rarity, species vulnerability, a Combined Index of these three criteria, and a Standardised Biodiversity Index (SBI) that integrate the three criteria and four studied taxa. The Natura 2000 Network was used to include conservation areas for focal species. We evaluated the representation of every landscape type in the existing conservation areas. To delineate the spatial configuration for vertebrate conservation, we combined the identified Priority Areas for Conservation, existing conservation areas and connectivity areas by cost–distance analysis. The Combined Index was the most efficient criterion analyzed to identify Priority Areas for Conservation. The Natura 2000 Network showed a high percentage of coincidence with identified Priority Areas for Conservation, whereas the natural protected areas network had a low percentage of coincidence. Six agricultural landscapes were inadequately represented in the current conservation network. According to our multi-track approach, ∼29% of study area was required to capture 100% of vertebrate species and all landscape types. Our results show that the existing conservation areas are insufficient to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity in the study region. Additional areas with outstanding features of diversity, connectivity areas, and establishment of targets for off-reserve conservation are of fundamental importance for strengthening biodiversity conservation.     

Hindsight in marine protected area selection: A comparison of ecological representation arising from opportunistic and systematic approaches

Systematic approaches to site selection for marine protected areas (MPAs) are often favored over opportunistic approaches as a means to meet conservation objectives efficiently. In this study, we compared analytically the conservation value of these two approaches. We locate this study in Danajon Bank, central Philippines, where many MPAs were established opportunistically based on community preference, with few if any contributions from biophysical data. We began by identifying the biophysical data that would have been available when the first MPA was created in Danajon Bank (1995). We next used these data with the reserve selection software Marxan to identify MPAs that covered the same area as is protected under the current set of MPAs (0.32% of the total study area) and that would protect the greatest number of conservation targets at the lowest cost. We finally compared the conservation value of the current MPAs to the value of those selected by Marxan. Because of the dearth of biophysical data available in 1995 and the small area currently under protection, Marxan identified multiple configurations of MPAs that would protect the same percentage of conservation targets, with little differentiation among sites. Further, we discovered that the costs of obtaining and analyzing these data to be used for conservation planning would have been large relative to resources typically available to conservation planners in developing countries. Finally, we found that the current set of MPAs protected more ecological features than would be expected by chance, although not as many as could be protected using a systematic approach. Our results suggest that an opportunistic approach can be a valuable component of conservation planning, especially when biophysical data are sparse and community acceptance is a critical factor affecting the success of an MPA.     

Designing marine reserves for interacting species: Insights from theory

The primary goals of marine reserves include protecting biodiversity and ecosystem structure. Therefore, a multispecies approach to designing and monitoring reserve networks is necessary. To gain insight into how the interactions between species in marine communities may affect reserve design, we synthesize marine reserve community models and community models with habitat destruction and fragmentation, and we develop new extensions of existing models. This synthesis highlights the potential for species interactions to alter reserve design criteria; in particular, accounting for species interactions often leads to an increase in reserve size necessary to protect populations. Accounting for species interactions also indicates the need to base reserve design and monitoring on a variety of species, especially long-distance dispersers, inferior colonizers, and specialists. Finally, the new model extensions highlight how, given dispersal, source populations outside reserves as well as increases in fished populations after reserve establishment may negatively affect reserve populations of competitors or prey. Therefore, multispecies harvest dynamics outside reserves and before reserve establishment are critical to determining the appropriate reserve size, spacing, and expectations after establishment. These models highlight the importance of species interactions to reserve design and provide guidelines for how this complexity can begin to be incorporated into conservation planning.     

Adapting global conservation strategies to climate change at the European scale: The otter as a flagship species

Climate change has created the need for new strategies in conservation planning that account for the dynamics of factors threatening endangered species.Here we assessed climate change threat to the European otter, a flagship species for freshwater ecosystems, considering how current conservation areas will perform in preserving the species in a climatically changed future. We used an ensemble forecasting approach considering six modelling techniques applied to eleven subsets of otter occurrences across Europe. We performed a pseudo-independent and an internal evaluation of predictions. Future projections of species distribution were made considering the A2 and B2 scenarios for 2080 across three climate models: CCCMA-CGCM2, CSIRO-MK2 and HCCPR HADCM3. The current and the predicted otter distributions were used to identify priority areas for the conservation of the species, and overlapped to existing network of protected areas.Our projections show that climate change may profoundly reshuffle the otter’s potential distribution in Europe, with important differences between the two scenarios we considered. Overall, the priority areas for conservation of the otter in Europe appear to be unevenly covered by the existing network of protected areas, with the current conservation efforts being insufficient in most cases. For a better conservation, the existing protected areas should be integrated within a more general conservation and management strategy incorporating climate change projections. Due to the important role that the otter plays for freshwater habitats, our study further highlights the potential sensitivity of freshwater habitats in Europe to climate change.     

Spatial structure of multispecies distributions in southern California, USA

Analysis of the spatial distribution of all species of conservation importance within a region is necessary to augment reserve selection strategies and habitat management in biodiversity conservation. In this study, we analyzed the spatial aggregation, spatial association, and vegetation types of point occurrence data collected from museum and herbaria records for rare, special concern, threatened, and endangered species of plants, reptiles, mammals, and birds in western Riverside County in southern California, USA. All taxa showed clumped distributions, with aggregation evident below 14 km for plants, 12 km for reptiles, 2 km for mammals, and 10 km for birds. In addition, all combinations of the different species groups showed high positive spatial association. The Santa Rosa Plateau exhibited the highest number of rare, special concern, threatened, and endangered species, and shrubland (coastal sage and chaparral) was the vegetation type inhabited by the most species. Local land use planning, zoning and reserve design should consider the spatial aggregation within and between species to determine the appropriate scale for conservation planning. The higher spatial association between species groups in this study may indicate interdependence between different species groups or shared habitat requirements. It is important to maintain diverse communities due to potential interdependence. The results of the study indicate that concentrating preservation efforts on areas with the highest number of species of concern and the restoration of native shrublands are the most appropriate actions for multiple species habitat conservation in this area.     

Conserving the genetic resources of crop wild relatives in European Protected Areas

European native plant diversity is currently suffering erosion and extinction and thus, it is crucial to improve conservation strategies to maintain this essential resource. If unchecked, this genetic erosion and species extinction will cause unnecessary and irreversible harm to the economy and social well being of Europe. Much plant biodiversity is undoubtedly found in the existing 9654 European protected areas that cover 1,066,358 km², but clearly targeted and active conservation of priority plant species is required within these protected areas. To help ensure more efficient long-term sustainable conservation, a novel approach to the in situ conservation of European plants, notably crop wild relatives, is suggested. The purpose of this approach is to know what plant genetic resources (PGR) we have, where they are located and to assess whether the current network of protected areas includes a representative sample of European PGR diversity. The generation of in situ conservation and management plans for PGR populations in existing protected areas can significantly improve the present conservation status. Additionally, the identification of gaps of certain PGR in current protected areas can provide the basis for the designation of new complementary PGR in situ reserves.     

Shortcuts for marine conservation planning: The effectiveness of socioeconomic data surrogates

Marine protected area (MPA) networks designed without consideration of the interests of local communities are likely to fail. However, in many regions where conservation action is needed most urgently, socioeconomic data are not available at spatial scales relevant to conservation planning. In the Philippines, the primary stakeholders relevant to conservation efforts in coastal waters are small-scale fishers. Unlike commercial fisheries, no logbook data are kept to record fishers’ spatial effort and usage patterns. We investigated the effects of including different surrogates for small-scale fishing effort in the systematic design of an MPA network for Siquijor Province. We compared a reserve selection scenario in which socioeconomic data were not considered with four different surrogates for fishing effort and with empirical data on the spatial distribution of fishing effort collected through interviews. We assumed that minimising opportunity costs to fishers would increase the likelihood that they would support and comply with MPA implementation, resulting in more effective conservation. Surrogates modelled on the number of fishers or boats in each community consistently outperformed those based on population census data. However, none of the surrogates we tested were able to accurately predict fine-scale resource use patterns. Whilst socioeconomic surrogates may be able to assist conservation planners to identify regional-scale opportunities where conservation objectives may be met more easily, they cannot act as a shortcut for comprehensive consultation with communities, which will be required to identify actual sites for MPA implementation.     

Designing a network of marine reserves in the Mediterranean Sea with limited socio-economic data

The present study is the first to determine priorities for the location of marine reserves using spatial prioritization software in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. We used biophysical data from visual census surveys on: fish species abundance, presence of various habitat types, and percent coverage of seagrasses and canopy algae. Efficient conservation planning requires spatially explicit information on how proposed management will affect stakeholders, which in this region was very limited. We created novel socio-economic cost indices to account for fisheries and tourists. Our fishing metrics were based on fisher behaviour including information on the location of ports and areas often inaccessible to fishers due to high wind exposure. We developed a cost index for tourism based on the availability of beds for tourists. We examined how the spatial priorities for marine reserves varied using different combinations of these socio-economic cost metrics. We found about 17% of sites were a high priority regardless of which cost metric was used. We also compared, for the first time in the Mediterranean, our results devised using systematic conservation planning approaches with priorities developed by two non-systematic methods, the Natura 2000 proposed marine reserves and sites that local fishers proposed for protection. Only a few sites identified by our approach were the same as those recommended as part of Natura 2000 or the fishers’ proposals. This suggests that much more work is needed to harmonise existing proposals with the principles of efficient systematic conservation planning.     

The impact of marine reserves on nekton diversity and community composition in subtropical eastern Australia

The effectiveness of marine reserve protection on the biodiversity of aquatic assemblages (i.e. nekton) in subtropical eastern Australia was examined within two small (<6 km²) marine reserves and four non-reserve areas. The two marine reserves, and their corresponding non-reserves, were located in different geographical locations within Moreton Bay (north and south) and sites were surveyed with multiple hauls of a seine net. Species richness, evenness, density and mean size of the inshore communities were compared between the reserves and non-reserves. No statistical significant difference was detected in species richness between the areas however species evenness was significantly lower in the only non-reserve site impacted by commercial net fishing. Mean size of nekton was found to be significantly greater in the marine reserves compared to non-reserves but no statistical significant difference was found in the density of nekton between the study sites. Multivariate analysis revealed differences in community composition, particularly between the geographical locations where areas were impacted by different types of fishing pressure (recreational v commercial). These results highlight the impact commercial fishing can have on entire nekton assemblages, not just on targeted species. Our study demonstrates that the small marine reserves in Moreton Bay are protecting marine biodiversity and are thus at least partially achieving their management objective (to enhance the zone’s marine biodiversity).     

Will climate change reduce the efficacy of protected areas for amphibian conservation in Italy?

Amphibians are an important and imperiled component of biodiversity. In this study we analyze the efficacy of Italian reserve network for protecting multiple amphibian species in a climate change scenario, considering both nationally designated areas and Natura 2000 sites. Our approach is based on ensemble niche modeling estimate of potential range shift under two carbon emission scenarios (A1FI and B1) and two dispersal assumptions. The predicted distributions were used to perform gap and irreplaceability analyses. Our findings show that the current Italian reserve network incompletely represents current amphibian diversity and its geographic pattern. The combination of the nationally designated protected areas and the Natura 2000 sites improves current representation of amphibians, but conservation targets based on geographic range extent are achieved for only 40% of species. Under the future scenarios, Natura 2000 sites become a crucial component of the protected areas system. Nonetheless, we predict that climate change decreases for many species the amount of suitable range falling into reserves, regardless of our assumptions about dispersal. We identify some currently unprotected areas that have high irreplaceability scores for species conservation and that maintain their importance under all the future scenarios we considered. We recommend designation of new reserves in these areas to help guarantee long-term amphibian conservation.     

High human density in the irreplaceable sites for African vertebrates conservation

The identification of priority sites that ensure the achievement of conservation goals is key to direct conservation efforts. An estimation of the level of vulnerability of each priority area allows the identification of sites that need urgent conservation action. We present a systematic reserve selection for 1654 African mammals and amphibians that uses habitat suitability models as estimates of the area occupied by each species. These are based on the geographic range and habitat preferences for each species, which we collected in the framework of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Global Amphibian Assessment and IUCN Global Mammal Assessment. Our results showed that in addition to existing protected areas, approximately 2.8 million km² of land is irreplaceable to achieve the protection of 10% of the area occupied by all amphibians and mammals. This figure is higher than previous estimates from other studies. Most irreplaceable sites are located in the sub-Saharan region. More than half (55%) of the irreplaceable sites have high human population density; for only 17% the human population density is low. African amphibians and mammals have therefore to be conserved in densely populated areas where innovative management policies will be required to accommodate conservation successfully.     

Expanding protected areas beyond their terrestrial comfort zone: Identifying spatial options for river conservation

There has been very little consideration of freshwater ecosystems in identifying and designing protected areas. Recent studies suggest that protected areas hold enormous potential to conserve freshwater biodiversity if augmented with appropriate planning and management strategies. Recognizing this need, South Africa’s relevant government authority commissioned a spatial assessment to inform their national protected area expansion strategy. This study presents the freshwater component of the spatial assessment, aimed at identifying focus areas for expanding the national protected area system for the benefit of river biodiversity. Conservation objectives to guide the assessment aimed to improve representation of river biodiversity pattern and processes in both new and existing protected areas. Data to address these objectives were collated in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and a conservation planning algorithm was used as a means of integrating the multiple objectives in a spatially efficient manner. Representation of biodiversity pattern was based on achieving conservation targets for 222 river types and 47 freshwater fish endemic to South Africa. Options were also identified for representing coarse-scale biodiversity processes associated with free-flowing rivers and catchment-estuarine linkages. River reaches that, with only minor expansion of existing protected area boundaries, could be fully incorporated into the national protected area system were also identified. Based on this study, generic recommendations are made on how to locate, design and manage protected areas for river biodiversity: use appropriate planning units, incorporate both biodiversity pattern and process, improve planning and management of individual protected areas, incorporate a mixture of protection strategies, and embed planning into an ongoing research and implementation process.     

Assessment of current and proposed nature reserves of Mexico based on their capacity to protect geophysical features and biodiversity

Mexico currently has 144 nature reserves covering approximately 9.1% of its land area. These reserves were established for a variety of reasons—often unrelated to the protection of biodiversity. In 2000 in response to a growing concern about the lack of organized conservation reserve planning to protect the important threatened biological and physical features of Mexico, the Mexican Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) proposed the establishment of 151 new reserves for Mexico covering 51,429,500 ha. We compiled a GIS analysis using digital thematic maps of physical and biological features to examine how the existing and proposed reserves serve to protect the biodiversity and physical features of the country. Using a conservation target of placing a minimum of 12% of the land area of each important biophysical feature in nature reserves, we found that the 144 existing nature reserves covering 18 million ha (9% of the country) only meet that target for elevation ranges >3000 m and areas with poor soils. These mountainous areas represent less than 1% of the country. The gaps in the existing nature reserves network occur mainly at lower and intermediate elevations (<3000 m) areas with xeric, tropical, and temperate ecosystems, and high productivity soils. The areas proposed by CONABIO increase the proportion of protected lands in the country to over 27% and most of the conservation targets for geophysical features, and land cover, categories are met. Whether this area would be sufficient to maintain viable populations and ecological integrity of species and ecosystems is unknown. Even with the new reserves, low elevation coastal lands would be below the conservation target in the nature reserves. To include a representative sample of these lands would be difficult as these are the same areas where the majority of people live.     

Gap analysis of terrestrial vertebrates in Italy: Priorities for conservation planning in a human dominated landscape

In the last 40 years, Italy has seen important changes: human pressure is increasing in flat and coastal areas while internal mountainous areas are being abandoned and naturally reforested. These changes have substantial impacts on the biodiversity of the region but no conservation strategy has ever explicitly considered them, and no systematic assessment of the existing protected areas has been carried out. We used a combination of distribution models and extents of occurrence to perform a gap analysis and an irreplaceability analysis. We evaluated the effectiveness of the protected areas for the conservation of terrestrial vertebrates, and we identified regions, species, and strategies that appear to be priorities for expanding and consolidating the existing network. The existing protected areas cannot be considered fully representative, and this is especially true for Sardinia where many of the gap species are located. The Alps and the Apennines represent the strongholds of species diversity, but most of the species of conservation interest are concentrated in the Mediterranean part of the peninsula, as well as in small areas of the plains, where human pressure is higher. Biodiversity and human presence are functionally linked through traditional agriculture and pasture and the only option for conservation is that of considering human presence and activities as an integral part of the system. In a human dominated landscape, protected areas must be planned and managed in conjunction with the matrix in which they are embedded and in the context of the environmental history of the region.     

Are the endemic water beetles of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands effectively protected?

One of the most serious environmental problems is the current acceleration in the rate of species extinction associated with human activities, which is occurring particularly rapidly in freshwaters. Here we examine whether endemic water beetles are effectively protected by existing conservation measures in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, a region of high diversity and intense human pressure. We used an exhaustive database for aquatic beetles in the region to address such issues. Firstly, we identify the most threatened endemic taxa using a categorization system to rank species according to their conservation priority or vulnerability. Of the 120 endemic species of water beetles used in the analysis, only two (Ochthebius ferroi and Ochthebius javieri) were identified as being extremely vulnerable, 71 were highly vulnerable and 46 moderately vulnerable, with only a single species identified as having low vulnerability status. Since no Iberian species of aquatic Coleoptera has legal protection, the only conservation measure available for these species is the extent to which they occur in protected areas. Here we identify distributional hotspots for threatened endemic species, and evaluate the extent to which these are already included in the Natura 2000 network in Spain and Portugal. Despite a high degree of concordance between hotspots and Natura 2000 sites, the distribution of four species falls completely outside the network. The analysis also reveals that Natura 2000 fails to protect saline water bodies, despite their high conservation interest and narrow global distribution. The picture revealed here with water beetles is likely to be similar for others groups of freshwater macroinvertebrates, since Coleoptera are known to be good surrogates of aquatic biodiversity in the region. Finally, the degree of protection provided via Natura 2000, and the utility of red lists are discussed.