Developing the Pond Manifesto

Ponds are an essential freshwater habitat for plants and animals, and they play a central role in maintaining high regional biodiversity. In addition, ponds have many other functions relating to education, recreation, economy, hydrology, culture and aesthetics. Despite their importance, relatively few resources are invested in pond conservation in Europe. Furthermore, the scientific basis for the management and conservation of ponds is currently weak compared to the information available for other freshwater habitats. Some national environment agencies from countries such as France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, have recently developed elements of a national strategy for pond conservation. There is now need to strengthen and develop these initiatives and to build a common framework in order to establish a sound scientific basis for pond conservation in Europe. The European Pond Conservation Network (EPCN, www.europeanponds.org) was established at the First European Pond Workshop in Geneva, October 2004. The mission of the Network is to promote awareness, understanding and conservation of ponds in a changing European landscape. Specifically the objectives of the Network are: (1) to exchange information on pond ecology and conservation between researchers, managers and practitioners, (2) to promote understanding of pond ecology by encouraging the development and coordination of fundamental and applied research, (3) to raise the profile of ponds and guide national and supra-national policies for their protection, (4) to promote effective practical pond conservation, and (5) to disseminate information on the importance, attractiveness and conservation of ponds to the people. The "Pond Manifesto" presents the background and the motivations of the EPCN

Functional characteristics of macroinvertebrate communities in Mediterranean ponds (Central Italy): Influence of water permanence and mesohabitat type

The macroinvertebrate fauna of twenty-one ponds (thirteen temporary and eight permanent) located in four protected areas in Central Italy were studied in March, May and June 2002, with the aim to bring out relationships between environmental variables and the functional characteristics (functional feeding groups, habits and resistance to drought) of communities. Macroinvertebrates were collected in three mesohabitat types (macrophyte beds, littoral sediments, central sediments). Overall, the functional attributes of temporary and permanent pond communities did not differ greatly. However, at the mesohabitat scale, collector-gatherers, burrowers and permanent residents capable of passive dispersal were more abundant in sediments. Scrapers and shredders, sprawlers and climbers, swimmers and divers, and organisms capable of active dispersal which lack drought resistance were more abundant in macrophyte beds. Although hydroperiod is the main driving factor affecting community structure, our results suggest that it remains an unimportant factor in controlling functional traits, which appeared to be more influenced by substratum types. Moreover, the positive relationship between taxonomic and functional diversity metrics indicates that an increase in taxonomic richness induces a satisfactory partitioning of the ecological resources among taxa, thus maintaining the ecological complexity of the ponds regardless of their hydroperiod length