The World Fish Migration Foundation and Institute of Fisheries Management
Abstract
The Danube River basin currently lacks a comprehensive action plan for restoring its freshwater and transitional water ecosystems, despite some efforts to address continuum disruptions in upstream regions. The DANUBE4all project aims to address these challenges by identifying, selecting, and recommending implementation measures to increase the extent of free-flowing rivers throughout the entire basin. One of the specific objectives of the project involves identifying suitable habitats for both protected and invasive species, prioritizing conservation actions. To accomplish this, we initially modeled the habitat suitability of the fish species that inhabit the Danube basin. Fishes were chosen because they are good indicators for longitudinal connectivity. This modeling process involved spatially explicit species distribution models, which were trained using environmental data and information on species occurrences. Following the habitat suitability modeling, we conducted a spatial conservation planning analysis. This analysis aimed to pinpoint regions across the Danube River basin that are of high priority for future conservation and monitoring efforts. Priority areas were identified based on the presence of suitable habitats for fish species and the facilitation of longitudinal connectivity within the river system
