Freshwater-related species richness in Natura 2000 sites strongly depends on the surrounding land use besides local habitat conditions

The Birds and Habitats Directive are the cornerstones of Europe's nature conservation policy and the resulting Natura 2000 (N2k) sites form the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world. Despite the ambitious targets of these directives and decades of efforts, biodiversity, especially of freshwater-related species, continues to decline in Europe. While multiple stressors at larger spatial scales are known to limit the effect of river restoration projects, the importance of surrounding land use outside the N2k sites for freshwater-related species richness inside N2k sites has rarely been studied. Conditional inference forests were used to assess the importance of land use in the surrounding and upstream of the German N2k sites compared to local habitat conditions inside. Freshwater-related species richness depended on land use in the surrounding besides local habitat conditions. Results indicated that this was especially true for birds in small N2k sites embedded in a wet, diverse, and patchy landscape and for non-birds due to the provision of additional habitats outside the N2k sites. Given that most N2k sites in Europe are rather small, the surrounding habitat conditions and land use potentially influences and affects freshwater-related species in many N2k sites across Europe. The additional conservation and restoration areas to be designated under the EU Biodiversity Strategy and upcoming EU restoration law should either be large enough or surrounded by extensive land use to optimize their effect on freshwater-related species.

Automated summary

The Birds and Habitats Directive and Natura 2000 sites are crucial for nature conservation in Europe. However, despite efforts and ambitious targets, freshwater-related species continue to decline. A study on German N2k sites found that land use in the surrounding areas, as well as local habitat conditions, affect freshwater-related species richness. This is especially important for birds in small N2k sites within diverse and patchy landscapes. The findings suggest that future conservation and restoration areas should consider surrounding land use to optimize their impact.