Biodiversity is declining rapidly. Many conservation actions focus on single species.
Biodiversity is declining rapidly. Many conservation actions focus on single species. An alternative approach is to comprehensively improve ecological processes and habitats, thereby supporting entire species communities. This so-called ecosystem-based management is however rarely implemented because it is costly. There is also a lack of evidence that ecosystem-based habitat management is more effective than obvious alternatives, such as releasing animals to enhance stocks.
Important Lesson for Fish Conservation
A research team based in Berlin, in close cooperation with numerous angling clubs organized in the Angler Association of Lower Saxony, has presented a groundbreaking study. Scientists and practitioners worked together to conduct a set of whole-lake experiments and assess the outcomes of ecosystem-based habitat enhancement versus fish stocking in 20 gravel pit lakes over a period of six years. In some of the lakes, additional shallow water zones were created. In other lakes, coarse wood bundles were added to enhance structural diversity. Other study lakes were stocked with five fish species of interest to fisheries; unmanipulated lakes served as controls. The study was based on a sample of more than 150,000 fish.
The key result: The creation of shallow water zones was the most effective method to enhance fish populations. These zones are ecologically important for many fish species, especially as spawning grounds and nursery areas for young fish. The introduction of coarse wood had only positive effects in selected lakes; fish stocking completely failed. "Restoring central ecological processes and habitats – ecosystem-based management – is likely to have stronger long-term effects for rebuilding fish species and populations than narrow, species-focused conservation actions," explained Johannes Radinger of the IGB, lead author of the study.
Read more at Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
Image: Ecosystem-based habitat enhancement through creation of shallow water zones. Photo: Thomas Klefoth (Credit: Thomas Klefoth)
