Freyhof, Jörg

Le hotspot  (point chaud) de la biodiversité du bassin méditerranéen est bien connu pour l'importance que sa biodiversité revêt à l'échelle mondiale, mais l'importance de la biodiversité d'eau douce n'était pas reconnue précédemment. Dans le cadre de ce projet, les ZCB d'eau douce ont maintenant été identifées, cartographiées et validées dans une grande partie du hotspot méditerranéen. à présent, il est important de faire prendre conscience de leur statut en tant que ZCB d'eau douce validées, et de mettre en place des programmes d'actions de conservation adaptées sur ces sites.

While the Mediterranean basin biodiversity hotspot is well known for its globally important biodiversity, its freshwater biodiversity has not been as widely recognized for its importance. Through this project, freshwater key biodiversity areas (KBAs) have now been identified, mapped and validated throughout much of the Mediterranean hotspot.

This publication summarises results for all of Europe's native species of freshwater fishes and lampreys. At least 37% of these species are threatened. Major threats include the over-abstraction of water, which in many cases is further exacerbated by increasing droughts due to climate change, pollution, and the introduction of alien species. Other important threats include overfishing, especially in the large rivers of Eastern Europe and the massive increase in dam constructions which lead to the interruption of stream connectivity and the total alteration of the stream habitats.

This reference work covering 546 native and 33 introduced species is a very important contribution on the biodiversity of freshwater fish species in Europe. Much of the information presented is drawn from original research conducted over 8 years in 24 European countries.