BUILDING A EUROPEAN CATCHMENT DATA BASE ON FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY

The “European catchment database on freshwater biodiversity ” provides quantitative data on catchment parameters and environmental trends (hydrology, water temperature, land use, water stress) in combination with species diversity patterns (wetland birds, amphibians, fish, odonates, and crayfish) for entire Europe, western Russia, Caucasus and Anatolia (Tockner et al. 2008). Currently data for 160 catchments are included (covering 72 % of the European continent). Thus it is aimed to broaden the scientific basis for actions such as the identification of i) priority areas for the development of efficient conservation and restoration strategies as well as ii) the appropriate spatial scale at which conservation and restoration strategies need to be implemented