LARGE FRESHWATER BRANCHIOPODS IN AUSTRIA: DIVERSITY, THREATS AND CONSERVATIONAL STATUS

Reprinted from "Modern approaches to the study of Crustacea" with kind permission by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Erich Eder & Walter Hödl
 

Abstract

For the first time, Anostraca, Notostraca and Conchostraca (Laevicaudata, Spinicaudata) will be listed in the Austrian Red Data Book of Endangered Species. According to the 1999 IUCN draft criteria, eight out of 15 large branchiopod species recorded between 1994 and 1999 are considered as critically endangered, three of which (Chirocephalus shadini, Eoleptestheria ticinensis, Streptocephalus torvicornis) occur at only one site each. Five species are considered as endangered, two of them (Branchinecta orientalis, Triops cancriformis) showing a statistically significant decrease of sites. Eubranchipus grubii and Lepidurus apus, both found abundantly mainly in the flood plains along the rivers Thaya and Morava, are near threatened. Lynceus brachyurus is extinct in Austria. Large branchiopods are mainly threatened by agricultural activities and hydrological/hydrochemical changes. Presently, three Austrian locations are protected exclusively on the basis of large branchiopod occurrence; three additional habitats are in the process of obtaining official protection. Several large populations are situated in the WWF nature reserve “March-Auen”, and in the National Parks “Donau-Auen” and “Neusiedler See - Seewinkel”, respectively. Pannonian, and southern European distribution overlap in Austria due to its specific geographic position (Eder et al. 1997). Sixteen large branchiopod species belonging to 14 genera have been reported from Austria (Vornatscher 1968, Löffler 1993). Large branchiopods are considered to be endangered throughout Europe (Alonso 1985, Brendonck 1989, Mura 1993, Petrov and Petrov 1997, Defaye et al. 1998, Maier 1998). The primary threats are comparable to those threatening aquatic insects (Polhemus 1993). Physical destruction due to agricultural development, changes of hydrologic conditions and urbanisation play a major role (Rieder 1989, Löffler 1993, Hödl and Eder 1996a). “Invertebrates traditionally attract very little conservation funding in relation to vertebrates, although they may play more subtle and significant ecological roles and monitor environmental change better” (New 1993). Large branchiopods have proven to attract public interest as “primeval shrimps” (Hödl and Eder 1996a) as well as due to their extreme ecology, and thus may help to propagate the relevance of invertebrates for conservation biology (Eder and Hödl 1996a). Recent public discussion on the biodiversity crisis and public awareness 

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