engleski

How well existing Natura 2000 sites protect threatened stone crayfish in croatia?

The stone crayfish Austropotamobius torrentium (Schrank, 1803) is one of five native European freshwater crayfish species distributed in Croatia, mainly in water bodies of the Black Sea drainage with a few populations in the Adriatic Sea drainage. The number of stone crayfish populations has been decreasing as a result of anthropogenic pressure on their habitats, climate change and spreading of invasive crayfish species and their pathogens. Due to severe declines in numbers of populations in the last decades, stone crayfish is considered threatened species and is protected by both national and international laws. The Natura 2000 network represents the most important conservation effort on the European level. In Croatia it includes 25 sites designated for A. torrentium that were defined based on historical data and extensive research conducted between 2008 and 2010. The aim of this research was to assess the effectiveness of Natura 2000 sites in preserving stone crayfish diversity. Therefore, we performed gap analysis, a GIS- based approach that overlays species distribution data onto a map of designated Natura 2000 sites. Overall, our results showed that existing Natura 2000 network covered relatively well species range ; currently designated sites harbour 72.5 % recorded A. torrentium populations in Croatia. Future conservation planning efforts, and possible expansion of Natura 2000, should be focused onto newly discovered A. torrentium populations that potentially represent undescribed divergent evolutionary lineages.

Austropotamobius torrentium ; gap analysis ; conservation

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