The Red List of Freshwater Fishes - a valuable resource

Biodiversity is a crucial aspect of our natural world and monitoring the status of species is essential for conservation efforts. An important tool for this is the Red List, which assesses the conservation status of species based on scientific criteria. In Germany, the Red List of freshwater fishes and lampreys is an important resource that is regularly updated and used for conservation and research purposes. Jörg Freyhof from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and Martin Friedrichs-Manthey, coordinator for NFDI4Biodiversity, report in their keynote lecture at the NFDI4Biodiversity All Hands Conference, which took place in Berlin from 12 to 14 October 2022, on how the Red List of fishes is compiled, what challenges it faces and what opportunities the link with the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI4Biodiversity) offers for biodiversity research.

How is the Red List compiled?

The Red List of German freshwater fish and lampreys was first compiled in the 1970s. Endangerment criteria based on status descriptions were mainly used for this purpose. Long-term developments were neglected. Today, the classification criteria specifically ask for three sets of data for each species – regardless of whether it is a plant, bird or fish:

• Current population situation (How is a species distributed and how common is it?)
• Long-term population trend (How has the population changed over the last 100 to 150 years?)
• Short-term trend (How have populations changed in the last 10 to maximum 15 years?)

As part of the assessment process, data will be collected from various sources. As fisheries - like nature conservation - are a matter for the federal states, organised surveys by means of expert workshops in the federal states are to provide information on the three relevant data sets. In order to balance the bias risk within these expert surveys for the short-term stock trend, standardised fish data from the regular monitoring of fish from the federal states were compiled for the first time. The data are analysed and the species are classified into different Red List categories, ranging from "not endangered" to "extinct", depending on their conservation status.

Challenges in compiling the Red List

One of the challenges in compiling the Red List of freshwater fishes and lampreys in Germany is the heterogeneity of data from the different federal states. The interpretation and integration of data from different sources can be complex due to differences in data quality, availability and methodology used. For example, although monitoring data from the federal states have been available since 2004 as part of the monitoring of water body status, in order to be evaluated together at the federal level for the Red List, they must first be acquired and then harmonised in an elaborate process. This includes:

• Taxonomic harmonisation: German/Lat. Names, old/new names, search for obvious misidentifications
• Calculation of fish numbers on a 100 metre stretch
• Harmonisation of the coordinates

The importance of the Red List for research and nature conservation

The Red List of Fishes is of immense importance for research and nature conservation. It provides a comprehensive overview of the status of freshwater fish and lampreys in Germany and is thus a valuable tool for identifying knowledge gaps. The data basis enables researchers and political decision-makers to assess the conservation needs of the various species and to set appropriate priorities for conservation measures. It also serves as a basis for monitoring changes in the species' status over time, which is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of conservation measures.

Linking the Red List with NFDI4Biodiversity: potential and benefits

In addition, the Red List dataset can be linked to the National Research Data Infrastructure NFDI4Biodiversity. This aims to build a standardised and interoperable data infrastructure for collaborative use of biodiversity and environmental data and thus promote the conservation of biodiversity. Linking Red List data to NFDI4Biodiversity can improve their discoverability, accessibility, usability and interoperability with other biodiversity datasets, enabling more comprehensive and integrated research on freshwater fish and lamprey conservation.

Conclusion

In summary, the Red List of freshwater fish and lampreys in Germany is an important tool for assessing the conservation status of fish species and guiding conservation measures. Despite the challenges of harmonising data from different sources, the Red List is a valuable resource for research and conservation purposes. By linking it to NFDI4Biodiversity, its potential for biodiversity research can be further enhanced. Prioritising the conservation needs of freshwater fish and lamprey can help conserve rich freshwater biodiversity for future generations.

For more interesting lectures and other recordings, we recommend visiting our YouTube Channel..

The author of the cover picture of this article, which shows the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), is Heiko Brunken, Chairman of the Society for Ichthyology (GfI).