Freshwater mussels of the Order Unionida provide important ecosystem functions and services, yet many of their populations are in decline. We comprehensively review the status of the 16 currently recognized species in Europe, collating for the first time their life-history traits, distribution, conservation status, habitat preferences, and main threats in order to suggest future management actions. In northern, central, and eastern Europe, a relatively homogeneous species composition is found in most basins. In southern Europe, despite the lower species richness, spatially restricted species make these basins a high conservation priority. Information on freshwater mussels in Europe is unevenly distributed with considerable differences in data quality and quantity among countries and species. To make conservation more effective in the future, we suggest greater international cooperation using standardized protocols and methods to monitor and manage European freshwater mussel diversity. Such an approach will not only help conserve this vulnerable group but also, through the protection of these important organisms, will offer wider benefits to freshwater ecosystems.

We examined six groups of taxa-woody plants, aquatic and terrestrial herpetofauna, small terrestrial birds, orchids, and Orthoptera-to determine their efficiency as biodiversity indicators in the Dadia Reserve in northern Greece. We investigated the indicator value of each group by examining the degree of congruence of its species-richness pattern with that of the other groups and the efficiency of its complementary network in conserving the other groups and biodiversity. The two techniques differed in many respects in their outputs, but they both showed woody plants as the best biodiversity indicator. There was in general low congruence in the species richness patterns across the different groups. Significant relationships were found between woody plants and birds, Orthoptera and terrestrial herpetofauna, and birds and aquatic herpetofauna. None of the optimal complementary networks of the groups we examined protected all species of the other groups. Nevertheless, the complementary network of woody plants adequately conserved all groups except orchids. We conclude that the principle of complementarity must be integrated into the methodology of evaluating an indicator. In an applied context, our results provide a scientific background on which to base a biomonitoring program for the Dadia Reserve. In a wider scope, if the group of woody plants prove an adequate biodiversity indicator for other Mediterranean areas as well, this will be important because it will facilitate conservation-related decisions for the entire Mediterranean region.Resumen: Examinamos seis grupos de taxones -plantas leñosas, herpetofauna acuática, herpetofauna terrestre, aves terrestres pequeñas, orquídeas y Orthoptera -para determinar su eficiencia como indicadores de biodiversidad en la Reserva Dadia en el norte de Grecia. Investigamos el valor de cada grupo como indicador examinando el grado de congruencia de su patrón de riqueza de especies con el de otros grupos y la eficiencia de su red complementaria para conservar a los otros grupos y a la biodiversidad. Las dos técnicas difirieron en muchos aspectos de sus resultados, pero ambos mostraron a las plantas leñosas como el mejor indicador de biodiversidad. Hubo poca congruencia en los patrones de riqueza de especies en los diferentes grupos. Se encontraron relaciones significativas entre plantas leñosas y aves, Orthoptera y herpetofauna terrestre, y aves y herpetofauna acuática. Ninguna de las redes complementariasóptimas de los grupos que examinamos protegió a todas las especies de los otros grupos. Sin embargo, la red complementaria de plantas leñosas 668 Biodiversity IndicatorsKati et al.conservó adecuadamente a todos los grupos excepto las orquídeas. Concluimos que se debe integrar el principio de complementariedad a la metodología para evaluar un indicador. En un contexto aplicado, nuestros resultados proporcionan un antecedente científico sobre el cual basar un programa de biomonitoreo para la Reserva Dadia. En una visión más amplia, si el grupo de plantas leñosas también resulta u...

A positive correlation between species diversity and genetic diversity has been proposed, consistent with neutral predictions in macroecology. We assessed the species--genetic diversity correlation in tenebrionid beetle communities of the Aegean archipelago on 15 islands of different sizes, distances to mainland, and ages of isolation. Alpha and beta diversity of species and haplotypes were assessed using sequences of > 1,000 individuals (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 and nuclear muscular protein 20). We show that (i) there is a strong species-area and haplotype-area relationship; (ii) species richness in island communities is correlated with intraspecific genetic diversity in the constituent species except when island size or distance to mainland is factored out in partial correlations; (iii) community similarity declines exponentially at an increasing rate when calculated on the basis of species, nuclear, and mtDNA haplotypes; and (iv) distance decay of community similarity is slower in dispersive sand-dwelling lineages compared with less dispersive lineages that are not sand obligate. Taken together, these correlated patterns at the species and haplotype level are consistent with individual-based stochastic dispersal proposed by neutral theories of biodiversity. The results also demonstrate the utility of haplotype data for exploring macroecological patterns in poorly known biota and predicting large-scale biodiversity patterns based on genetic inventories of local samples.

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The European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) project has compiled a list of marine species in Europe and a bibliography of marine species identification guides. ERMS has also surveyed species identification and taxonomic expertise, and the state of marine species collections in Europe. A total of 29 713 species-level taxa were catalogued from European seas. Overall, 90% of the taxon checklists were satisfactory, but non-halacarid Acarina, diatoms, lichens and cyanobacteria were not included, and geographical coverage of the European seas was incomplete for Rotifera and Brachiopoda. Lists that would benefit from further input include (1) those that have not yet been checked by an expert on European fauna, namely lists of the non-epicarid Isopoda, Cephalochordata, Appendicularia, Hemichordata, Hirudinea, Gnathostomulida, Ctenophora and Placozoa; (2) preliminary lists, including some of the above and lists of protists; and (3) lists with many species but which have been reviewed by only a few experts. These gaps are now being addressed in an online version of ERMS (www.marbef.org/data/erms.php). The bibliography of 842 identification guides shows that there are fewer guides for southern European seas, although they contain more species, than for those in northern Europe. Adequate guides for all of Europe's seas exist only for fishes. New guides are especially needed for the species-rich, but small-sized taxa, such as polychaete, oligochaete and turbellarian worms, and harpacticoid copepods. A database of > 600 experts (individuals who stated themselves to be experts) and a subset of these recognised by their peers as being taxonomic experts was established. While there were generally more experts for taxa with a large number of species, there was no correlation between the number of taxonomists and the number of species per taxon; some taxa with thousands of species are studied by relatively few taxonomists. Such gaps in marine biodiversity knowledge and resources must be addressed by funding the production of additional species identification guides.

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