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We analysed the sensitivity of European Trichoptera (caddisfly) species to climate change impacts based on their distribution and ecological preferences, and compared the fraction of species potentially endangered by climate change between the European ecoregions. The study covers 23 European ecoregions as defined by Illies (1978). For 1134 Trichoptera species and subspecies, we coded 29 parameters describing biological and ecological preferences and distribution based on the evaluation of more than 1400 literature references. Five parameters served to describe the species sensitivity to climate change impacts: endemism, preference for springs, preference for cold water temperatures, short emergence period, and restricted ecological niches in terms of feeding types. Of the European Trichoptera species and subspecies, 47.9 % are endemic, 23.1 % have a strong preference for springs, 21.9 % are cold stenothermic, 35.5 % have a short emergence period, and 43.7 % are feeding type specialists. The fraction of endemic species meeting at least one of the four other sensitivity criteria mentioned above is highest in the Iberic-Macaronesian Region (30.2 % of all species), about 20 % in several other south European ecoregions, and about 10 % in high mountain ranges. In 15 out of 23 ecoregions (including all northern European and lowland ecoregions) the proportion is less than 3 %. The high fraction of potentially endangered species in southern Europe is a result of speciation during the Pleistocene. Species having colonised northern Europe afterwards have generally a large geographical range and are mainly generalists and thus buffered against climate change impacts.

Global pressures on freshwater ecosystems are high and rising. Viewed primarily as a resource for humans, current practices of water use have led to catastrophic declines in freshwater species and the degradation of freshwater ecosystems, including their genetic and functional diversity. Approximately three‐quarters of the world's inland wetlands have been lost, one‐third of the 28 000 freshwater species assessed for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List are threatened with extinction, and freshwater vertebrate populations are undergoing declines that are more rapid than those of terrestrial and marine species. This global loss continues unchecked, despite the importance of freshwater ecosystems as a source of clean water, food, livelihoods, recreation, and inspiration. The causes of these declines include hydrological alterations, habitat degradation and loss, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, and the multiple impacts of climate change. Although there are policy initiatives that aim to protect freshwater life, these are rarely implemented with sufficient conviction and enforcement. Policies that focus on the development and management of fresh waters as a resource for people almost universally neglect the biodiversity that they contain. Here we introduce the Alliance for Freshwater Life, a global initiative, uniting specialists in research, data synthesis, conservation, education and outreach, and policymaking. This expert network aims to provide the critical mass required for the effective representation of freshwater biodiversity at policy meetings, to develop solutions balancing the needs of development and conservation, and to better convey the important role freshwater ecosystems play in human well‐being. Through this united effort we hope to reverse this tide of loss and decline in freshwater biodiversity. We introduce several short‐ and medium‐term actions as examples for making positive change, and invite individuals, organizations, authorities, and governments to join the Alliance for Freshwater Life.

The protection, preservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems and their functions are of global importance. For European states it became legally binding mainly through the EU-Water Framework Directive (WFD). In order to assess the ecological status of a given water body, aquatic biodiversity data are obtained and compared to a reference water body. The quantified mismatch obtained determines the extent of potential management actions. The current approach to biodiversity assessment is based on morpho-taxonomy. This approach has many drawbacks such as being time consuming, limited in temporal and spatial resolution, and error-prone due to the varying individual taxonomic expertise of the analysts. Novel genomic tools can overcome many of the aforementioned problems and could complement or even replace traditional bioassessment. Yet, a plethora of approaches are independently developed in different institutions, thereby hampering any concerted routine application. The goal of this Action is to nucleate a group of researchers across disciplines with the task to identify gold-standard genomic tools and novel ecogenomic indices for routine application in biodiversity assessments of European fresh-and marine water bodies. Furthermore, DNAqua-Net will provide a platform for training of the next generation of European researchers preparing them for the new technologies. Jointly with water managers, politicians, and other stakeholders, the group will develop a

Aquatic insects are the dominant taxon group in most freshwater ecosystems. As temperature is the main driver of their life cycle development, metabolic activity, and geographic distribution, these macroinvertebrates are particularly suitable for large scale and comparative studies of freshwater community responses to climate change. A dataset of bioecological traits of 1,942 Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) taxa was used to analyze (1) the relationships among traits, (2) the potential vulnerability of EPT species to climate change, and (3) the geographical occurrence patterns of these potentially endangered species at the scale of European ecoregions. By means of a fuzzy correspondence analysis (FCA), two gradients emerged: (1) a longitudinal gradient, describing successive upstreamdownstream features, and (2) a biogeographical gradient, separating endemic and micro-endemic species from widely distributed taxa. Moreover, aquatic insects of southern European ecoregions emerged as those most endangered in terms of potential vulnerability to climate change. Comparative multi-taxon studies provide important new insights into freshwater ecosystem functioning and responses to climate change, and could be the first step toward developing integrative monitoring or assessment tools (e.g., traitbased indicators at the species level) by means of nonarbitrary statistical methods. Keywords Vulnerability Á Aquatic insects Á Bio-ecological traits Á Climate change Handling editor: Nuria Bonada