Biodiversity and Plant Protection Biodiversity of small waterbodies

The currently developed indicator INPOND based on data from Northern Germany from 2018-2021 shows that exposure to pesticides has a negative impact on macrozoobenthos diversity in small water bodies. A status update will be provided in 2028.

Due to limited data base, the impact indicator “biodiversity and plant protection” could so far only be applied to the small water body type “Sölle of the North German Plain” without a temporal comparison or distinction between agricultural areas. In 2024, 83% of the water bodies examined were in good condition with regard to the direct toxic effects of pesticides on macrozoobenthos. In contrast, the INPOND assessment of the indirect effects shows that 58% of the water bodies examined were not in good condition. A status update will be provided in 2028.

The data basis is the water-specific taxonomic composition, proportion of fine sediment inhabitants, proportion of rapidly reproducing species (r-strategists) in the total number of species, the number of gastropods as well as concentration and LC50 values (half-maximum lethal concentration for the water flea Daphnia magna and the chironomid midge Chironomus riparius) per measured pesticide active ingredient. The indicator values calculated using representative samples within the small body of water (> 0.15 ha to <1.0 ha) are reported at national level. Where the spatial coverage of the samples allows, the national reporting level can be supplemented with agricultural area-specific statements. With the start of implementation of the monitoring, the first results will be available from 2023; the indicator will be reported completely after renewed data collection at 5-year intervals.