The selected sites cover four different agricultural landscape types thereby enabling a nuanced view across various agricultural land-use contexts.
The surveys focus on a comprehensive assessment of environmental pressures and their effects on biodiversity. Water and sediment samples were collected to analyze plant protection products, veterinary pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and nutrients. In addition, the exposure of organisms and aquatic vegetation to plant protection products is being assessed to better understand direct inputs and their ecological relevance.
Another key component is the application of modern molecular techniques: environmental DNA (eDNA) is used to characterize biological communities, with a particular focus on aquatic and terrestrial insects. These innovative methods allow for the detection of species that are otherwise difficult to observe, including rare or elusive taxa.
At the same time, a classical biological assessment is conducted through the sampling of macrozoobenthos, a well-established indicator of the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. The combination of chemical analyses, biological surveys, and molecular approaches provides a unique dataset to systematically investigate the relationships between agricultural practices, contaminant inputs, and biodiversity in small water bodies.
With these new data, the project makes an important contribution to nationwide biodiversity monitoring and establishes a robust basis for future assessments and measures aimed at protecting small water bodies in agricultural landscapes.
Further information on Monitoring of biodiversity in small water bodies within MonViA can be found here.