WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
Temporary ponds are important aquatic habitats for the conservation of species with singular life cycles and characteristics. These water bodies may have wide or reduced extensions, but usually are shallow and dry up recurrently as main characteristic. Therefore, temporary ponds have a dry and a flooded phase, so the aquatic organisms that inhabit them must be able to withstand dry periods.
The aquatic species living in these habitats use different mechanisms to resist during the dry phase. Some species have drought-resistant forms, such as propagules or resistance cysts, from which new individuals would emerge in the following flood phase; others are able to actively migrate to other ponds as flying individuals when their habitats dry out; others have life cycles with alternant aquatic and terrestrial phases, living in these ponds during their reproductive or larval period adjusting their life-cycles to each pond hydroperiod, etc. Due to such different strategies, they are considered singular species, which find in these singular ecosystems a refuge free of common predators that typically occur in permanent water bodies.
Their small sizes and the fact that they regularly dry out have made these ponds invisible for a long time as a neglected biodiversity, and in many cases, they have tended to be transformed or have disappeared in most European countries. The conservation of this type of habitats is nowadays considered a priority in order to preserve their large number of endemic and rare species. Among the main groups of organisms living in this type of habitats, it can be highlighted the amphibians, macroinvertebrates (Coleoptera; Díptera; Heteroptera; Odonata), crustaceans (Branchiopoda, Ostracoda and Copepoda) and a high diversity of aquatic macrophytes (vascular plants, bryophytes and charophytes.
Temporary ponds are an essential resource which play an important role in the maintenance of the biodiversity, and in the generation of ecosystem services. At the regional and landscape level, temporary ponds contribute as much or even more to biodiversity than the equivalent area of other higher aquatic ecosystems (e.g., rivers, and lakes), harbouring more species and reaching higher conservation value. They provide ecosystems services, such as freshwater supply, food (fish, crustaceans, algae, plants), wood, fibre, biofuels, genetic resources and natural medicines. In addition, they also contribute in pollination processes, climate regulation, water and soil quality, flood control, soil erosion, disease control, organic matter decomposition, water purification and pollutant sequestration. Historically, they have been the subject of numerous cultural values for their aesthetic inspiration, spiritual and educational experiences, recreational purposes, symbolic value in mythology, religions and different cultures, and their contribution to human welfare. They foster the development and enhancement of biodiversity by acting as intermittent ecological corridors or stepping stones.
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