Mediterranean temporary ponds in Southern Portugal: key faunal groups as management tools?

Temporary ponds, in spite of being protected by the Habitats Directive (92/43/CEE), are presently disappearing at a fast rate. Urgent management measures are thus required, but which parameters should be used to establish management procedures? Since most large branchiopod species (LBS) inhabit exclusively temporary lentic ecosystems, and an important number of amphibian species (AS) also use those habitats for reproduction, they could be used as key faunal groups to assess the value of Mediterranean Temporary Ponds for conservation purposes. In particular, 11 taxa deserve special conservation concern and their habitats special management decisions (LBS: Branchipus schaefferi, Streptocephalus torvicornis, Tanymastix sp, Maghrebestheria maroccana, Cyzicus grubei and Triops mauritanicus; AS: Pelodytes sp and P. ibericus, Bufo calamita, Hyla meridionalis and Triturus marmoratus pygmaeus). Furthermore, each of them have different ecological requirements (total area, depth, hydroperiod length…). The aim of this work is to propose the use of (i) life cycles of referred LBS with no protection status, and (ii) reproduction periods (pairing, fertilization and larval development) of AS with protection status, as management tools for conservation purposes.