Ref. Ares(2017)5306028 - 30/10/2017 Fishfriendly Innovative Technologies for Hydropower Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union D1.1 Metadata overview on fish response to disturbance Project Acronym FIThydro Project ID 727830 Work package 1 Deliverable Coordinator Christian Wolter Author(s) Ruben van Treeck (IGB), Jeroen Van Wich- elen (INBO), Johan Coeck (INBO), Lore Vandamme (INBO), Christian Wolter (IGB) Deliverable Lead beneficiary INBO, IGB Dissemination Level Public Delivery Date 31 October 2017 Actual Delivery Date 30 October 2017 Acknowledgement This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and inno- vation program under grant agreement No 727830. Executive Summary Aim Environmental assessment of hydropower facilities commonly includes means of fish assem- blage impact metrics, as e.g. injuries or mortality. However, this hardly allows for conclusion at the population or community level. To overcome this significant knowledge gap and to enable more efficient assessments, this task aimed in developing a fish species classification system according to their species-specific sensitivity against mortality. As one result, most sensitive fish species were identified as suitable candidates for in depth population effects and impact studies. Another objective was providing the biological and autecological baseline for developing a fish population hazard index for the European fish fauna. Methods The literature has been extensively reviewed and analysed for life history traits of fish providing resilience against and recovery from natural disturbances. The concept behind is that species used to cope with high natural mortality have evolved buffer mechanisms against, which might also foster recovery from human induced disturbances. In contrast, species with very low natural mortality lack such buffering traits and thus, are more sensitive against human-induced mor- tality. The following life history traits have been identified reportedly indicating the species’ biological sensitivity against natural mortality: natural adult fish mortality, maximum length, maximum age, age at first maturity, fecundity (egg number), annual number of offspring per female, and migration behaviour. Existing species trait databases (e.g. FishBase) as well as the primary literature has been ex- tensively reviewed to gather as much as possible information on each trait for all fish species occurring in European waters. A respective trait database has been compiled. When possible, missing data have been completed using analogues from closely related species or calculated values. Depending on the metric, multiple entries per species and trait were either averaged or the maximum value used for scoring. Scores were assigned at a scale of 1 (lowest sensitivity) to 7 (highest sensitivity). The classes were set trait specific based on the traits respective data distribution among all species. For each species, the scores of all metrics were averaged and rounded to the next integer. Because the two extreme classes 1 and 7 remained empty the final classification of species was adjusted to five classes. The resulting scores were used to align species according to their sensitivity against mortality and also to arrange them in a two-dimen- sional matrix of sensitivity classes and the IUCN Red List classification status to account for their conservation value. Results The compiled metadata overview comprises 192 fish and lamprey species. Of the 192 investi- gated species, 3 were assigned to class 5 (highest sensitivity), 37 were assigned to class 4 (high sensitivity), 82 taxa were assigned to class 3 (average sensitivity), 67 were assigned to class 2 (moderate sensitivity) and 3 taxa were assigned to class 1 (low sensitivity). The result allows for an objective and comprehensible comparison of the inherent biological sensitivity of fish and lamprey species and identified in total 40 taxa of high susceptibility to disturbance covering all biogeographic regions of Europe, which might serve as candidate species for developing novel assessment tools and for further analysing population effects. 727830 FIThydro - Deliverable 1.1 - Page 2 of 26 Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 2 List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... 3 List of Tables .......................................................................................................................... 3 1. Background ..................................................................................................................... 4 2. Methods .......................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Data gathering .......................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Identification and processing of species traits........................................................... 4 2.2.1 Natural adult fish mortality M ............................................................................. 5 2.2.2 Fecundity .......................................................................................................... 7 2.2.3 Annual recruits per female and parental care .................................................... 8 2.2.4 Age at first maturity ......................................................................................... 10 2.2.5 Maximum age.................................................................................................. 11 2.2.6 Maximum length and migration type ................................................................ 12 2.3 Final scoring ........................................................................................................... 14 2.4 The IUCN conservation status ................................................................................ 14 3. Results .......................................................................................................................... 16 3.1 Sensitivity analysis ................................................................................................. 16 3.2 Sensitivity-IUCN matrix .......................................................................................... 19 4. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 21 5. References .................................................................................................................... 22 Appendix .............................................................................................................................. 23 List of Figures Distribution of fecundity expressed as eggs per female among all species. ............................ 7 Distribution of minimum and maximum number of offspring per female and year. .................. 9 Distribution of age at first maturity among all species. .......................................................... 10 Distribution of maximum age among all species ................................................................... 12 Distribution of maximum length among all species ............................................................... 13 Structure and hierarchy of the IUCN threat categories. ......................................................... 15 Distribution of 192 species in the final 5 sensitivity classes................................................... 16 Distribution of 192 fish and lamprey species among the 5 sensitivity classes. ...................... 20 List of Tables Table 1: Classification of natural adult fish mortality. .............................................................. 6 Table 2: Classification of fecundity. ........................................................................................ 8 Table 3: Classification of minimum and maximum annual recruits/female. ............................. 9 Table 4: Classification of age at first maturity. ...................................................................... 11 Table 5: Classification of maximum age. .............................................................................. 12 Table 6: Classification of maximum length. ........................................................................... 14 Table 7: Calculated and rounded results of the sensitivity analysis....................................... 17 727830 FIThydro - Deliverable 1.1 - Page 3 of 26 1. Background Assessing the impact of hydropower plants on different fish species and communities is a key- component of the decision support in commissioning and operating hydropower facilities. One prerequisite is identifying species most at risk and further developing methods to evaluate gen- eral susceptibility of fish species to disturbance. Therefore, as a first step, this task compiles and analyses life history traits, biological characters and environmental tolerances of European lampreys and fish species that are relevant to dispersal, meta-population dynamics, population resilience, and resistance to disturbances. Its main objective was to identify critical life history traits and reaction norms of lampreys and fish in response to human-induced mortality, e.g. here from hydropower. Meta-analyses of species traits and population developments within Europe were