Key results & Policy brief

The goal of the Respond project which ran from 2021 to 2025 was to be a catalyst for more effective long-term conservation of temporary pond biodiversity and ecosystem services. We did this by synthetizing available data on temporary pond biodiversity patterns and by experimentally resolving critical knowledge gaps that currently prevent more effective conservation and restoration.

Temporary ponds are a common but generally overlooked component of terrestrial biomes both in the EU and elsewhere. These often small and shallow aquatic habitats, that dry out seasonally or erratically, often  house a unique biodiversity but their role in landscapes and the potential ecosystem services and disservices they provide remain poorly understood.

In terms of impact the ResPond project aimed to resolve key knowledge gaps to help (1) improve the conservation of temporary ponds, (2) reduce degradation (3) improve restoration and pond creation projects, (4) improve ecosystem services of temporary ponds, and (5) improve their reputation. 

Based on questionnaires, we found that temporary ponds are generally perceived positively by local stakeholders and are associated with multiple ecosystem services, including biodiversity support and wildlife habitat (unpublished data). However, experts identified strong and widespread pressures on temporary ponds. Agricultural intensification and urbanisation were consistently ranked as the most important threats by experts, followed by habitat modification and climate change. Across regions, unregulated human activities and weak enforcement of existing legislation were shown to severely limit effective conservation. These findings demonstrate that protection of temporary ponds is not only a technical challenge but also a governance and policy challenge.

Interviewing pond restoration practitioners revealed that pond creation is currently the most frequently used restoration measure, but it often fails to deliver the expected biodiversity benefits. Many newly created ponds were found to be either too permanent or too short-lived to support the specialised species. This means that substantial public and private investments in restoration may currently be delivering suboptimal ecological outcomes. We provided guidance for improving the design and management of new ponds to better match ecological requirements (De Necker et al., 2024).

A major ecological breakthrough of the project concerns the role of large branchiopods, a group of ancient freshwater crustaceans that have lived in temporary ponds since the Devonian period, more than 350 million years ago. Experiments demonstrated that these organisms play a key role in regulating ecosystem functioning. Some species increase water turbidity, others effectively control algal growth (unpublished data), and their biomass forms an important food source for amphibians and waterbirds (Dolmans et al., 2025). Because large branchiopods have become increasingly rare in many European regions, the project highlights the strong potential of reintroducing them to enhance both biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in restored and newly created ponds.

From a socio-economic and societal perspective, the results of ResPond suggest that well-functioning temporary ponds may contribute to landscape level ecosystem services such as water storage, biodiversity conservation and nutrient processing, but more direct measurements of services are needed. By improving restoration success and reducing failure rates, the project helps ensure that investments in ecological restoration deliver real and lasting benefits for society. 

We recommend that temporary ponds should be systematically considered within all Natura 2000 habitats and other protected and managed landscapes. Where they already occur, they should be restored and maintained; where they are absent or have disappeared, their density should be increased or their spontaneous formation encouraged, for example through rewilding approaches. By linking social perceptions, ecological science and practical restoration experience, the project contributes directly to more effective, resilient and socially supported freshwater conservation strategies across Europe.