Turning old foes into new allies – harnessing drainage canals for biodiversity conservation in a desiccated European lowland region

1. Drainage canals are widespread components of agricultural landscapes. Although canals have greatly contributed to biodiversity loss by desiccating wetlands, they have recently attracted conservation attention due to their potential to function as refugia for native species in intensively managed landscapes. However, their conservation role in complex landscapes composed of agricultural fields and desiccated but otherwise untransformed, semi-natural habitats, on which canals still pose a heavy burden, is unknown. Improved understanding of drainage canals and related biodiversity in these landscapes could help unlock their potential and support synergistic land management for nature conservation and water resource management.

2. We applied a multitaxon approach, including plants, butterflies, true bugs, spiders and birds, to (1) assess the conservation value of drainage canals with temporary water cover in a heavily drained European lowland region, (2) to test landscape-level and lo...