The ongoing decline of the native crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) populations, coupled with its endangered status, has prompted the implementation of conservation programmes. Although reintroduction and long-term population monitoring were suggested as a crucial part of management strategies, only a few studies were conducted. The purpose of this study was to identify suitable sites for the reintroduction of juvenile crayfish (spawned in the breeding centres of the EU-funded Life CLAW project) through the analysis and comparison of macrobenthic communities in sites with and without native crayfish. Macrobenthic community and physicochemical variables were sampled at 30 sites – 16 inhabited by the native crayfish and 14 uninhabited but potentially suitable due to their genetic lineage and crayfish plague-free status. In general, no statistically significant differences in water chemistry, physical parameters and macrobenthic community composition were observed between sites with and without native crayfish. The study indicated a high percentage of Trichoptera and Ephemeroptera abundances at sites both with and without crayfish. Moreover, the similarity coefficients obtained by using the Jaccard Index were remarkable high, indicating a strong degree of similarity among all the sites.

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by the European Funds through the Financial Instrument for the Environment, LIFE Nature and Biodiversity (LIFE18 NAT/IT/000806).