ETC BE 2026/1: EUNIS inland water habitats revision - description of biological communities including species richness, characteristic, common and dominant taxa in habitats in reference conditions and in impacted conditions
12 Feb 2026
Anne Lyche Solheim, Petra Thea Mutinova, Tor Erik Eriksen, Ute Jandt
The revision of inland water habitats for the European Nature Information System (EUNIS) is based on the common types used for the EU Water Framework Directive and related habitat types of the Habitats Directive, as well as on more specific habitats of the Habitats Directive. The report describes natural biodiversity for major biological groups in 50 inland water habitat types and how they change with human impact. Altogether 23 standing water habitat types and 27 running water habitat types are presented in terms of their natural abiotic conditions and their truly aquatic biological communities, including species richness and characteristic, common and dominant taxa of phytoplankton, aquatic vegetation and fish in standing waters, as well as benthic algae, aquatic vegetation, benthic invertebrates and fish in running waters. While habitats in good condition have distinct biological communities shaped mainly by geology, altitude, and size, impacted habitats converge towards degraded states with fewer characteristic species due to major pressures, such as nutrient pollution, hydromorphological change and water abstraction. With the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and Nature Restoration Regulation, Europe now has a shared scientific framework to monitor whether restoration actions truly improve inland water ecosystems.
Prepared by:
Lead authors: Anne Lyche Solheim (NIVA), Petra Thea Mutinova (NIVA), Tor Erik Eriksen (NIVA), Ute Jandt (MLU)
EEA project manager: Mette Palitzsch Lund and Eleni Tryfon
Coordination: Claudia Neitzel (NIVA)
Language Check: Shane Hume (LESP)
Layout: Aleksandra Mjøs and Claudia Neitzel (NIVA)
