Conservation of Dragonflies

Dragonflies are among the most familiar and popular of all insects, deeply embedded in human cultural history. They are iconic and tell us much about the environments in which we and they live. Their conservation is an important part of biodiversity conservation.

One modern dragonfly species is listed as extinct, with many others currently threatened. It is now essential to increase conservation efforts towards saving these threatened species, with strategies now available for doing this. Recovery of dragonfly populations goes hand in hand with improvements to both freshwater conditions and bank vegetation quality. In contrast, some other dragonfly species have benefitted greatly from human transformation of the landscape, with artificial ponds, in particular, increasing the population levels of many species. In turn, climate change is seeing many geographical range shifts.

Dragonflies are variously sensitive to both the health of freshwater systems and the quality of vegetation along rivers and around ponds. Their wide range of sensitivities enables us to measure the extent to which freshwater ecosystems are either deteriorating or are improving when we undertake restoration. After discussing dragonfly functional morphology and their diversity and distribution, the book looks at a trait perspective on dragonfly conservation. It then examines stressors on freshwater ecosystems and dragonflies, conservation action, and assessment and monitoring using dragonflies. It concludes with methods for future-proofing freshwaters and their dragonfly sentinels.