Biodiversity enhances pond ecosystem multifunctionality across Europe.

Biodiversity is positively and significantly associated with multifunctionality across 206 European ponds, with several ecosystem functions strongly linked to zooplankton richness.

• Why it matters: It remains unclear how pond biodiversity translates into multifunctionality, especially under regional climate differences and human-driven eutrophication.
• What they did: In a standardized stratified field survey of 206 European ponds (2,500 biodiversity observations across macrophytes, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and amphibians), the study measured multiple ecosystem functions and processes and tested links to biodiversity and nutrient concentrations.
• The result: The biodiversity–multifunctionality relationship was more pronounced in arid regions, while higher nutrient concentrations tied to intensive cropland were negatively related to multiple functions, implying ecological status and biodiversity jointly support pond multifunctionality.

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