Across much of lowland England, freshwater habitats have become progressively degraded. Streams and ditches frequently carry nutrient-enriched water, ponds have been neglected or lost, and many freshwater species have retreated to isolated refuges.
Using the intensively farmed landscape surrounding Pitsford Resevoir, in Northamptonshire as a case study, Hannah Worker et al. explore one of the central challenges facing conservation: how to restore freshwater biodiversity across productive agricultural landscapes.