A meeting held in Toulouse, France, from 23rd to 25th February 2006 and co-organised by the University Paul Sabatier ToulouseIII & CNRS (France), Pôle Relais Mares et Mouillères de France (France), University of Applied Sciences of WesternSwitzerland (Switzerland), University of Geneva (Switzerland), Pond Conservation (UK), University of Leuven (Belgium).