1. Understanding the population dynamics of aquatic species and how inter‐specific variation in demographic and life history traits influence population dynamics is crucial to define their conservation status and design appropriate protection measures.
2. The abundance and biomass growth rates for 18 common European freshwater fish species were estimated using data spanning 1990–2011 for 546 sites across France. Fish‐length trends were assessed using quantile regressions and correlations with life history traits were investigated.
3. Amongst the 18 species, eleven of them have exhibited a significant decline in abundance and 14 species declined in biomass, seven remained stable or exhibited positive abundance growth rates; for four species, biomass was stable or increased. Of the demographic and ecological traits investigated, life‐history strategy and maximum length were significantly correlated with species’ population growth rates, revealing that the decline mainly concerned large‐bodied species with slow life‐histories.
4. These results focus on 18 common European species representing 94% of fish captured during the study period within the French national monitoring programme and underline that more attention should be paid to the decline in common species. Population dynamics of widely distributed common species are key drivers of communities and of importance to ecosystem function.
5. This study provides evidence of declines in common European freshwater fish species at a national scale and recommends conservation measures to favour recovery of most declining species. We highlight the crucial value of electrofishing monitoring programmes to assess freshwater fish species population trajectories and to support environmental management and conservation policy based on scientific evidences.

中文翻译：

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生命史特征与欧洲常见物种的淡水鱼类种群的时间趋势相关

1. 了解水生物种的种群动态以及种群和生活史特征的种间差异如何影响种群动态对于定义其保护状况和设计适当的保护措施至关重要。
2. 使用1990年至2011年跨法国546个站点的数据，估算了18种欧洲淡水鱼种类的丰度和生物量增长率。使用分位数回归评估鱼的长度趋势，并研究其与生活史特征的相关性。
3. 在18个物种中，其中11个物种的丰度显着下降，而14个物种的生物量下降，其中7个保持稳定或呈现出正的丰度增长率。对于四种，生物量稳定或增加。在所调查的人口统计和生态特征中，生命史策略和最大长度与物种的种群增长率显着相关，这表明下降主要涉及生活史较慢的大型物种。
4. 这些结果集中于18种欧洲常见物种，占法国国家监测计划研究期间捕获的鱼类的94％，并强调应更加关注常见物种的减少。分布广泛的常见物种的种群动态是社区的关键驱动力，对生态系统功能至关重要。
5. 这项研究提供了在国家范围内欧洲常见淡水鱼物种减少的证据，并建议采取保护措施以支持大多数下降物种的恢复。我们着重介绍电钓鱼监测计划对评估淡水鱼物种种群轨迹并支持基于科学证据的环境管理和保护政策的关键价值。