**4. Conclusions**

An investigation of the pond-induced effects on soil erosion and sediment transport of limnologically rich basins was presented. Through this task, recommendations of the European framework for the Thematic Strategy on Soil Protection were addressed by revealing the different levels of soil loss, represented by providing an insight to the investigation of erosion-prone regions and sediment yield zones of different levels. Furthermore, recommendations of the DCE regarding the behavioral understanding of hydromorphological alternating factors (ponds as hydro-sedimentary elements), at the basin scale, were also considered. Despite the Claises' weakly structured pedology, resulting in high erodibility, the Claise was found to have low erosion risks and sediment transport rates due to several reasons, like the evenly distributed rainfall, the relatively flat topography, and most importantly due to the presence of its dense pond network that acts as a natural measure against soil erosion. This was solidified by simulating a scenario where ponds were substituted by grasslands. After replacing ponds by a protective vegetative cover, all erosion risks and sediment yield classes of the Claise significantly varied: no and low-erosion risk zones decreased, while moderate and high-erosion risk zones increased. Regarding sediment transport, the replacement of ponds by grasslands led to a complete disappearance of low sediment yield zones and considerable increases of moderate and high sediment yield zones. Accordingly, the "safe" soil loss status of the Claise can be attributed to the low soil loss rates of the Claise basin to the presence of these ponds. Despite their protection against soil erosion, however, their presence in very large numbers might cause a distortion in the sediment balance of the underlying rivers. Such cases may lead to sediment starvation and force the river to

engage in increasing streambed and bank erosion [83]. Therefore, the use of the presented approach may serve as an efficient tool towards the orientation of future decisions regarding the proliferation or cease of ponds depending on their effect.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization: R.N. and M.J.A.S.; data curation: M.J.A.S.; methodology: M.J.A.S. and R.N.; project administration: R.N., C.A., and M.K.; supervision: R.N., K.K., C.A., and M.K.; validation: M.J.A.S.; visualization: M.J.A.S. and K.K.; writing—original draft: M.J.A.S. and K.K.; writing—review and editing: M.J.A.S., K.K., R.N., C.A., and M.K.

**Funding:** This research is part of a PhD thesis funded by the National Council of Scientific Research—Lebanon (CNRS—L), Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), Lebanon, and the Lebanese University. It is also part of the Dynétangs project funded by the French Centre–Val–de–Loire region.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to express their gratitude for the funding agencies, the editor, and reviewers for leveraging the quality of this work and to the Brenne Natural Park for their help.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
