The freshwater biodiversity crisis

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6421) ◽  
pp. 1369.1-1369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Harrison ◽  
Robin Abell ◽  
William Darwall ◽  
Michele L. Thieme ◽  
David Tickner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis

scholarly journals A Global Agenda for Advancing Freshwater Biodiversity Research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Maasri ◽  
Sonja Jähnig ◽  
Mihai Adamescu ◽  
Rita Adrian ◽  
Claudio Baigun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Critical Step ◽  
Biodiversity Research ◽  
Coordinated Action ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
Management And Conservation

Freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and the current biodiversity crisis requires defining bold goals and mobilizing substantial resources to meet the challenges. While the reasons are varied, both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind efforts in the terrestrial and marine realms. We identify fifteen pressing global needs to support informed global freshwater biodiversity stewardship. The proposed agenda aims to advance freshwater biodiversity research globally as a critical step in improving coordinated action towards its sustainable management and conservation.

scholarly journals Are beavers a solution to the freshwater biodiversity crisis?

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1763-1772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Law ◽  
Oded Levanoni ◽  
Garth Foster ◽  
Frauke Ecke ◽  
Nigel J. Willby
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis

scholarly journals Scientists’ warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis

AMBIO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Albert ◽  
Georgia Destouni ◽  
Scott M. Duke-Sylvester ◽  
Anne E. Magurran ◽  
Thierry Oberdorff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis

Safeguarding Freshwater Life Beyond 2020: Recommendations for the New Global Biodiversity Framework from the European Experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles B. van Rees ◽  
Kerry A. Waylen ◽  
Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber ◽  
Stephen J. Thackeray ◽  
Gregor Kalinkat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Implementation Planning ◽  
European Experience ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Freshwater Monitoring

The drafting of a new Global Biodiversity Framework for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Biodiversity Strategy for the European Union (EU) render 2020 a critical crossroad for biodiversity conservation. Freshwater biodiversity is disproportionately threatened and poorly studied relative to marine and terrestrial biota, despite providing numerous essential ecosystem services. The urgency of the mounting freshwater biodiversity crisis necessitates approaches catered to the unique ecology and threats of freshwater life, which are not adequately addressed by current strategies. We present a set of 15 special recommendations for freshwater biodiversity to guide the CBD’s post-2020 framework and the 2020 EU strategy based on European case studies, both challenges and successes. Our recommendations cover key outcomes and guiding concepts, enabling conditions and methods of implementation, planning and accountability modalities, and cross-cutting issues. They address topics including invasive species, integrated water resources management, strategic conservation planning, data management, and emerging technologies for freshwater monitoring, among others. These recommendations will enhance the ability of global and European post-2020 biodiversity agreements to halt and reverse the rapid global decline of freshwater biodiversity.

scholarly journals Safeguarding Free-Flowing Rivers: The Global Extent of Free-Flowing Rivers in Protected Areas

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2805
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Opperman ◽  
Natalie Shahbol ◽  
Jeffrey Maynard ◽  
Günther Grill ◽  
Jonathan Higgins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Effective Protection ◽  
High Discharge ◽  
Inland Water ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Lower Extent ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Approximately one-third of long rivers remain free-flowing, and rivers face a range of ongoing and future threats. In response, there is a heightened call for actions to reverse the freshwater biodiversity crisis, including through formal global targets for protection. The Aichi Biodiversity Targets called for the protection of 17% of inland water areas by 2020. Here, we examine the levels and spatial patterns of protection for a specific type of inland water area—rivers designated as free-flowing. Out of a global total of 11.7 million kilometers of rivers, 1.9 million kilometers (16%) are within protected areas and 10.1 million kilometers are classified as free-flowing, with 1.7 M kilometers of the free-flowing kilometers (17%) within protected areas. Thus, at the global level, the proportion of rivers in protected areas is just below the Aichi Target, and the proportion of free-flowing rivers within protected areas equals that target. However, the extent of protection varies widely across river basins, countries, and continents, and many of these geographic units have a level of protection far lower than the target. Further, high discharge mainstem rivers tend to have lower extent of protection. We conclude by reviewing the limitations of measuring river protection by the proportion of river kilometers within protected areas and describe a range of mechanisms that can provide more effective protection. We also propose a set of recommendations for a more comprehensive quantification of global river protection.

scholarly journals A Global Agenda for Advancing Freshwater Biodiversity Research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Maasri ◽  
Sonja C. Jähnig ◽  
Mihai C. Adamescu ◽  
Rita Adrian ◽  
Claudio Baigun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Critical Step ◽  
Biodiversity Research ◽  
Coordinated Action ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
Management And Conservation

Freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and the current biodiversity crisis requires defining bold goals and mobilizing substantial resources to meet the challenges. While the reasons are varied, both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind efforts in the terrestrial and marine realms. We identify fifteen pressing global needs to support informed global freshwater biodiversity stewardship. The proposed agenda aims to advance freshwater biodiversity research globally as a critical step in improving coordinated action towards its sustainable management and conservation.

Disentangling the impact of global change on freshwater biodiversity decline

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Kiesel ◽  
Tinh Vu ◽  
Karan Kakouei ◽  
Domisch Sami ◽  
Fengzhi He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Threatened Species ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Red List ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Hydrological Change ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
The Impact

<p>Freshwater ecosystems have higher proportions of extinct and threatened species than terrestrial and marine ecosystems, with populations of vertebrates declined by 83% between 1970 and 2018. The pressing question is: what are the main drivers for this decline? Here we investigate the reasons for the loss of freshwater biodiversity using globally available gridded datasets at 0.5° spatial resolution on precipitation and temperature, land cover and land use, water use and dams as well as daily hydrological streamflow simulations from the ISIMIP initiative.</p><p>Across the past 50 years, we constructed annual change maps of the environmental variables along the global river networks and calculated time-variant indicators of hydrologic alteration (IHA) to depict hydrological change. We then calculated normalized indicators (e.g. proportion of threatened species) describing the current freshwater biodiversity status through species data aggregation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List) categories.</p><p>By applying classification and regression trees (CART), we highlight the importance of environmental- and hydrological change on the freshwater biodiversity status based on IUCN Red List assessments on each grid cell globally. Our results reveal a large-scale spatial classification of the environmental variables and their potential impact on the ongoing freshwater biodiversity crisis.</p>

Freshwater biodiversity in Asia

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice Kottelat ◽  
Tony Whitten
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Biodiversity
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