scholarly journals The freshwater biodiversity crisis: the case of the Ethiopian fish fauna

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abebe Getahun ◽  
Melanie L J Stiassny
Keyword(s):  
Fish Fauna ◽  
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.

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 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.

scholarly journals From Expert to Data-Driven Biodiversity Knowledge: Assessing ecosystem irreplaceability with IUCN Red List data for freshwater fish 

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imanol Miqueleiz ◽  
Arturo H. Ariño ◽  
Rafael Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Red List ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility

Critical as they are for humans and nature, freshwater ecosystems are threatened—but the extent and depth of these threats are not well understood, especially if essential biodiversity data are lacking. Any policy aimed at protecting such ecosystems must first assess the threat factors and the potential harm, well before proposing conservation measures such as the creation and development of Protected Areas (PAs). These assessments must be done using a deep and sound knowledge of the actual and potential biodiversity variables. Freshwater ecosystems have been largely neglected in traditional PA design and management (Abell et al. 2007), be it for scarcity of biodiversity data, or for more perception-related reasons such as visibility and accessibility driving the allocation of conservation resources to more data-rich environments. In an effort to contribute to shifting this state of affairs, we have developed an irreplaceability index to identify the most relevant places to achieve conservation aims for freshwater fish, based on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, which, in turn, should be founded on available biodiversity data upon which expert knowledge is based (Le Saout 2013). However, we found large assessment gaps in the IUCN Red List for freshwater fish. These gaps may result from the non-systematic acquisition of primary biodiversity data, which could eventually be alleviated by coordinated policies promoting ecosystem surveys tailored at increasing the availability and spread of such data, while identifying, targeting and prioritizing hotspots. Obtaining valid conclusions from low-assessment areas such as South America, which are simultaneously biodiversity and endangerment hotspots (Collen 2014), is particularly troublesome. Building an irreplaceability index requires access to abundant, fine-scale biodiversity data. When combined with the assessment information available in the IUCN Red List, we can identify those areas where low assessment rates for highly irreplaceable rivers become keystones to protect freshwater biodiversity, and can therefore suggest actions for policy makers to take at both regional and local scales. In particular, we have thus identified those irreplaceable rivers that fall outside the current net of PAs. In a context of inadequate investment in biodiversity conservation (Juffe-Bignoli et al. 2016), our findings and the informatics-powered methods we propose, will hopefully help decision makers establish conservation priorities and allocate funds to preserve irreplaceable rivers and their fish fauna. Furthermore, the necessity of improving the IUCN Red List in low-assessed areas, requires synergies among IUCN, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and conservation scientists to achieve accurate and reliable assessments.

Limiting the effects of hydropower dams on freshwater biodiversity: options on the Lancang River, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongzhang Xu ◽  
Jamie Pittock
Keyword(s):  
Pollution Control ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Main Stream ◽  
Migratory Species ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Lancang River ◽  
Hydropower Dams ◽  
Different Types ◽  
International Importance

China has planned 23 dams on the main stream of the Lancang (upper Mekong) River. The Chinese Government’s Thirteenth Five-Year Plan on Hydroelectricity Development (TFP) has goals to mitigate adverse effects on freshwater biodiversity. These measures are of international importance because China is the largest developer of hydropower projects. Herein we analyse the effects of the existing and planned dams on the fish fauna in the Lancang River. Drawing on development documents, the different types of mitigation measures on the proposed cascade of dams are assessed against the goals of the TFP. We find that: (1) migratory species (25% of total) are severely affected and there are few effective mitigation measures to conserve them; (2) a further 20% of species may be affected by lack of thermal pollution control or mitigation of peaking flow releases in the main stream; (3) fortunately, most species (81.14%) can be protected in tributary nature reserves in the lower Lancang, but many (54.4%) are inadequately protected in the upper Lancang; and (4) none of the 20 dams for which there is information meet all the five TFP conservation goals. There are lessons for mitigating the effects on biodiversity of Chinese-financed hydropower dams inside and outside China.

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