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The quiet crisis: a preliminary listing of the freshwater fishes of the world that are extinct or "missing in action"
... Despite the ecological and economic value of healthy watersheds, they are often degraded due to human activities, including development, pollution, recreation, flow alterations, overfishing, and introduction of non-native species [5][6][7][8]. In fact, freshwater systems have been shown to be amongst the most threatened globally [9]. ...
Watersheds are often degraded by human activities, reducing their ability to provide ecosystem functions and services. While governmental agencies have put forward plans for improving watershed health, resources are limited, and choices must be made as to which watersheds to prioritize and what actions to take. Prioritization tools with sufficient specificity, resolution, and automation are needed to guide decisions on restoration and management actions across large scales. To address this need, we developed a set of tools to support the protection of streams and associated riparian habitats across the state of California. We developed and tested watershed condition estimation models based on bioassessment data, used the EPA’s StreamCat dataset to identify stressors, incorporated environmental justice factors and developed reach-specific models to prioritize actions. We applied the prioritization tools statewide and were able to identify 18% of stream reaches that are in good condition but that are most vulnerable to existing stressors and an additional 19% of stream reaches that are degraded and are highest priority for restoration and management. The remaining 63% of stream reaches were prioritized for protection and periodic monitoring or minor remedial actions. The results of this project can help regional stakeholders and agencies prioritize hundreds of millions of dollars being spent to protect, acquire, and restore stream and riparian habitats. The methods are directly transferable by using any regional condition and stress data that can be readily obtained.
... The Congo River Basin is the second largest river basin in the world, after the Amazon, draining a massive area concentrated in a narrow band of land that straddles the equator and the basin incorporates savannah and rainforest (Harrison et al., 1999). ...
The Congo River Basin (CRB) - a vast region in equatorial Middle Africa that lies between
the Gulf of Guinea and the African Great lakes contains unprecedented biodiversity. But, even after more than a century of aquatic (hydrobiological) research in the world, knowledge is still scanty in this part of Africa. In order to address pertinent knowledge gaps, this thesis was initiated with the aim of investigating biogeographical and evolutionary patterns of freshwater molluscs’ biodiversity of the CRB, a global hotspot of aquatic biodiversity. Three general objectives were targeted, (1) freshwater mollusc of Congo River Basin: biodiversity, threats and conservation assessment of selected taxa, (2) the mollusc fauna of the Lukuga-Lualaba systems: tracing the origin of the enigmatic thalassoid molluscs of Lake Tanganyika, and (3) evaluating rapids and falls as sources for adaptive radiations and biogeographical barriers for riverine molluscs. The combination of ecological, distributional, phylogenetic and population genetics data sets allowed addressing adequate specific questions for each of the specific objectives using case studies.
... Η υδρολογική αλλοίωση, οι αλλαγές στην αλατότητα και η ρύπανση υποβάθμισαν το υδάτινο περιβάλλον της λίμνης Βιστωνίδας και υπήρξαν ιδιαίτερα σφοδρές αλλαγές στη δεκαετία του '80. Πιθανολογείται ότι το είδος εξαλείφθηκε λόγω των αλλαγών αυτών στις αρχές του 1990 και είχε καταγραφεί ως πιθανώς εξαφανισθέν από τα τέλη της δεκαετίας (Harrison & Stiassny 1999). Λόγω της βιογεωγραφικής ιστορίας του, είναι σημαντικό είδος για την ερμηνεία και προώθηση της σημασίας της προστατευόμενης ιχθυοπανίδας της Ελλάδας. ...
This technical report surveys the development of conservation objectives for all fish species community concern in Greece based on the EU Habitats Directive. 61 species of fishes relevant to Annex II and four additional species are presented. For each speceis the report presents National Conservation Objectives and provides the first assessment of Conservation Priorities and a revision/update of EU Natura 2000 Site Conservation Objectives (In Greek).
The study was conducted to understand the Ichthyofauna diversity of Meenachil River-Illikkal region. The Meenachil river, originating from Western Ghats is a degrading riverine ecosystem in Central Kerala of India, may be the only river in Kerala which is characterized by the presence of human settlement right from the source of the river till it confluences at Vembanad lake, India's second largest wetland ecosystem. Illikkal region is a place with a rich indigenous fishery resource with great biodiversity. The present investigation has been conducted to identify the fishes in the illikkal region which is a part of the Meenachil River for a period of 6 months (July 2019 to December 2019) at an interval of 15 days. A total of 44 freshwater species was found during our survey; out of this 20 species are selected for our study. It includes cultivable fishes and food fishes.
Among the multiple stresses that impact aquatic ecosystems globally stands out the presence of exotic invasive species in inland waters, which have been associated with the extinction of several species worldwide. Here, we review the main pathways of introduction into Mexico of exotic freshwater species and their impacts. Aquaculture and the aquarium trade are among the main pathways of introduction, followed by sport fishing, live bait, and forage, biological control, construction of channels, remediation/restoration, and natural dispersion. Nearly, 800 introduced species have been reported in the country, including several aquatic plants (e.g. Eichhornia crassipes, Hydrilla verticillata, Tamarix ramosissima, Arundo donax), mollusks (e.g. Melanoides tuberculata, Tarebia granifera, Dreissena bugensis), zooplankton (e.g. Daphnia lumholtzi, Mesocyclops aspericornis), crustaceans (e.g. Procambarus clarkii, Cherax quadricarinatus), fishes (e.g. Hemichromis guttatus, Oreochromis niloticus, Cyprinus carpio, Amatitlania nigrofasciata, Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus, Pangasionodon hypophthalmus), amphibians (e.g. Lithobates catesbeianus, Xenopus laevis), reptiles (e.g. Trachemys scripta), parasites (e.g. Centrocestus formosanus, Schyzocotyle acheilognathi), and several species of bacteria and viruses. Many of these exotic species have reached an extensive geographical distribution in Mexico and have already exerted profound effects on native biodiversity. The main ecological negative impacts include altered habitat structure, diminished biodiversity, degradation of water quality, disturbance of biogeochemical cycles, modification of food webs and productivity, water losses due to evapotranspiration. Whereas the socio‐economic impacts include reduction in local fisheries, increased maintaining costs of drinking water intake structures, reduction of water availability, obstruction of waterways hindering recreational activities, etc. Finally, there have been also severe sanitary impacts encompassing important losses of cultured species due to multiple outbreaks, exotic aquatic plants providing a suitable breeding ground for some disease vectoring arthropods, etc. At present, most of the efforts have been focused on prevention and many approaches have been explored in the search for cost‐effective measures for the control of invasive species; however, there are still some gaps and opportunity areas that need to be covered.
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