Despite being under a lot of stress, freshwater environments are extremely biodiverse and crucial for economic growth and livelihoods. The concerning loss of biodiversity in rivers, lakes, and wetlands has been ignored for years. Although land and ocean species have received the majority of conservation attention, a remarkable portion of the world’s biodiversity can be found in freshwater ecosystems, which make up a comparatively tiny area. A newly published study in the journal Nature shines a spotlight on this issue.
The study titled One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction offers the first thorough evaluation of the threats to freshwater species’ survival. To assess the hazards to freshwater fish, dragonflies, and damselflies, scientists used the recently finished “red lists” for these species. In order to preserve biodiversity worldwide, freshwater ecologists believe that this study will change attention to the need to safeguard these important areas.
According to the authors of the study, “globally, biodiversity is in decline, with freshwater ecosystems being particularly affected.” On the basis of monitored natural inland wetlands (including peatlands, marshes, swamps, lakes, rivers, and pools, among others), 35% of wetland area was lost between 1970 and 2015, at a rate three times faster than that of forests.”
“Of the remaining wetland habitats, 65% are under moderate-to-high levels of threat, and 37% of rivers over 1,000 km are no longer free-flowing over their full length. Declines are continuing, generally out of sight and out of mind, despite the importance of the freshwater realm. Freshwaters support over 10% of all known species, including approximately one-third of vertebrates and one-half of fishes, while only covering less than 1% of the surface of the Earth.”