A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research

This manuscript is a contribution of the Alliance for Freshwater Life (www.allianceforfreshwaterlife.org). We thank Nick Bond, Lisa Bossenbroek, Lekima Copeland, Dean Jacobsen, Maria Cecilia Londo?o, David Lopez, Jaime Ricardo Garcia Marquez, Ketlhatlogile Mosepele, Nunia Thomas-Moko, Qiwei Wei and the authors of Living Waters: A Research Agenda for the Biodiversity of Inland and Coastal Waters for their contributions. We also thank Peter Thrall, Ian Harrison and two anonymous referees for their valuable comments that helped improve the manuscript. Open access funding enabled and organised by Projekt DEAL

A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research

Global freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and meeting the challenges of this crisis requires bold goals and the mobilisation of substantial resources. While the reasons are varied, investments in both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind those in the terrestrial and marine realms. Inspired by a global consultation, we identify 15 pressing priority needs, grouped into five research areas, in an effort to support informed stewardship of freshwater biodiversity. The proposed agenda aims to advance freshwater biodiversity research globally as a critical step in improving coordinated actions towards its sustainable management and conservation

A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research

Global freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and meeting the challenges of this crisis requires bold goals and the mobilisation of substantial resources. While the reasons are varied, investments in both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind those in the terrestrial and marine realms. Inspired by a global consultation, we identify 15 pressing priority needs, grouped into five research areas, in an effort to support informed stewardship of freshwater biodiversity. The proposed agenda aims to advance freshwater biodiversity research globally as a critical step in improving coordinated actions towards its sustainable management and conservation.Peer reviewe

One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction

Freshwater ecosystems are highly biodiverse and important for livelihoods and economic development , but are under substantial stress . To date, comprehensive global assessments of extinction risk have not included any speciose groups primarily living in freshwaters. Consequently, data from predominantly terrestrial tetrapods are used to guide environmental policy and conservation prioritization , whereas recent proposals for target setting in freshwaters use abiotic factors . However, there is evidence that such data are insufficient to represent the needs of freshwater species and achieve biodiversity goals . Here we present the results of a multi-taxon global freshwater fauna assessment for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species covering 23,496 decapod crustaceans, fishes and odonates, finding that one-quarter are threatened with extinction. Prevalent threats include pollution, dams and water extraction, agriculture and invasive species, with overharvesting also driving extinctions. We also examined the degree of surrogacy of both threatened tetrapods and freshwater abiotic factors (water stress and nitrogen) for threatened freshwater species. Threatened tetrapods are good surrogates when prioritizing sites to maximize rarity-weighted richness, but poorer when prioritizing based on the most range-restricted species. However, they are much better surrogates than abiotic factors, which perform worse than random. Thus, although global priority regions identified for tetrapod conservation are broadly reflective of those for freshwater faunas, given differences in key threats and habitats, meeting the needs of tetrapods cannot be assumed sufficient to conserve freshwater species at local scales

Richness and endemism of the freshwater fishes of Mexico

A study of richness and endemism of the freshwater fishes of Mexico, was carried out in order to identify hotspots and inform conservation efforts. This was done by mapping and overlaying individual species distributions by means of geographical information systems based on museum data. The study was able to confirm several previously proposed centres of freshwater fish richness (Southeastern Mexico, the Mesa Central, the Bravo-Conchos river system and the Panuco and Tuxpan-Nautla rivers). Seven areas with high ‘Corrected Weighted Endemism’ Index values were identified, with the valley of Cuatrociénegas recognized as a true centre. An alarming result was the identification of a “Ghost” centre of endemism (Llanos El Salado) in southwestern Nuevo León, where six endemic cyprinodont species are all ‘extinct’ or ‘extinct in the wild’. Forty-nine single site endemics that are distributed all over Mexico were identified. The Chichancanab lagoon in the border between Yucatan and Quintana Roo, where a flock composed of six endemic cyprinodonts is present needs special mention. Three hotspots of richness plus endemism were found in Mexico, the most important of which is the Mesa Central where impacts by human activities have had a detrimental effect on fish populations