An inventory of riverine biodiversity in monsoonal Asia: present status and conservation challenges

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Dudgeon
Keyword(s):  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Flow Regulation ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Ecosystem Goods And Services ◽  
Knowledge To Action ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Floods And Droughts ◽  
Essential Prerequisite ◽  
Concomitant Species

There are few parts of the planet where human impacts on riverine biodiversity are more apparent than in monsoonal Asia. Flow regulation, drainage-basin degradation and conversion of riverine wetlands to agriculture have been occurring for centuries, while pollution and over-harvesting have become important in recent decades. Concomitant species loss appears both ongoing and rampant. Uncertainty over rates of loss is imposed by the fact that the extremely rich biodiversity of Asian rivers has not been inventoried adequately. It is nevertheless evident that some taxa are gravely threatened. Specialist riverine birds have declined, turtles are highly endangered, and over-harvesting has severely impacted fishes - an effect that is exacerbated by pollution and flow regulation. A particular conflict that constrains biodiversity conservation is the tendency for dam construction, which damages river ecosystems, to produce tangible benefits for humans through hydropower generation and relief from floods and droughts. Resolution of such conflicts requires changes in perception: for instance, realistic economic valuations of the ecosystem goods and services provided by rivers, and promotion of flagship species as conservation icons to increase citizen awareness. Translation of awareness and knowledge to action, however, remains the essential prerequisite for societal commitment to the conservation of freshwater ecosystems.

Preface

2004 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. vii-viii
Author(s):  
Malin Falkenmark
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Goods And Services

The 2003 Stockholm Water Symposium was the first in a new series within the overall topic of Drainage basin security - Prospects for tradeoffs and benefit sharing in a globalised world. Where population continues to grow, and the need increases to produce more food and other goods and services, the complexity of water management also increases. Ways have to be found in which to manage the chain of consecutive users, interests and quality degrading activities in the catchment so that all relevant uses/demands/polluting activities can be properly balanced.

scholarly journals Relating Mandates in the United States for Managing the Ocean to Ecosystem Goods and Services Demonstrates Broad but Varied Coverage

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christy M. Foran ◽  
Jason S. Link ◽  
Wesley S. Patrick ◽  
Leah Sharpe ◽  
Matthew D. Wood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ecosystem Goods And Services ◽  
Goods And Services

Agrodeforestation and the loss of agrobiodiversity in the Pacific Islands: a call for conservation

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randolph Thaman
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ecosystem Goods And Services ◽  
Livelihood Security ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Our ability to conserve biodiversity and to adapt to climate, environmental and economic change in the Pacific Islands will be greatly dependent on the conservation, restoration and enrichment of biodiversity within traditional multispecies agricultural land use systems. “Agrobiodiversity” is the most well-known, culturally-useful and accessible biodiversity on most islands and constitutes the most important foundation for ecosystem goods and services that support food, health, energy and livelihood security. This rich Pacific agrobiodiversity heritage, including associated ethnobiodiversity is highly threatened and deserves more prominence in mainstream conservation initiatives as a foundation for long-term sustainability. Such action is in line with Aichi Biodiversity Targets 7 and 13 which set goals for sustainable management of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and the maintenance of genetic diversity as critical for successful biodiversity conservation globally. It is also supported by the findings of the Japan Satoyama-Satoumi Assessment, which stresses the critical importance of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provided by traditional agricultural and village landscapes.

scholarly journals A First Glimpse on Cold-Adapted PCB-Oxidizing Bacteria in Edmonson Point Lakes (Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica)

Water ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Maria Papale ◽  
Angelina Lo Giudice ◽  
Alessandro Ciro Rappazzo ◽  
Maurizio Azzaro ◽  
Carmen Rizzo
Keyword(s):  
Human Impacts ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Cold Adapted ◽  
Remote Areas ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
Long Lifetime ◽  
Aroclor 1242 ◽  
Edmonson Point

Antarctic freshwater ecosystems are especially vulnerable to human impacts. Polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants that have a long lifetime in the environment. Despite their use having either been phased out or restricted, they are still found in nature, also in remote areas. Once in the environment, the fate of PCBs is strictly linked to bacteria which represent the first step in the transfer of toxic compounds to higher trophic levels. Data on PCB-oxidizing bacteria from polar areas are still scarce and fragmented. In this study, the occurrence of PCB-oxidizing cold-adapted bacteria was evaluated in water and sediment of four coastal lakes at Edmonson Point (Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica). After enrichment with biphenyl, 192 isolates were obtained with 57 of them that were able to grow in the presence of the PCB mixture Aroclor 1242, as the sole carbon source. The catabolic gene bphA, as a proxy for PCB degradation potential, was harbored by 37 isolates (out of 57), mainly affiliated to the genera Salinibacterium, Arthrobacter (among Actinobacteria) and Pusillimonas (among Betaproteobacteria). Obtained results enlarge our current knowledge on cold-adapted PCB-oxidizing bacteria and pose the basis for their potential application as a valuable eco-friendly tool for the recovery of PCB-contaminated cold sites.

Economic Valuation of Wetland Ecosystem Goods and Services

2017 ◽  
pp. 259-284
Author(s):  
Naren Pasupalati ◽  
Megha Nath ◽  
Abhijit Sharan ◽  
Priya Narayanan ◽  
Ramachandra Bhatta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Wetland Ecosystem ◽  
Ecosystem Goods And Services ◽  
Goods And Services

Environmental flow envelopes: quantifying ecosystem-threatening flow alterations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vili Virkki ◽  
Elina Alanärä ◽  
Miina Porkka ◽  
Lauri Ahopelto ◽  
Tom Gleeson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lower Bound ◽  
Upper Bound ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Environmental Flow ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Climate Forcings

<p>The benefits of harnessing rivers into human use should not come with a disproportionate expense on the Earth system. Especially, freshwater ecosystems suffer greatly from direct and indirect human impacts, such as excessive water withdrawals and climate change, which are expected to only increase in the near future. Here, we aim for quantifying the extent and degree of considerable flow alterations that threaten the well-being of freshwater ecosystems, across the world.</p><p>At the global scale, the ecological status of river systems is often assessed using global hydrological models (GHMs) and hydrological environmental flow (EF) methods. These suffer from substantial uncertainties: 1) the GHMs parameterised with variable climate forcings may give highly dispersed discharge estimates and 2) individual hydrological EF methods capture ecosystem water needs poorly. We tackle these sources of uncertainty by introducing a novel methodology: environmental flow envelopes (EFEs). The EFE is an envelope of safe discharge variability between a lower and an upper bound, defined at the sub-basin scale in monthly time resolution. It is based on pre-industrial (1801-1860) discharge and a large ensemble of EF methods, GHMs, and climate forcings, using ISI-MIP2b data. Using the EFE, we can simultaneously assess the frequency and severity of ecosystem-threatening flow alterations.</p><p>Comparing post-industrial (1976-2005) discharge to the EFEs, discharge in 32.7% of the total 3860 sub-basins, covering 28.4% of the global landmass, violates the EFE during more than 10% of all months across four GHMs. These violations are considered as severe threats to freshwater ecosystems. The most impacted regions include areas with high anthropogenic pressure, such as the Middle East, India, Eastern Asia, and Middle America. The violations clearly concentrate on the EFE lower bound during low or intermediate flow seasons. Discharge in 61.4% of sub-basins violates the EFE during more than 10% of low flow season months, average violation being 47.5% below the safe limit denoted by EFE lower bound. Indications of significantly increased flows by violations of the EFE upper bound are fewer and further apart, as well as lower bound violations during high flow season.</p><p>Although fractional discharge allocations alone cannot fully capture the ecosystem water needs, this study is a step towards less uncertainty in global EF assessments. The introduced method provides a novel, globally robust way of estimating ecosystem water needs at the sub-basin scale. The results of this study underline the importance of the low flow season, during which EFE violations are the most prevalent. While only preliminary evidence of significantly increased flows emerges in relatively few areas, the EFE upper bound would benefit from further research. The EFE methodology can be used for exploring macro-regional areas where anthropogenic flow alteration threatens freshwater ecosystems the most. However, case-specific studies incorporating factors beyond quantitative flow only are required for practical implications.</p>

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