The map and associated angle abstracts – a collaborative activity amid World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy -- are featured in the May affair of the account BioScience.
Washington, D.C. (Vocus/PRWEB ) May 8, 2008 -- Over a decade of plan and contributions by added than 200 arch attention scientists accept produced a first-ever absolute map and database of the assortment of activity in the world’s freshwater ecosystems. The map and associated angle abstracts – a collaborative activity amid World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy -- are featured in the May affair of the account BioScience.
"Freshwater Ecoregions of the World” divides the world’s freshwater systems into 426 audible attention units, abounding of which are affluent in breed but beneath accretion burden from animal citizenry growth, ascent baptize use, and abode alteration. The absolute map and database (www.feow.org) are basic accoutrement for conservationists aggravating to save the world’s freshwater ecosystems.
Freshwater Ecoregions of the World Freshwater ecosystems are the atomic advised locations of our accustomed apple – they are like all-inclusive adopted libraries, awash with information 'Freshwater Ecoregions of the World' allows scientists and non-scientists akin to accretion a bigger compassionate of this apple and advice adviser efforts to save these systems and breed afore they are lost. Our abridgement of ability of freshwater breed has hindered our efforts to conserve rivers, lakes and wetlands about the world. Simply accepting a map that shows areas affluent in freshwater breed will advice us set attention priorities and activate to put a face to these different and capital species, which plan to accumulate our freshwater ecosystems breath and running. Among the highlights:
- This is the aboriginal abstraction to abridge abstracts on freshwater breed -- including fish, amphibians, crocodiles and turtles -- for about all of the world’s civil baptize habitats Almost 18,000 breed accept been mapped and placed into freshwater ecoregions.* This breed account includes 13,400 fish, 4,000 amphibians, 300 turtles, and 20 crocodile breed and their relatives. About bisected of all freshwater angle are endemic, or begin in alone one ecoregion. Portions of above rivers such as the Amazon, Congo, Ganges, Yangtze, and the rivers and streams of the American Southeast were articular as outstanding for affluent angle populations and top endemism (species begin boilerplate else). In addition, several abate systems that had not been articular in antecedent all-around assessments, such as Congo’s Malebo Pool, the Amazon’s western piedmont, and Cuba and Hispaniola, were bent to accept top numbers of ancient angle species. Excessive baptize use for agriculture, industry, bubbler and livestock are agreement freshwater ecosystems in 55 ecoregions beneath top stress, aggressive the breed and habitats. In addition 59 ecoregions added than 50 percent of their across has already been adapted from accustomed habitats to acreage and burghal areas.
"Freshwater ecosystems are the atomic advised locations of our accustomed apple – they are like all-inclusive adopted libraries, awash with information,” said World Wildlife Fund’s Robin Abell, who headed the study. “'Freshwater Ecoregions of the World' allows scientists and non-scientists akin to accretion a bigger compassionate of this apple and advice adviser efforts to save these systems and breed afore they are lost.”
Freshwater habitats abutment added than 100,000 breed and accommodate bodies with analytical casework such as bubbler baptize and fisheries. Yet freshwater habitats and breed are a allotment of the a lot of imperiled in the apple and accept generally been larboard out of all-embracing attention planning.
Until now there were no abstracts on all-around freshwater biodiversity actinic in a way that was advantageous to conservation. Collected analysis tended to focus alone on above rivers or baddest hotspots, abrogation out abounding added freshwater systems. Plus, advice was not simple to acceptance and search. As a result, it has been difficult to accretion a absolutely absolute compassionate of patterns of freshwater biodiversity above the globe.
The 'Freshwater Ecoregions of the World' (FEOW) activity was created to abode this need. This all-encompassing and calmly searchable ability now provides acceptance to advice that can advice ensure freshwater systems are able-bodied understood, answer and protected.
The Nature Conservancy’s Carmen Revenga said 'Freshwater Ecoregions of the World' could not accept appear at a added important time as antagonism for freshwater assets increases about the world. “Our abridgement of ability of freshwater breed has hindered our efforts to conserve rivers, lakes and wetlands about the world. Simply accepting a map that shows areas affluent in freshwater breed will advice us set attention priorities and activate to put a face to these different and capital species, which plan to accumulate our freshwater ecosystems breath and running.”
*A freshwater ecoregion is a ample across encompassing one or added freshwater systems that contains a audible aggregation of accustomed freshwater communities and species. The freshwater species, dynamics, and ecology altitude aural a accustomed ecoregion are added agnate to anniversary added than to those of surrounding ecoregions and calm anatomy a attention unit.
Known in the United States as World Wildlife Fund and accustomed common by its panda logo, WWF leads all-embracing efforts to assure endangered breed and their habitats and to conserve the assortment of activity on Earth. Now in its fifth decade, WWF, the all-around attention organization, works in added than 100 countries about the world. Additional advice may be begin at www.worldwildlife.org.
The Nature Conservancy is a arch attention alignment alive about the apple to assure ecologically important acreage and amnion for attributes and people. To date, the Conservancy and its added than one actor associates accept been amenable for the aegis of added than 18 actor acreage in the United States and accept helped bottle added than 117 actor acreage in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.
Contacts:
WWF: Lee Poston, 202-299-6442 or lee.poston @ wwfus.org
TNC: Cristina Mestre, 703-841-8779 or cmestre @ tnc.org
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