Maqola

Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers

Günther GrillDepartment of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada. [email protected]Bernhard LehnerDepartment of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada. [email protected]Michele ThiemeWWF-US, Washington, DC, USABart GeenenWWF-NL, Zeist, The NetherlandsDavid TicknerWWF-UK, Woking, UKFrancesca AntonelliWWF-Mediterranean, Rome, ItalySuresh BabuWWF-India, New Delhi, IndiaPasquale BorrelliEnvironmental Geosciences, University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandLinyin ChengH. CrochetiereWWF-Canada, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaHeloisa Ehalt MacedoDepartment of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, CanadaRaquel FilgueirasRewilding Europe, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsMarc GoichotJonathan HigginsThe Nature Conservancy (TNC), Chicago, IL, USAZeb HoganDepartment of Biology and Global Water Center, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USAB. LipMichael E. McClainDepartment of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The NetherlandsJing MengHTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences, Konstanz, GermanyMark MulliganDepartment of Geography, King's College London, London, UKChrister NilssonDepartment of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, SwedenJulian D. OldenSchool of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USAJeffrey J. OppermanWWF-US, Washington, DC, USAPaulo PetryMuseum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USACatherine Reidy LiermannUW Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USALeonardo SáenzConservation International (CI), Arlington, VA, USASergio A. Salinas‐RodríguezP. SchelleWWF International, Gland, SwitzerlandRafael SchmittNatural Capital Project, Department of Biology and the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USAJames SniderWWF-Canada, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaFlorence TanDepartment of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, CanadaKlement TocknerAustrian Science Fund, FWF, Vienna, AustriaPaula Hanna ValdujoArnout van SoesbergenDepartment of Geography, King's College London, London, UKChristiane ZarflCenter for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

2019en

ABI

Annotatsiya

Free-flowing rivers (FFRs) support diverse, complex and dynamic ecosystems globally, providing important societal and economic services. Infrastructure development threatens the ecosystem processes, biodiversity and services that these rivers support. Here we assess the connectivity status of 12 million kilometres of rivers globally and identify those that remain free-flowing in their entire length. Only 37 per cent of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometres remain free-flowing over their entire length and 23 per cent flow uninterrupted to the ocean. Very long FFRs are largely restricted to remote regions of the Arctic and of the Amazon and Congo basins. In densely populated areas only few very long rivers remain free-flowing, such as the Irrawaddy and Salween. Dams and reservoirs and their up- and downstream propagation of fragmentation and flow regulation are the leading contributors to the loss of river connectivity. By applying a new method to quantify riverine connectivity and map FFRs, we provide a foundation for concerted global and national strategies to maintain or restore them.

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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9

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