A quarter of freshwater animals at risk of extinction

A global survey has found that 24% of freshwater fauna is under threat of extinction.

Astyanax mexicanus fish. Credit: Topiltzin Contreras-MacBeath. Learn more

Authors of the study analysed 23,496 species of freshwater crustacean, fish and odonates (insects like dragonflies and damselflies). Nearly a quarter of these species are currently listed as “vulnerable” or worse.

Credit: Jens Kipping.

More than 10% of all known species live in freshwater habitats. These ecosystems are critical for nutrient cycling, flood control and climate change mitigation.

Pollution is the biggest threat, affecting 54% of the species at risk. Damsand water extraction threaten 39%, land usage change and agriculture affect 37%, and 28% are threatened by invasive species and disease.

Decapods (crustaceans such as crabs, crayfishes and shrimp) have the highest number of threatened species, with 30% at risk of extinction. About 26% of fish species and 16% of odonates are at risk.

cosmosmagazine.com

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A quarter of freshwater animals at risk of extinction

A global survey has found that 24% of freshwater fauna is under threat of extinction.

Authors of the study analysed 23,496 species of freshwater crustacean, fish and odonates (insects like dragonflies and damselflies). Nearly a quarter of these species are currently listed as “vulnerable” or worse.

Pollution is the biggest threat, affecting 54% of the species at risk. Damsand water extraction threaten 39%, land usage change and agriculture affect 37%, and 28% are threatened by invasive species and disease.

Decapods (crustaceans such as crabs, crayfishes and shrimp) have the highest number of threatened species, with 30% at risk of extinction. About 26% of fish species and 16% of odonates are at risk.

cosmosmagazine.com

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