Interbasin water transfer, riverine connectivity, and spatial controls on fish biodiversity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Large-scale inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) projects are commonly proposed as solutions to water distribution and supply problems. These problems are likely to intensify under future population growth and climate change scenarios. Scarce data on the distribution of freshwater fishes frequently limits the ability to assess the potential implications of an IBWT project on freshwater fish communities. Because connectivity in habitat networks is expected to be critical to species' biogeography, consideration of changes in the relative isolation of riverine networks may provide a strategy for controlling impacts of IBWTs on freshwater fish communities.

Methods/principal findings

Using empirical data on the current patterns of freshwater fish biodiversity for rivers o

SUBMITTER: Grant EH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3314595 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature