US cities can manage national hydrology and biodiversity using local infrastructure policy.

ABSTRACT: Cities are concentrations of sociopolitical power and prime architects of land transformation, while also serving as consumption hubs of "hard" water and energy infrastructures. These infrastructures extend well outside metropolitan boundaries and impact distal river ecosystems. We used a comprehensive model to quantify the roles of anthropogenic stressors on hydrologic alteration and biodiversity in US streams and isolate the impacts stemming from hard infrastructure developments in cities. Across the contiguous United States, cities' hard infrastructures have significantly altered at least 7% of streams, which influence habitats for over 60% of North America's fish, mussel, and crayfish species. Additionally, city infrastructures have contributed to local extinctions in 260 species and c

SUBMITTER: McManamay RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5594670 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature