Freshwater Ecosystems News

After a final sighting in 1991, the Madagascar pochard was thought to have vanished for good. But this diving duck was rediscovered in 2006 when a flock of 22 individuals…

Home to giant catfish and stingrays, feeding over 60 million people, and with the largest abundance of freshwater fish in the world, the Mekong River, and its numerous tributaries, brings…

A survey late last year found that the Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) population has been cut in half in just six years. During a 44-day survey, experts estimated…

How a sample payment for ecosystem services project works. Click to enlarge. Unlike cars, hamburgers, and computers, clean drinking water is a requirement for human survival. In a bid to…

A fisherman on the Mekong River in Laos. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Fish are a hugely important protein source for many people around the world. This is no more…

Chinook salmon. Photo by: USGS. In March of this year the Elwha Dam, which had stood for 99 years, was demolished in the U.S. state of Washington. Five months later,…

Since 1898 North America has lost at least 39 species of freshwater fish, according to a new study in Bioscience, and an additional 18 subspecies. Moreover, the loss of freshwater…

A new video highlights recent efforts to restore rivers in the Tongass Forest, the world's largest intact temperate rainforest. Industrial logging in vital watersheds have hurt salmon populations and other…

An interview with the Nature Conservancy's China Program. TNC staff and volunteers repairing signage at Meili Snow Mountain National Park in northwest Yunnan. Community benefits and ecotourism are at the…

There are two subspecies of the finless porpoise, one is found in the Yangtze River, the other in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. This individual is the latter and was…

An Asian small-clawed otter caught on camera trap in the Western Ghats. Photo by: Clusteronefloyd. In the fragmented rainforests of India, many animals must move through human-modified landscapes such as…

The giant river otter. Photo by: Frank Hajek. Behavior and conservation of the Amazon's giant river otter. Charismatic, vocal, unpredictable, domestic, and playful are all adjectives that aptly describe the…

The Cryosphere by Dr. Shawn J. Marshall, Canada Research Chair in Climate Change, University of Calgary, is an excellent book because it summarizes leading scientific research into easily accessible chapters…

The US Fish and Wildlife Service announced yesterday that the believe two species in Florida have vanished into the long dark night: the South Florida rainbow snake (Farancia erytrogramma seminola)…

Mekong river at Chiang Saen in Thailand. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. As the governments of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam ready to meet on April 19th to decide whether…

Researchers discover that overexploited fish are long-distance seed dispersers. The giant tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) in Manaus Fish Market, Brazil. Photo by: Thorke Østergaard. A fruit in the flooded Amazon falls…

New study shows how greater biodiversity more efficiently scrubs pollutants from freshwater. A new landmark study not only proves that adding more species to a freshwater stream linearly increases the…

The UN-backed Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) is urging nations to conserve their forests in a bid to mitigate rising water scarcity problems. "[Forests] reduce the effects of floods, prevent…

Heliotrygon gomesi in dorsal view. Photo taken by Ken Jones, University of Toronto at Scarborough Staff Photographer. Few people probably realize that in the rivers and lakes of the Amazon…