The DOI matches its Crossref record; 92 of the 100 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 4 of the 61 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
Scientists’ warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis
Open accessAbstract
Freshwater ecosystems provide irreplaceable services for both nature and society. The quality and quantity of freshwater affect biogeochemical processes and ecological dynamics that determine biodiversity, ecosystem productivity, and human health and welfare at local, regional and global scales. Freshwater ecosystems and their associated riparian habitats are amongst the most biologically diverse on Earth, and have inestimable economic, health, cultural, scientific and educational values. Yet human impacts to lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands and groundwater are dramatically reducing biodiversity and robbing critical natural resources and services from current and future generations. Freshwater biodiversity is declining rapidly on every continent and in every major river basin on Earth, and this degradation is occurring more rapidly than in terrestrial ecosystems. Currently, about one third of all global freshwater discharges pass through human agricultural, industrial or urban infrastructure. About one fifth of the Earth's arable land is now already equipped for irrigation, including all the most productive lands, and this proportion is projected to surpass one third by midcentury to feed the rapidly expanding populations of humans and commensal species, especially poultry and ruminant livestock. Less than one fifth of the world's preindustrial freshwater wetlands remain, and this proportion is projected to decline to under one tenth by midcentury, with imminent threats from water transfer megaprojects in Brazil and India, and coastal wetland drainage megaprojects in China. The Living Planet Index for freshwater vertebrate populations has declined to just one third that of 1970, and is projected to sink below one fifth by midcentury. A linear model of global economic expansion yields the chilling prediction that human utilization of critical freshwater resources will approach one half of the Earth's total capacity by midcentury. Although the magnitude and growth of the human freshwater footprint are greater than is generally understood by policy makers, the news media, or the general public, slowing and reversing dramatic losses of freshwater species and ecosystems is still possible. We recommend a set of urgent policy actions that promote clean water, conserve watershed services, and restore freshwater ecosystems and their vital services. Effective management of freshwater resources and ecosystems must be ranked amongst humanity's highest priorities.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
35 Not checked yet · 6 Own result · 5 Own interpretation · 5 No basis given · 4 Sources not found · 1 Supported · 1 Partly supported · accuracy not yet measured
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Freshwater biodiversity is declining rapidly on every continent and in every major river basin on Earth, and this degradation is occurring more rapidly than in terrestrial ecosystems.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Rates in the decline of both freshwater and terrestrial groups are also closely associated with extent of wetland loss (Fig. 1b).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“A linear model of global economic expansion yields the chilling prediction that human utilization of critical freshwater resources will approach one half of the Earth's total capacity by midcentury.”
- Also stated in: § Abstract · plain
“Such a linear model of global economic expansion yields the chilling prediction that human utilization of critical freshwater resources will approach and even exceed 50% of the Earth's natural supply by midcentury.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
- Rests on an assumption: If current practices continue, the past straight-line growth in human use of freshwater and land resources will persist.
- Also stated in: § Abstract · plain
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Measures of global freshwater withdrawals and total land area equipped for irrigation are rising faster than the human use of terrestrial ecological productivity (Fig. 1a).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Freshwater biodiversity is declining rapidly on every continent and in every major river basin on Earth, and this degradation is occurring more rapidly than in terrestrial ecosystems.”
- Also stated in: § Abstract · boosted
“Analysis of historical trends globally provided here shows that freshwaters are being depleted, and ecosystems degraded, even more rapidly than their terrestrial counterparts (Fig. 1; Table 1).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Turak et al. 2017 source
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Abstract · boosted
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Note freshwater utilization is now a stronger limiting factor on human populations than terrestrial utilization.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > CONCLUSION
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Note freshwater populations declined an estimated 81% from 1970 to 2012.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > CONCLUSION
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Loh et al. 2005 source
- Not checked yetcites WWF 2016
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The linear model projects global wetlands to disappear entirely by midcentury.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > CONCLUSION
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The human utilization of both global freshwater and terrestrial resources shows persistent and linear increases over the past half century.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Note rate of biodiversity decline is faster in freshwater than terrestrial systems, and occurring alongside reductions in Global Wetland Loss.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > CONCLUSION
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- It may state two separate claims as one. 33
- Probably not a substantial claim. 1
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“The largest imminent threats come from megaprojects designed to transfer water among river basins in Brazil and India (Shumilova et al. 2018), and to drain coastal wetlands in China (Cui et al. 2016).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites Shumilova et al. 2018 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Global Scale Inventory (p. 7) identifies the São Francisco project in Brazil as under construction and says the Yettinahole diversion in India will damage a biodiversity hotspot. Impacts on Freshwater Ecosystems (p. 8) also describes expected harms from the Brazilian project. The paper does not rank these as the largest imminent threats. The coastal-wetlands claim is attributed to Cui et al., not this source. (LLM, conf=0.87)
- Supportedcites Cui et al. 2016 source
The Introduction describes reclamation as among the most widespread threats to coastal wetlands and reports approval to reclaim approximately 2,500 km² of China’s coastal wetlands during 2010–2020. This supports the China-specific, near-term threat for which Cui et al. is cited; the Brazil and India projects are attributed to a different source. (LLM, conf=0.86)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Partly supported
Every source the paper cites for this claim was checked and supports it.
In the paper
“Sediment retention by dams leads to delta recession (Luo et al. 2017) and degraded coastal fisheries and tropical mangrove forests, indirectly affecting carbon storage that reduces greenhouse gas emissions in the latter case (Atwood et al. 2017).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Supportedcites Luo et al. 2017 source
Luo et al. is cited for the link between sediment retention by dams and delta recession; the fisheries, mangroves, and carbon-storage claims are attached to a different citation. The Abstract reports erosion of the Yangtze subaqueous delta after construction of the Three Gorges Dam and attributes it mainly to reduced river sediment discharge. The Discussion likewise predicts continued erosion as engineering retains more sediment. (LLM, conf=0.94)
- Supportedcites Atwood et al. 2017 source
The Atwood citation attaches to the mangrove-carbon point, not the preceding dam and delta claim. The Introduction states that mangroves store large amounts of soil carbon and that preventing emissions from the loss of those stocks can mitigate climate change. (LLM, conf=0.92)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Supported
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The species illustrated roughly represent the proportions of endangered freshwater vertebrates, with greater threats to fishes (a-c) than to tetrapods (c-f), and to Eurasian (a-c, f) than non-Eurasian (d-e) species”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > CONCLUSION
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The total volume of water planned for near-future diversion megaprojects is projected to exceed 1900 km 3 per year, representing an additional * 5% of total global surface freshwater flow (Shumilova et al. 2018).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Shumilova et al. 2018 source
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“About one fifth of the Earth's arable land is now already equipped for irrigation, including all the most productive lands, and this proportion is projected to surpass one third by midcentury to feed the rapidly expanding populations of humans and commensal species, especially poultry and ruminant livestock.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Scanlon et al. 2007; Ellis et al. 2010; Siebert et al. 2015
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Yet human impacts to lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands and groundwater are dramatically reducing biodiversity and robbing critical natural resources and services from current and future generations.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The more rapid increase in threats to freshwater than terrestrial ecosystems arises from the minute total volume of liquid freshwater on the Earth's surface, and from the critical roles that freshwaters serve in human economic systems (Barbier 2017).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Barbier 2017 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Domestic ruminant livestock (* 4 thousand millions globally) contribute 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission, especially through the enteric fermentation by ruminants producing methane (Ripple et al. 2013).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Ripple et al. 2013 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The Living Planet Index for freshwater vertebrate populations has declined to just one third that of 1970, and is projected to sink below one fifth by midcentury.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Loh et al. 2005; WWF 2016
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Lowering the number of ruminant livestock would have the co-benefits of improving freshwater conditions and mitigating climate change.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“megafauna (defined as fishes, amphibians, reptiles and mammals C 30 kg adult body weight) declined by 88%, with mega-fishes undergoing the largest declines (-94%, Carrizo et al. 2017;He et al. 2019).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Carrizo et al. 2017; He et al. 2019
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The Yangtze basin is among the most impacted of any large river on Earth, with the last citings of two species occurring in the 2000s; i.e., the Yangtze river dolphin Lipotes vexillifer (Turvey et al. 2007), and the Yangtze paddlefish Psephurus gladius (Zhang et al. 2009).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Global populations of domestic ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats) (Ripple et al. 2013) poultry, and pigs (Bennett et al. 2018) used to feed the growing human population now exceed 100 million tons of carbon (Bar-On et al. 2018), and livestock populations are growing rapidly.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The total biomass of all humans alive today constitutes approximately 60 million metric tons of carbon, which is slightly more than 10 times that of all the remaining wild mammals of the world (Smil 2011).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Smil 2011 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Agricultural practices also degrade the quality and ecological status of the freshwater ecosystems, with status improvements remaining slow and difficult long after environmental regulations have been put in place requiring such improvements (Destouni et al. 2017).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Destouni et al. 2017 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Worldwide, agriculture accounts for about 70% of all freshwater usage, compared to 20% for industry and 10% for domestic uses (FAO 2016).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites FAO 2016
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Withdrawals and diversions (Jaramillo and Destouni 2015) as well as agricultural expansion and intensification (Destouni et al. 2013) are main threats to freshwater availability and quality (Destouni and Jarsjo ¨2018), while fragmentation and flow regulation (Winemiller et al. 2016) are main threats to freshwater biodiversity by altering rivers, floodplain lakes, wetlands and estuaries.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Damages are seen in the total area of anthropogenic (urban and agricultural) modified landscapes worldwide, wetlands reduction, and amount of surface and subsurface flows that have been diminished or degraded (Gleeson et al. 2016).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Gleeson et al. 2016 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Altered flow seasonality in rivers has led to less diverse fish assemblages, decreased inland fisheries production, less stable bird populations and lower riparian forest production (Jardine et al. 2015;Kingsford et al. 2017;Sabo et al. 2017).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Demands on global freshwaters continue to grow rapidly, with efforts to expand global food production by 50-70% before 2050 (Molden 2007;FAO 2011).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Molden 2007
- Not checked yetcites FAO 2011
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The global human population is projected to reach 9.6-12.3thousand millions people by the year 2100, and the human appropriation of (terrestrial) net primary productivity (HANPP) to reach 40-60% (Krausmann et al. 2013).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Krausmann et al. 2013 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Increased human population and socio-economic activities also increase the pollutant and nutrient loads that deteriorate water quality and ecosystem status across different regions and countries around the world (Destouni and Jarsjo ¨2018; Levi et al. 2018).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Water withdrawals and diversions currently cause about one-quarter of the world's rivers to run dry before reaching the ocean, and have drained major inland water bodies like the Aral Sea in Central Asia (Destouni et al. 2013) and Lake Urmia in Iran (Khazaei et al. 2019).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Among the most effective methods for stabilizing human population growth are to provide primary and secondary education for girls, and voluntary family planning education for women in developing countries (Leigh and Blakely 2017).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > RECOMMENDED ACTIONS FOR FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Leigh and Blakely 2017
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Therefore, a linear growth model may be able to persist well into this century, despite the obvious crises that would follow as we reach or surpass the Earth's freshwater capacity.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Rests on an assumption: If current practices continue, the past straight-line growth in human use of freshwater and land resources will persist.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Dams also prevent upstreamdownstream movement of freshwater animals, facilitate settlement of non-native species, cause local species extirpations and replacements and increase risk of waterborne diseases in reservoirs and highly altered environments by modifying productivity (Fenwick 2006;Poff and Schmidt 2016).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The volume of water used by the energy sector alone represents about 15% of global freshwater withdrawals, and extracting and processing freshwater represents about 19% of total usage by the energy sector (Fricko et al. 2016).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Fricko et al. 2016 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Dams transform river basins by creating artificial lakes locally, fragmenting river networks, and greatly distorting natural patterns of sediment transport and seasonal variations in water temperatures and flows (Latrubesse et al. 2017).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Latrubesse et al. 2017 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Freshwater species and ecosystems are increasingly threatened by many human activities, including habitat alteration, water pollution, overfishing, exotic species introduction, river diversions, fragmentation and flow regulation, expansion of agricultural and urban landscapes, climate change, rising sea levels and altered precipitation regimes (Dudgeon 2019;Grill et al. 2019;IPBES 2019).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Freshwater ecosystems are also among the most diverse per unit habitat volume on Earth, with more than 140 000 species (i.e., fungi, plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates; c. 12% of all described species) compressed into just * 2% of the world's surface area, and a minute * 0.007% of the total planetary water supply (Reid et al. 2019).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Reid et al. 2019 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“In the twentieth century, the human population grew fourfold and human appropriation of energy from the biosphere about doubled from 13 to 25% (Krausmann et al. 2013).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Krausmann et al. 2013 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The main conservation threats to these species come from human activities, including overharvesting, pollution, introducing invasive species, and habitat modifications (e.g., water diversions, land-use changes, climate change).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > CONCLUSION
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The fragmentation of river corridors also reduces population sizes and gene flows of aquatic species, increasing species extinction risks (Cohen et al. 2016a, b;Dias et al. 2017).”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Cohen et al. 2016a, b
- Not checked yetcites Dias et al. 2017 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper relies on this without support.
Humanity can still halt and undo the sharp declines in freshwater life and habitats.
“slowing and reversing dramatic losses of freshwater species and ecosystems is still possible.”
“Slowing and reversing the dramatic losses of freshwater species and ecosystems is still possible.”
The paper relies on this without support.
If current practices continue, the past straight-line growth in human use of freshwater and land resources will persist.
“Therefore, a linear growth model may be able to persist well into this century, despite the obvious crises that would follow as we reach or surpass the Earth's freshwater capacity.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Technologies already exist that can manage and reduce many parts of the freshwater biodiversity crisis.
“We currently have technologies to manage and ameliorate many aspects of the freshwater biodiversity crisis-what we lack is political will.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Tropical developing countries will see the largest increases in human density and per-capita water use over the next 50 years.
“These countries expect the greatest increases in human density and per-capita water consumption in the next 50 years.”
The paper relies on this without support.
A world with reduced freshwater will harm many dimensions of human welfare.
“A world with diminished freshwaters will impoverish many aspects of human welfare, and we risk further damaging these essential life-support systems at our peril.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Moving agricultural and bioenergy production from high-income to low-income tropical regions would increase threats to species-rich tropical aquatic ecosystems.
“However, we must not relocate agricultural and bioenergy production from highincome to low-income tropical regions, which will further threaten species-rich tropical aquatic ecosystems.”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“Inland waters cover less than 2 per cent of the Earth's surface, but support 12 per cent of known species, 1 and more than half of all fish species, 2 with high levels of endemism.3”
From Protecting and restoring habitats to benefit freshwater biodiversity (2024) · cites this paper as [3]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated major: it would touch a result — a value a result rests on, reported and recomputed p-values on opposite sides of the significance level, two passages that conflict with no sign which is right, or a cited work retracted before this paper was published.
In the paper
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
“The Living Planet Index for freshwater vertebrate populations has declined to just one third that of 1970, and is projected to sink below one fifth by midcentury.”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
“Note freshwater populations declined an estimated 81% from 1970 to 2012.”
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
“LPI-FW e 8.0e10e -0.013 year 0.99 0.00018”
§ Scientists' warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis > Abstract
“e LPI-T estimates 4658 terrestrial populations of 1678 species.”
Citations
Cites
Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet
Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S. E., Fetzer, I., Bennett, E. M., Biggs, R., Carpenter, S. R., de Vries, W., de Wit, C. A., et al. (2015) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1259855 · Cited by 12,527
Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity
Vörösmarty, C. J., McIntyre, P. B., Gessner, M. O., Dudgeon, D., Prusevich, A., Green, P., Glidden, S., Bunn, S. E., Sullivan, C. A., Liermann, C. R., et al. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature09440 · Cited by 7,582
Four billion people facing severe water scarcity
Mekonnen, M. M., & Hoekstra, A. Y. (2016) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500323 · Cited by 5,531
Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction
Ceballos, G., Ehrlich, P. R., Barnosky, A. D., García, A., Pringle, R. M., & Palmer, T. M. (2015) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.1400253 · Cited by 4,220
The biomass distribution on Earth
Bar-On, Y. M., Phillips, R., & Milo, R. (2018) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1711842115 · Cited by 3,723
Emerging threats and persistent conservation challenges for freshwater biodiversity
Reid, A. J., Carlson, A. K., Creed, I. F., Eliason, E. J., Gell, P. A., Johnson, P. T. J., Kidd, K. A., MacCormack, T. J., Olden, J. D., Ormerod, S. J., et al. (2019) · Biological Reviews · doi:10.1111/brv.12480 · Cited by 3,645
Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers
Sánchez-Bayo, F., & Wyckhuys, K. A. G. (2019) · Biological Conservation · doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020 · Cited by 3,462
Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers
Grill, G., Lehner, B., Thieme, M., Geenen, B., Tickner, D., Antonelli, F., Babu, S., Borrelli, P., Cheng, L., Crochetiere, H., et al. (2019) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9 · Cited by 2,473
The water footprint of humanity
Hoekstra, A. Y., & Mekonnen, M. M. (2012) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1109936109 · Cited by 2,405
Emerging trends in global freshwater availability
Rodell, M., Famiglietti, J. S., Wiese, D. N., Reager, J. T., Beaudoing, H. K., Landerer, F. W., & Lo, M. (2018) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0123-1 · Cited by 2,253
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Sengupta, S., and W. Cai. 2019. A quarter of humanity faces looming water crises. New York Times. Aug. 6: 2019.
- WWF. 2016. Living planet: Report 2016: Risk and resilience in a new era. Gland: World Wide Fund for Nature.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Human impacts on global freshwater fish biodiversity
Su, G., Logez, M., Xu, J., Tao, S., Villéger, S., & Brosse, S. (2021) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.abd3369 · Cited by 629
Maja, M. M., & Feyissa, S. (2021) · Earth Systems and Environment · doi:10.1007/s41748-021-00209-6 · Cited by 654
“Despite improved water use efficiency in agriculture through technological advancements in some emerging economies of developing countries (Plusquellec 2009; Hütsch and Schubert 2018), consumption never decreased; even further withdrawals and diversions were needed to meet demands of increasing population (Albert et a…”
BackgroundScientists’ warning – The outstanding biodiversity of islands is in peril
Fernández‐Palacios, J. M., Kreft, H., Irl, S. D. H., Norder, S. J., AH-PENG, C., Borges, P. A. V., Burns, K. C., de Nascimento, L., Meyer, J., Montes, E., et al. (2021) · Global Ecology and Conservation · doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01847 · Cited by 388
Heino, J., Alahuhta, J., Bini, L. M., Cai, Y., Heiskanen, A., Hellsten, S., Kortelainen, P., Kotamäki, N., Tolonen, K. T., Vihervaara, P., et al. (2021) · Biological Reviews · doi:10.1111/brv.12647 · Cited by 356
One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction
Overed-Sayer, C., Fernando, E., Jiménez, R. R., Macfarlane, N. B. W., Rapacciuolo, G., Böhm, M., Brooks, T. M., Contreras‐MacBeath, T., Cox, N. A., Harrison, I. J., et al. (2025) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08375-z · Cited by 409
“Globally, biodiversity is in decline 6 with freshwater ecosystems being particularly affected 20 .”
Self-citationDiversification of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes
(2020) · doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-011620-031032 · Cited by 297
Self-citationRosa, L. (2022) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac7408 · Cited by 282
Yao, M., Zhang, S., Lu, Q., Chen, X., Zhang, S., Kong, Y., & Zhao, J. (2022) · Molecular Ecology · doi:10.1111/mec.16659 · Cited by 204
“…approaches each have valuable merits and can provide both overlapping and complimentary information, and hence should be used together to provide a comprehensive understanding of fish biodiversity (Albert et al., 2021; Cilleros et al., 2019; Stat et al., 2019; Valdivia- Carrillo et al., 2021).”
BackgroundThreats, challenges and sustainable conservation strategies for freshwater biodiversity
Ahmed, S. F., Kumar, P. S., Kabir, M., Zuhara, F. T., Mehjabin, A., Tasannum, N., Hoang, A. T., Kabir, Z., & Mofijur, M. (2022) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113808 · Cited by 206
Water Resources in Africa under Global Change: Monitoring Surface Waters from Space
Papa, F., Crétaux, J., Grippa, M., Robert, É., Trigg, M. A., Tshimanga, R. M., Kitambo, B., Paris, A., Carr, A. B., Fleischmann, A. S., et al. (2022) · Surveys in Geophysics · doi:10.1007/s10712-022-09700-9 · Cited by 198
Integrated terrestrial-freshwater planning doubles conservation of tropical aquatic species
Leal, C. G., Lennox, G. D., Ferraz, S. F. D. B., Ferreira, J., Gardner, T. A., Thomson, J. R., Berenguer, É., Lees, A. C., Hughes, R. M., Nally, R. M., et al. (2020) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aba7580 · Cited by 164
“Despite the freshwater biodiversity crisis (6), freshwater species are rarely considered in broad-scale 24 conservation strategies (7-9).”
BackgroundFish and macroinvertebrate assemblages reveal extensive degradation of the world's rivers
Feio, M. J., Hughes, R. M., Serra, S. R. Q., Nichols, S. J., Kefford, B. J., Lintermans, M., Robinson, W. A., Odume, O. N., Callisto, M., Macedo, D. R., et al. (2022) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.16439 · Cited by 166
“This is consistent with studies on losses of freshwater vertebrate biodiversity (e.g., Albert et al., 2021; Darwall et al., 2018; Dirzo et al., 2014).”
ResultGreen, A. J., Lovas‐Kiss, Á., Reynolds, C., et al. (2023) · Freshwater Biology · doi:10.1111/fwb.14038 · Cited by 139
Zhang, S., Zheng, Y., Zhan, A., Dong, C., Zhao, J., & Yao, M. (2022) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.abk0097 · Cited by 128
(2022) · doi:10.3390/w14193153 · Cited by 126
“[47,48] warned about the unpleasant consequences of over exuberant growth.”
BackgroundBending the curve of global freshwater biodiversity loss: what are the prospects?
Dudgeon, D. L., & Strayer, D. L. (2024) · Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · doi:10.1111/brv.13137 · Cited by 163
FISHMORPH: A global database on morphological traits of freshwater fishes
Brosse, S., Charpin, N., Su, G.-H., Toussaint, A., Herrera‐R, G. A., Tedesco, P., & Villéger, S. (2021) · Global Ecology and Biogeography · doi:10.1111/geb.13395 · Cited by 117
Rolls, R. J., Deane, D. C., Johnson, S. E., Heino, J., Anderson, M. J., & Ellingsen, K. E. (2023) · Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · doi:10.1111/brv.12958 · Cited by 118
“Overall, changes in the spatial dissimilarities among assemblages (termed ‘beta diversity’) is an increasingly recognised feature of broader biodiversity change in the Anthropocene.”
BackgroundInfluentialThoma, M. V., Rohleder, N., & Rohner, S. L. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.675936 · Cited by 117
“Across the globe, scientists increasingly emphasize biodiversity issues, such as the impact of the extinction of insect populations (55), the need for conservation of subterranean ecosystems (56), or the freshwater biodiversity crisis (57).”
BackgroundNsabiyeze, A., Ma, R., Li, J., et al. (2024) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.142973 · Cited by 116
Integrating urban water fluxes and moving beyond impervious surface cover: A review
Oswald, C. J., Kelleher, C. A., Ledford, S. H., Hopkins, K. G., Sytsma, A., Tetzlaff, D., Toran, L. E., & Voter, C. B. (2023) · Journal of Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129188 · Cited by 123
Scientists' warning to humanity on tree extinctions
Rivers, M., Newton, A. C., Oldfield, S. F., & Contributors, G. T. A. (2022) · Plants People Planet · doi:10.1002/ppp3.10314 · Cited by 108
A global synthesis of human impacts on the multifunctionality of streams and rivers
Brauns, M., Allen, D. C., Boëchat, I. G., Cross, W. F., Ferreira, V., Graeber, D., Patrick, C. J., Peipoch, M., von Schiller, D., & Gücker, B. (2022) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.16210 · Cited by 105
Scientists' warning against the society of waste
Marín, I., Demaria, F., Ofelio, C., Serra, L. M., Turiel, A., Ripple, W. J., Mukul, S. A., & Costa, M. C. (2021) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151359 · Cited by 112
“Albert et al. (2020) reported that around two-thirds of the global population are already experiencing severe water scarcity, during at least part of the year.”
Self-citationPham, T. T., Nguyen, T. H., Nguyen, T. A. H., et al. (2021) · Desalination · doi:10.1016/j.desal.2021.115280 · Cited by 88
Afolabi, L. O., Enweremadu, C. C., Kareem, M. W., et al. (2023) · Desalination · doi:10.1016/j.desal.2023.116477 · Cited by 88
Williams‐Subiza, E. A., & Epele, L. B. (2021) · Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems · doi:10.1002/aqc.3627 · Cited by 89
Earhart, M. L., Blanchard, T. S., Harman, A. A., & Schulte, P. M. (2022) · Biological Bulletin · doi:10.1086/722115 · Cited by 81
Simeoni, C., Furlan, E., Pham, H. V., Critto, A., de Juan, S., Trégarot, E., Cornet, C. C., Meesters, E. H., Fonseca, C., Botelho, A. Z., et al. (2022) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160687 · Cited by 84
“Marine and coastal ecosystems (MCEs) play a crucial role for society by regulating climate, providing food resources and contributing to well-being (Albert et al., 2020; EEA, 2019).”
Environmental parasitology: stressor effects on aquatic parasites
Sures, B., Nachev, M., Schwelm, J., Grabner, D. S., & Selbach, C. (2023) · Trends in Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.pt.2023.03.005 · Cited by 82
“Numerous human activities lead to habitat alteration and thereby jeopardise freshwater ecosystems and their species, including habitat modification, river diversion, fragmentation and flow regulation as well as agricultural and urban landscape expansion [5,20,21].”
BackgroundSiddiqui, S. A., Süfer, Ö., Koç, G. Ç., Lutuf, H., Rahayu, T., Castro‐Muñoz, R., & Fernando, I. (2024) · Environment Development and Sustainability · doi:10.1007/s10668-023-04306-6 · Cited by 95
World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot
Merz, J. J., Barnard, P., Rees, W. E., Smith, D. F., Maroni, M., Rhodes, C. J., Dederer, J. H., Bajaj, N., Joy, M., Wiedmann, T., et al. (2023) · Science Progress · doi:10.1177/00368504231201372 · Cited by 125
Implications of climate change on freshwater ecosystems and their biodiversity
Nimma, D., Devi, O. R., Laishram, B., Ramesh, J. V. N., Boddupalli, S., ayyasamy, R., Tirth, V., & Arabi, A. (2024) · Desalination and Water Treatment · doi:10.1016/j.dwt.2024.100889 · Cited by 97
Berríos-Rolón, P. J., Cotto, M. C., & Márquez, F. (2025) · Toxics · doi:10.3390/toxics13040321 · Cited by 80
“Despite their importance, freshwater resources are under constant pressure, not only due to their geographical limitations but also from anthropogenic activities such as industrialization, agriculture, and urbanization, which contribute to the introduction of PAHs in these systems [54,56].”
Rohde, M. M., Stella, J. C., Roberts, D. A., et al. (2021) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2026453118 · Cited by 76
“Yet, they are some of the most endangered ecosystems globally (1, 2) since they often exist at the epicenter of urbanization and intensive agriculture.”
BackgroundEvolution of Amazonian biodiversity: A review
Guayasamin, J. M., RIBAS, C. C., Carnaval, A. C., Carrillo, J. D., Hoorn, C., Lohmann, L. G., Riff, D., Ulloa, C. U., & Albert, J. S. (2024) · Acta Amazonica · doi:10.1590/1809-4392202103601 · Cited by 98
Self-citationRevisiting global trends in freshwater insect biodiversity
Jähnig, S. C., BARANOV, V. A., Altermatt, F., Cranston, P. S., Friedrichs‐Manthey, M., Geist, J. P., He, F., Heino, J., Hering, D., Hölker, F., et al. (2020) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water · doi:10.1002/wat2.1506 · Cited by 70
“, 2020), (ii) increasing threats to, and disproportionate loss of, freshwater biodiversity at the global scale (Albert et al., 2020; Reid et al., 2019; WWF, 2020), and (iii) the existing degraded status of many freshwater ecosystems in Europe, North America, and Asia (Vörösmarty et al., 2010). We argue that this contr…”
BackgroundInfluentialPapa, F., & Frappart, F. (2021) · Remote Sensing · doi:10.3390/rs13204162 · Cited by 86
Wu, N., Wang, Y., Wang, Y., Sun, X., Faber, C., & Fohrer, N. (2022) · Journal of Ecology · doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13859 · Cited by 73
“Although freshwater habitats cover only 1% of the planet surface, they support ~10% of all known species and ~1/3 of vertebrate species (Strayer & Dudgeon, 2010), and thus are invaluable for biodiversity (Altermatt et al., 2013).”
BackgroundThe potential for nature-based solutions to combat the freshwater biodiversity crisis
van Rees, C. B., Jumani, S., Abera, L. E., Rack, L. E., McKay, S. K., & Wenger, S. J. (2023) · PLOS Water · doi:10.1371/journal.pwat.0000126 · Cited by 84
“At the same time, freshwater species are declining at rates greatly exceeding terrestrial and marine taxa, due to multiple stressors including invasive species, river flow modification, water abstraction, pollution, and overharvest [7,8].”
BackgroundStoffers, T., Altermatt, F., Baldan, D., Bilous, O. P., Borgwardt, F., Buijse, A. D., Bondar‐Kunze, E., Cid, N., Erős, T., Ferreira, M. T., et al. (2024) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water · doi:10.1002/wat2.1717 · Cited by 83
“However, a significant challenge lies in the lack of political will and commitment to allocate the necessary resources and funding for effective freshwater restoration measures (Albert et al., 2021), which are essential for ensuring a positive future.”
BackgroundPrié, V., Valentini, A., Lopes-Lima, M., et al. (2021) · Hydrobiologia · doi:10.1007/s10750-020-04260-8 · Cited by 70
Almeida, B. A., Sebastián‐González, E., dos Anjos, L., & Green, A. J. (2020) · Freshwater Biology · doi:10.1111/fwb.13618 · Cited by 74
Brierley, G., & Fryirs, K. (2022) · Geoscience Letters · doi:10.1186/s40562-022-00223-0 · Cited by 81
Protecting and restoring habitats to benefit freshwater biodiversity
Piczak, M. L., Perry, D., Cooke, S. J., Harrison, I., Benitez, S., Koning, A., Peng, L., Limbu, P., Smokorowski, K. E., Salinas-Rodriguez, S., et al. (2024) · Environmental Reviews · doi:10.1139/er-2023-0034 · Cited by 68
“…specific places or spaces, rather than considering the scale at which freshwater systems function (Gomi et al. 2002; Vaughn 2010), the scale at which threats operate (Collen et al. 2014; Albert et al. 2021), and the scale at which conservation interventions need to be applied (Albert et al. 2021).”
BackgroundThe alarming state of freshwater biodiversity in Canada
Desforges, J. E., Clarke, J., Harmsen, E. J., Jardine, A. M., Robichaud, J. A., Serré, S., Chakrabarty, P., Bennett, J., Hanna, D. E. L., Smol, J. P., et al. (2021) · Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences · doi:10.1139/cjfas-2021-0073 · Cited by 68
Human–River Encounter Sites: Looking for Harmony between Humans and Nature in Cities
Zingraff‐Hamed, A., Bonnefond, M., Bonthoux, S., Legay, N., Greulich, S., Robert, A., Rotgé, V. L., Serrano, J., Cao, Y., Bala, R., et al. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su13052864 · Cited by 70
“As a result, many rivers are in a critical state worldwide while their ecosystem services are altered [6].”
BackgroundScientists’ warning of the impacts of climate change on mountains
Knight, J. (2022) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.14253 · Cited by 76
“To this end, world scientists have sent a Warning to Humanity regarding the impacts of climate change on different physical systems and environments (e.g., Ripple et al., 2017; Finlayson et al., 2019; Albert et al., 2021).”
BackgroundEvaluating The Global State of Ecosystems and Natural Resources: within and beyond The SDGs
Dickens, C., McCartney, M., Tickner, D., Harrison, I. J., Pacheco, P., & Ndhlovu, B. (2020) · doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0185.v1 · Cited by 66
Decarbonization potential of floating solar photovoltaics on lakes worldwide
Woolway, R. I., Zhao, G., Rocha, S. M. G., Thackeray, S. J., & Armstrong, A. (2024) · Nature Water · doi:10.1038/s44221-024-00251-4 · Cited by 73
“Whereas FPV presents a promising avenue for decarbonization, its deployment on natural lakes could pose considerable risks to freshwater ecosystems and native biodiversity, which is increasingly at risk from external pressures 66,67 .”
Wang, J., Chen, L., Tang, W., et al. (2021) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112863 · Cited by 63
Lindholm, M., Alahuhta, J., Heino, J., & Toivonen, H. (2020) · Journal of Ecology · doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13508 · Cited by 61
“Recently, scientists have warned that these environments are facing a severe biodiversity crisis and are thus losing much of their biodiversity (Albert et al. 2020).”
BackgroundNeubauer, T. A., Hauffe, T., Silvestro, D., Schauer, J., Kadolsky, D., Wesselingh, F. P., Harzhauser, M., & Wilke, T. (2021) · Communications Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43247-021-00167-x · Cited by 65
Wu, J., Zeng, S., Yang, L., et al. (2021) · Remote Sensing · doi:10.3390/rs13163309 · Cited by 60
“River networks are connected in both upstream and downstream directions by the stream flow, representing the pathways for mass transport from land to lakes and oceans, which can maintain the connectivity of populations of freshwater species [2].”
BackgroundWang, J., Ding, C., Tao, J., Jiang, X., Heino, J., Ding, L., Su, W., Chen, M., Zhang, K., & He, D. (2020) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142945 · Cited by 59
Using invertebrate functional traits to improve flow variability assessment within European rivers
Laini, A., Burgazzi, G., Chadd, R. P., England, J., Tziortzis, I., Ventrucci, M., Vezza, P., Wood, P. J., Viaroli, P., & Guareschi, S. (2022) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155047 · Cited by 42
Transcending capitalism growth strategies for biodiversity conservation
Moranta, J., Figuerola, C. M. T., Murray, I., Hidalgo, M., Hinz, H., & Gouraguine, A. (2021) · Conservation Biology · doi:10.1111/cobi.13821 · Cited by 67
Heino, J., García Girón, J., Hämäläinen, H., et al. (2022) · Diversity and Distributions · doi:10.1111/ddi.13598 · Cited by 56
Evaluating the Global State of Ecosystems and Natural Resources: Within and Beyond the SDGs
Dickens, C., McCartney, M., Tickner, D., Harrison, I. J., Pacheco, P., & Ndhlovu, B. (2020) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su12187381 · Cited by 65
A taxonomy of design factors in constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell performance: A review
Ebrahimi, A., Sivakumar, M., & McLauchlan, C. (2021) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112723 · Cited by 55
Mcelhinney, J., Catacutan, M. K., Mawart, A., Hasan, A., & Dias, J. M. M. (2022) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.851450 · Cited by 58
A Machine Learning Approach to Predict Groundwater Levels in California Reveals Ecosystems at Risk
Rohde, M. M., Biswas, T., Housman, I. W., et al. (2021) · Frontiers in Earth Science · doi:10.3389/feart.2021.784499 · Cited by 54
“However, increasing human demands for groundwater to support agriculture, industrial expansion, economic development, and population growth are resulting in the degradation of freshwater ecosystems (Dudgeon et al., 2006; Albert et al., 2020).”
BackgroundAlam, M. F., McClain, M. E., Sikka, A. K., & Pande, S. (2022) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac91e1 · Cited by 51
Çolak, M. A., Öztaş, B., Özgencil, İ. K., et al. (2022) · Water · doi:10.3390/w14081241 · Cited by 53
“To ensure effective use of the water in the basin, switching to water-saving irrigation methods and the planting of crops suitable for the climate and water potential of the area through regional-level action is highly needed [102].”
Chen, Y., Fang, J., Ling, T., Xia, M., Xu, P., Cao, Y. X., Wei, D., & Gao, J. (2022) · Desalination · doi:10.1016/j.desal.2022.116003 · Cited by 50
Modelling human influences on biodiversity at a global scale–A human ecology perspective
Cepic, M., Bechtold, U., & Wilfing, H. (2021) · Ecological Modelling · doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109854 · Cited by 63
Moyle, B. D., Weaver, D. B., Gössling, S., et al. (2022) · Journal of Sustainable Tourism · doi:10.1080/09669582.2021.1993233 · Cited by 51
Nanocellulosics: Benign, Sustainable, and Ubiquitous Biomaterials for Water Remediation
Ray, S. S., & Iroegbu, A. O. C. (2021) · ACS Omega · doi:10.1021/acsomega.0c06070 · Cited by 52
Hen, G. L., Balzani, P., Haase, P., Kouba, A., Liu, C., Nagelkerke, L. A. J., Theissen, N., Renault, D., Soto, I., & Haubrock, P. J. (2023) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161486 · Cited by 47
Green, A. J., Guardiola-Albert, C., Bravo-Utrera, M. Á., et al. (2024) · Wetlands · doi:10.1007/s13157-023-01769-1 · Cited by 48
“AEA also paid too little attention to the critical importance of the climate crisis for Mediterranean wetlands such as Doñana (Albert et al. 2021; Taylor et al. 2021), and overlooked the way that groundwater with-drawals need further reductions in the face of climate change to conserve the…”
Hydrological Consequences of Solar Geoengineering
Ricke, K., Wan, J., Saenger, M., & Lutsko, N. J. (2023) · Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences · doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-031920-083456 · Cited by 50
Tao, J., Ding, C., Chen, J., Ding, L., Brosse, S., Heino, J., Hermoso, V., Wu, R., Wang, Z., Hu, J., et al. (2022) · Conservation Biology · doi:10.1111/cobi.14036 · Cited by 51
“Freshwater biodiversity is rapidly declining due to prevailing threats, such as overexploitation, habitat degradation, pollution, invasive species, and climate change (Albert et al., 2021; Heino et al., 2021; Reid et al., 2019).”
BackgroundA generalized reservoir module for SWAT applications in watersheds regulated by reservoirs
Wang, Z., He, Y., Li, W., et al. (2023) · Journal of Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128770 · Cited by 46
Chang, H., Makido, Y., & Foster, E. (2021) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.111962 · Cited by 46
Riepe, C., Liebe, U., Fujitani, M. L., Kochalski, S., Aas, Ø., & Arlinghaus, R. (2021) · Society & Natural Resources · doi:10.1080/08941920.2021.1890865 · Cited by 54
Diversity, distribution and extinction risk of native freshwater fishes of South Africa
Chakona, A., Jordaan, M. S., Raimondo, D. C., Bills, R. I., Skelton, P., & der Colff, D. V. (2022) · Journal of Fish Biology · doi:10.1111/jfb.15011 · Cited by 47
Fishing ban halts seven decades of biodiversity decline in the Yangtze River
Xiong, F., Li, Z., Brosse, S., et al. (2026) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.adu5160 · Cited by 44
Assessing the Interlinkage between Biodiversity and Diet through the Mediterranean Diet Case
Mattas, K. A., Raptou, E., Alayidi, A., Yener, G., & Baourakis, G. (2023) · Advances in Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.advnut.2023.03.011 · Cited by 46
Zahmatkesh, S., Far, S. S., & Sillanpää, M. E. T. (2022) · Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances · doi:10.1016/j.hazadv.2022.100110 · Cited by 44
Maloney, K. O., Buchanan, C., Jepsen, R. D., Krause, K. P., Cashman, M. J., Gressler, B. P., Young, J. A., & Schmid, M. C. (2022) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116068 · Cited by 47
Birnie‐Gauvin, K., Lynch, A. J., Franklin, P. A., Reid, A. J., Landsman, S. J., Tickner, D., Dalton, J., Aarestrup, K., & Cooke, S. J. (2023) · Conservation Science and Practice · doi:10.1111/csp2.12911 · Cited by 53
“Collaborating with natural resource managers, policy makers, and the public in a co-production process, freshwater specialists can connect users with the resource and frame the science of freshwater conservation in a way that is credible, relevant, legitimate, and solutions-focused (Albert et al., 2021; Doubleday & Co…”
BackgroundInfluentialCoutant, O., Jezequel, C., Mokany, K., Cantera, I., Covain, R., Valentini, A., Déjean, T., Brosse, S., & Murienne, J. (2022) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.16533 · Cited by 41
“…the beta- part package (Baselga & Orme, 2012), we also computed the turnover (β jtu) and nestedness (β jne) contribution to taxonomic β- diversity (β jac) to understand if β- diversity is mostly the results of difference in species compositions between sites (Baselga, 2010; Carvalho et al., 2012).”
BackgroundWhite stork movements reveal the ecological connectivity between landfills and different habitats
López‐Calderón, C., Martín‐Vélez, V., Blas, J., Höfle, Ú., Sánchez, M. I., Flack, A., Fiedler, W., Wikelski, M. C., & Green, A. J. (2023) · Movement Ecology · doi:10.1186/s40462-023-00380-7 · Cited by 39
“Second, wetlands are among the top priority habitats from a conservation point of view, since these habitats are declining worldwide as a consequence of anthropic pressure and climate change, especially in the Mediterranean region [2, 64].”
Backgroundde Santana, C. D., Parenti, L. R., Dillman, C. B., Coddington, J. A., Bastos, D. A., Baldwin, C. C., Zuanon, J., Torrente-Vilara, G., Covain, R., Menezes, N. A., et al. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97128-3 · Cited by 38
“Conversely, MBS found 107 species, 28 genera, 20 families, and seven orders (Figure 4A, B; Tables S5, S6).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialTime for decisive actions to protect freshwater ecosystems from global changes
Oberdorff, T. (2022) · Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems · doi:10.1051/kmae/2022017 · Cited by 45
Self-citationGarcía‐Girón, J., Bini, L. M., & Heino, J. (2023) · Biological Conservation · doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110082 · Cited by 42
A horizon scan exercise for aquatic invasive alien species in Iberian inland waters
Oficialdegui, F. J., Zamora‐Marín, J. M., Guareschi, S., Anastácio, P., Murillo, P. G., Ribeiro, F., Miranda, R., Cobo, F., Gallardo, B., García‐Berthou, E., et al. (2023) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161798 · Cited by 42
Krivoguz, D. (2024) · Ecological Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2024.102513 · Cited by 39
Cooke, S. J., Harrison, I. J., Thieme, M. L., Landsman, S. J., Birnie‐Gauvin, K., Raghavan, R., Creed, I. F., Pritchard, G. A., Ricciardi, A. P., & Hanna, D. E. L. (2023) · PLOS Sustainability and Transformation · doi:10.1371/journal.pstr.0000065 · Cited by 39
Mitra, D., Mitra, D., Bensaad, M. S., Sinha, S., Pant, K., Pant, M., Priyadarshini, A., Singh, P., Dassamiour, S., Hambaba, L., et al. (2022) · Computational Toxicology · doi:10.1016/j.comtox.2022.100248 · Cited by 41
The biospheric emergency calls for scientists to change tactics
Racimo, F., Valentini, E., Rijo, G., Santos, T. L., Norberg, A., Atmore, L. M., Murray, M., Hakala, S. M., Olsen, F. A., Gardner, C. J., et al. (2022) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.83292 · Cited by 61
“Even as researchers write countless warnings and reports on the biospheric emergency, the situation gets worse every year (Ripple et al., 2020; Ripple et al., 2017; Pyšek et al., 2020; Georgian et al., 2022; Cavicchioli et al., 2019; Albert et al., 2021).”
BackgroundKossieris, S., Tsiakos, V., Tsimiklis, G., & Amditis, A. (2024) · Remote Sensing · doi:10.3390/rs16071181 · Cited by 40
Freshwater biodiversity at different habitats: Research hotspots with persistent and emerging themes
Faghihinia, M., Xu, Y., Liu, D., et al. (2021) · Ecological Indicators · doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107926 · Cited by 37
Progress and opportunities in advancing near‐term forecasting of freshwater quality
(2023) · doi:10.1111/gcb.16590 · Cited by 38
“…(i.e., lakes, rivers, wetlands) may be particularly valuable, as freshwaters have been more negatively impacted by human activities and global change than terrestrial or marine ecosystems (Albert et al., 2021; Moorhouse & Macdonald, 2015), necessitating new approaches for their management.”
BackgroundProgress and opportunities in advancing near-term forecasting of freshwater quality
Lofton, M. E., Howard, D. W., Thomas, R. Q., & Carey, C. C. (2022) · doi:10.1002/essoar.10512426.1 · Cited by 38
Marcogliese, D. J. (2023) · Journal of Helminthology · doi:10.1017/s0022149x2300010x · Cited by 43
“, 2019) and freshwater organisms in general (Albert et al., 2021), its effects on helminth parasites are less well-studied.”
BackgroundGlobal Analysis of Durable Policies for Free-Flowing River Protections
Perry, D., Harrison, I., Fernandes, S., Burnham, S., & Nichols, A. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su13042347 · Cited by 37
National water shortage for low to high environmental flow protection
Vanham, D., Alfieri, L., & Feyen, L. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-06978-y · Cited by 43
Effects of urban land change on ecosystem service values in the Bolgoda Wetland, Sri Lanka
Athukorala, D., Murayama, Y., Bandara, C. M. M., et al. (2024) · Sustainable Cities and Society · doi:10.1016/j.scs.2023.105050 · Cited by 36
Metadata
- Authors
- Albert, J. S., Destouni, G., Duke-Sylvester, S. M., Magurran, A. E., Oberdorff, T., Reis, R. E., Winemiller, K. O., & Ripple, W. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette (US)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- University of St Andrews (GB)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (BR)
- Texas A&M University at Galveston (US)
- Oregon State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Albert, James S.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Ambio
- Published
- 2020-02-10
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 85-94
- ISSN
- 0044-7447 (ISSN-L)
- 1654-7209
- PMC
- PMC7708569
- OpenAlex
- W3006601371
- Cited by
- 943
- References
- 100
- Citations by year
- 2026: 149 · 2025: 175 · 2024: 181 · 2023: 149 · 2022: 156 · 2021: 107 · 2020: 24
- FWCI
- 69.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- AMBIO (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- St Andrews Research Repository (St Andrews Research Repository) (acceptedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- PUCRS Repository (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0614334, 0741450, 1354511)
- Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas (2016-02045)
- H2020 European Research Council (AdG 250189)
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Ciência Animal (306455/2014-5)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology
- Keywords
- freshwater ecosystem degradation, freshwater biodiversity loss, irrigation expansion, Living Planet Index, ecosystem services, ecological restoration, watershed management
- MeSH terms
- Brazil, China, Conservation of Natural Resources, Fresh Water, Humans, India, Ecosystem, Biodiversity
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-05, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-05 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review