Freshwater Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Biogeographic Units for Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation
Open accessAbstract
We present a new map depicting the first global biogeographic regionalization of Earth's freshwater systems. This map of freshwater ecoregions is based on the distributions and compositions of freshwater fish species and incorporates major ecological and evolutionary patterns. Covering virtually all freshwater habitats on Earth, this ecoregion map, together with associated species data, is a useful tool for underpinning global and regional conservation planning efforts (particularly to identify outstanding and imperiled freshwater systems); for serving as a logical framework for large-scale conservation strategies; and for providing a global-scale knowledge base for increasing freshwater biogeographic literacy. Preliminary data for fish species compiled by ecoregion reveal some previously unrecognized areas of high biodiversity, highlighting the benefit of looking at the world's freshwaters through a new framework.
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Of fish species assessed for the freshwater ecoregions of the world, over half were confined to a single ecoregion.
“of the fish species assessed for the freshwater ecoregions of the world, over half were confined to a single ecoregion (Abell et al. 2008).”
From Bending the Curve of Global Freshwater Biodiversity Loss: An Emergency Recovery Plan (2020) · cites this paper as Abell et al. 2008
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- Authors
- Abell, R., Thieme, M. L., Revenga, C., Bryer, M., Kottelat, M., Bogutskaya, N., Coad, B., Mandrak, N., Balderas, S. C., Bussing, W., Stiassny, M. L. J., Skelton, P., Allen, G. R., Unmack, P., Naseka, A., Ng, R., Sindorf, N., Robertson, J., Armijo, E., Higgins, J. V., Heibel, T. J., Wikramanayake, E., Olson, D., López, H. L., Reis, R. E., Lundberg, J. G., Sabaj Pérez, M. H., & Petry, P.
- Affiliations
- The Nature Conservancy (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Russian Academy of Sciences (RU)
- Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (MX)
- Zoological Institute (RU)
- Columbia University (US)
- Rhodes University (ZA)
- Brigham Young University (US)
- World Wildlife Fund (US)
- American Institute of Biological Sciences (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- BioScience
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2008-05-01
- Volume
- 58
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 403-414
- ISSN
- 0006-3568 (ISSN-L)
- 1525-3244
- OpenAlex
- W2141121131
- Cited by
- 2,045
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 77 · 2025: 145 · 2024: 143 · 2023: 189 · 2022: 161 · 2021: 190 · 2020: 194 · 2019: 141 · 2018: 144 · 2017: 115 · 2016: 88 · 2015: 117 · 2014: 76 · 2013: 75 · 2012: 58
- FWCI
- 38.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- BioScience (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- BioOne Complete (BioOne) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- United States Agency for International Development
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Fish Biology and Ecology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Fish biology, ecology, and behavior
- Keywords
- freshwater ecoregions, biogeographic regionalization, freshwater biodiversity conservation, freshwater fish, conservation planning, biodiversity hotspots, freshwater habitats
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