Changes in land use pose greater threat than climate change to biodiversity of rivers and streams
Tuesday, May 19, 2015 - 05:30
in Earth & Climate
For the first time, scientists at the Senckenberg Research Center for Biodiversity and Climate and the Research Institute Senckenberg in Gelnhausen have modeled the effects of land use changes on the species diversity in rivers and streams. Their results show that the loss of biodiversity is caused to a significantly higher degree by changes in land use practices than by climate change. In consequence, conservation concepts for this valuable ecosystem and the organisms that live in flowing water should be adapted accordingly. The study was recently published in the scientific journal Freshwater Biology.