Freshwater ecosystems

Microplastics are the minute quantities of plastic that result from industrial processes, household release and the breakdown of larger plastic items. As these plastics emerge as a potential threat to the environment and to public health, it has never been more critical to understand their distribution and environmental impact. Microplastics in the Ecosphere aims to cultivate that understanding with a comprehensive overview of microplastics in terrestrial ecosystems.

This report presents the results of a broad assessment of freshwater diversity in the Douro river basin in Spain and Portugal. The Douro river basin is the largest of the Iberian Peninsula, and an ecological region of great value due to the high diversity of ecosystems and the number of species. A total of 14 sites, either identified as Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) or potential KBA sites, were surveyed for fish and macroinvertebrate species.

Fresh water : the essence of life is a beautifully and sometimes starkly depicted look at the current state of our Earth's freshwater ecosystems. This latest publication in the CEMEX Conservation Book Series will alert readers to key issues concerning fresh water: its resources, its uses (and abuses), and its future.

The Lake Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa Catchment (LMNNC) supports exceptionally high diversity and endemism of freshwater species. This globally recognised centre of freshwater biodiversity is of extreme importance, not only for its biodiversity value but also for our understanding of evolutionary processes and species sorting.

Suite au 1er volume « contexte et enjeux » des services écologiques, le Comité français de l’UICN publie 6 brochures présentant les services écologiques fournis par 6 grands types d’écosystèmes français (métropole et outre-mer) présentés selon les 4 catégories définies dans le Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (support, approvisionnement, régulation et culturel).

North America's freshwater habitats and the extraordinary biodiversity they contain are facing unprecedented threats from a range of sources. As an initial step in identifying those areas where protective and restorative measures should be implemented first, World Wildlife Fund-US assembled a team of leading scientists to conduct a conservation assessment of freshwater ecoregions. Freshwater Ecoregions of North America presents that assessment and outlines measures tha

The Lake Victoria Basin is internationally recognised for its high freshwater species diversity and endemism, which are of critical importance to local livelihoods and national economies within the basin. However, freshwater ecosystems within the region are highly threatened, with current safeguards proving inadequate and the focus of much past and ongoing conservation work in the region focussing on terrestrial ecosystems.

The inland waters of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands hotspot support a high diversity of aquatic species with high levels of endemism. The information presented in this report will help support implementation of multilateral Environmental Agreements in Madagascar, such as the Ramsar Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity, guiding conservation planning and priority setting at national level.

The Mediterranean Basin biodiversity hotspot is known to be one of the most biologically rich and complex regions on Earth. The north-western part of the hotspot (the area that covers all of the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, most of Italy and Malta) supports important river, lake, karst and wetland systems critical for the survival of threatened and restricted range freshwater species.