The global geography of threats to freshwater biodiversity

Human activities are eroding biodiversity, especially in freshwater systems. Despite major advances in quantifying species vulnerability and threats, we still lack a crucial understanding of where threats are affecting freshwater species globally. Here, we produced a species-centered spatial assessment of threats, mapping the impact of 45 threats across 21,490 freshwater species of amphibians, fish, mammals, odonates, and reptiles. We found that species in highly developed and water-managed regions are strongly affected by multiple overlapping threats. Although threats vary across taxa and regions, increasing threat probabilities elevate extinction risk and population declines, with freshwater species experiencing greater threat intensity and distinct spatial patterns than terrestrial species. Our findings establish a spatially explicit baseline for targeting the most urgently needed freshwater conservation and management interventions.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2026-10-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aeb7910
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.93

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article

The global geography of threats to freshwater biodiversity

Jonas Geldmann, Laura J. Pollock, Bernhard Lehner, Katherine Hébert et al.
1 citations
Science
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
3.93
article

The global geography of threats to freshwater biodiversity

Jonas Geldmann, Laura J. Pollock, Bernhard Lehner, Katherine Hébert, Harith M. Farooq, Lise Comte, Lars Lønsmann Iversen, Catherine Overed-Sayer, Christophe Brabant, Mette Bendixen
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Human activities are eroding biodiversity, especially in freshwater systems. Despite major advances in quantifying species vulnerability and threats, we still lack a crucial understanding of where threats are affecting freshwater species globally. Here, we produced a species-centered spatial assessment of threats, mapping the impact of 45 threats across 21,490 freshwater species of amphibians, fish, mammals, odonates, and reptiles. We found that species in highly developed and water-managed regions are strongly affected by multiple overlapping threats. Although threats vary across taxa and regions, increasing threat probabilities elevate extinction risk and population declines, with freshwater species experiencing greater threat intensity and distinct spatial patterns than terrestrial species. Our findings establish a spatially explicit baseline for targeting the most urgently needed freshwater conservation and management interventions.

ScienceVol. 394(6823)
University of Copenhagen (DK), Lúrio University (MZ), International Union for Conservation of Nature (United Kingdom) (GB), Conservation Science Partners (US), McGill University (CA)
Canada Research Coordinating Committee, Københavns Universitet, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies
Life on land, Clean water and sanitation
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
3.93
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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