Impacts of current and future large dams on the geographic range connectivity of freshwater fish worldwide (Academic Research)

“Freshwater fish are highly threatened by dams that disrupt the longitudinal connectivity of rivers and may consequently impede fish movements to feeding and spawning grounds. In a comprehensive global analysis covering∼10,000 freshwater fish species and∼40,000 existing large dams we identified the most disconnected geographical ranges for species in the United States, Europe, South Africa, India, and China. The completion of near-future plans for∼3,700 large hydropower dams will greatly increase habitat fragmentation in (sub)tropical river basins, where many livelihoods depend on inland fisheries.”

This article by Barbarossa et al. was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) in February 2020.