IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v569y2019i7755d10.1038_s41586-019-1111-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers

Author

Listed:
  • G. Grill

    (McGill University)

  • B. Lehner

    (McGill University)

  • M. Thieme

    (WWF-US)

  • B. Geenen

    (WWF-NL)

  • D. Tickner

    (WWF-UK)

  • F. Antonelli

    (WWF-Mediterranean)

  • S. Babu

    (WWF-India)

  • P. Borrelli

    (University of Basel
    Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Sustainable Resources)

  • L. Cheng

    (WWF-China)

  • H. Crochetiere

    (WWF-Canada)

  • H. Ehalt Macedo

    (McGill University)

  • R. Filgueiras

    (WWF-Zambia
    Rewilding Europe)

  • M. Goichot

    (WWF Greater Mekong Programme)

  • J. Higgins

    (The Nature Conservancy (TNC))

  • Z. Hogan

    (University of Nevada)

  • B. Lip

    (WWF-Malaysia)

  • M. E. McClain

    (IHE Delft
    Delft University of Technology)

  • J. Meng

    (WWF-Germany
    HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences)

  • M. Mulligan

    (King’s College London)

  • C. Nilsson

    (Umeå University
    Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

  • J. D. Olden

    (University of Washington)

  • J. J. Opperman

    (WWF-US)

  • P. Petry

    (The Nature Conservancy
    Harvard University)

  • C. Reidy Liermann

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • L. Sáenz

    (Conservation International (CI)
    Michigan Technological University (MTU))

  • S. Salinas-Rodríguez

    (WWF-Mexico)

  • P. Schelle

    (WWF International)

  • R. J. P. Schmitt

    (Stanford University)

  • J. Snider

    (WWF-Canada)

  • F. Tan

    (McGill University)

  • K. Tockner

    (Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)
    Freie Universität Berlin
    Austrian Science Fund, FWF)

  • P. H. Valdujo

    (WWF-Brazil)

  • A. Soesbergen

    (King’s College London)

  • C. Zarfl

    (Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen)

Abstract

Free-flowing rivers (FFRs) support diverse, complex and dynamic ecosystems globally, providing important societal and economic services. Infrastructure development threatens the ecosystem processes, biodiversity and services that these rivers support. Here we assess the connectivity status of 12 million kilometres of rivers globally and identify those that remain free-flowing in their entire length. Only 37 per cent of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometres remain free-flowing over their entire length and 23 per cent flow uninterrupted to the ocean. Very long FFRs are largely restricted to remote regions of the Arctic and of the Amazon and Congo basins. In densely populated areas only few very long rivers remain free-flowing, such as the Irrawaddy and Salween. Dams and reservoirs and their up- and downstream propagation of fragmentation and flow regulation are the leading contributors to the loss of river connectivity. By applying a new method to quantify riverine connectivity and map FFRs, we provide a foundation for concerted global and national strategies to maintain or restore them.

Suggested Citation

  • G. Grill & B. Lehner & M. Thieme & B. Geenen & D. Tickner & F. Antonelli & S. Babu & P. Borrelli & L. Cheng & H. Crochetiere & H. Ehalt Macedo & R. Filgueiras & M. Goichot & J. Higgins & Z. Hogan & B., 2019. "Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers," Nature, Nature, vol. 569(7755), pages 215-221, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:569:y:2019:i:7755:d:10.1038_s41586-019-1111-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1111-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tucci, Henrricco Nieves Pujol & de Oliveira Neto, Geraldo Cardoso & Rodrigues, Flávio Luiz & Giannetti, Biagio F. & Almeida, Cecília Maria Villa Boas de, 2021. "Six sigma with the blue economy fundamentals to assess the economic and environmental performance in the aircraft refueling process," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    2. Gilmore, Nicholas & Koskinen, Ilpo & van Gennip, Domenique & Paget, Greta & Burr, Patrick A. & Obbard, Edward G. & Daiyan, Rahman & Sproul, Alistair & Kay, Merlinde & Lennon, Alison & Konstantinou, Ge, 2022. "Clean energy futures: An Australian based foresight study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    3. Li, Mingxu & He, Nianpeng, 2022. "Carbon intensity of global existing and future hydropower reservoirs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    4. Garrett, Kayla P. & McManamay, Ryan A. & Witt, Adam, 2023. "Harnessing the power of environmental flows: Sustaining river ecosystem integrity while increasing energy potential at hydropower dams," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    5. Schmitt, Rafael Jan Pablo & Rosa, Lorenzo, 2024. "Dams for hydropower and irrigation: Trends, challenges, and alternatives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    6. Chuenchum, Pavisorn & Xu, Mengzhen & Tang, Wenzhe, 2023. "Assessment of reservoir trapping efficiency and hydropower production under future projections of sedimentation in Lancang–Mekong River Basin," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    7. Zhong, Ruida & Zhao, Tongtiegang & Chen, Xiaohong, 2021. "Evaluating the tradeoff between hydropower benefit and ecological interest under climate change: How will the water-energy-ecosystem nexus evolve in the upper Mekong basin?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:569:y:2019:i:7755:d:10.1038_s41586-019-1111-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.