Tomorrow is #WorldFishMigrationDay! 🐟 Some freshwater #fish need to migrate to survive. But dams and hydropower plants are blocking their routes. As a result, populations of migratory freshwater fish have declined by 81% globally since 1970. An overview: www.igb-berlin.de/en/news/migr...

Migratory fishes: Little room to move

igb-berlin.de

Studies reveal that the giant otter population decreased by 50% over the past 25 years as their habitat disappears and fragments and growing pollution fouls rivers. #endangeredspecies #otters 🦦 news.mongabay.com/2026/04/gian...

Giant otters, river sentinels, now listed as threatened migratory species

With evidence that the giant river otter is in an increasingly perilous state, delegates to the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) listed it as an animal requirin...

news.mongabay.com

Epic river migrations of fish rapidly collapsing, UN report finds

Epic river migrations of fish rapidly collapsing, UN report finds

Vast journeys, among world’s great wonders, found to be under threat as freshwater fish populations crash by 81% “It’s very hard to imagine what’s going on beneath the water when you look at a river – but you have billions of fish making these epic migrations, some of the largest animal migrations on Earth,” said Dr Zeb Hogan, at the University of Nevada in the US. The longest migration of any freshwater fish species is the dorado catfish, which makes a migration of 7,000 miles (11,000km), from spawning in the foothills of the Andes to feeding in the Amazon estuary and back again. The silver-gold fish themselves were incredible, said Hogan: “They get to about 2 metres long.” Continue reading...

theguardian.com

📣 MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 Out now at #CMSCOP15: the Global Assessment of Migratory Freshwater Fishes, the most comprehensive overview yet on the conservation needs of migratory freshwater fish. 🌍🐟 Download the #CMSFreshwaterFishes in English, Spanish and French: www.cms.int/news/un-vita...

How biological invasions are silently remodelling ecosystems: our paper in @plosbiology.org about the extension of the #EICAT impact classification of biological invasions has now an outreach piece! Read the (shorter and easier) version of the story here: theconversation.com/how-biologic...

How biological invasions are silently remodelling ecosystems

Invasive alien species don’t only drive out other native species, they also dramatically transform soils, water and ecosystems. A new assessment tool aims to pinpoint the negative environmental impact...

theconversation.com

A mixed bag of human interactions with giant aliens… 🌏 Introduced big freshwater species have a range of impacts on people, as shown by Xing Chen et al’s paper (which I was part of). There is high variation in how people perceive the impacts of 👽 🛸 species like 🐟 🐊 and 🦛 #conservationscience … a 🧵

One Earth@cp-oneearth.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Online now: Global assessment of alien freshwater megafauna reveals complex socio-economic impacts

Check out our new paper in One Earth @cp-oneearth.bsky.social led by Xing Chen. We assessed the beneficial and detrimental contributions of introduced freshwater megafauna to people worldwide. Despite the widely reported benefits, they have posed detrimental impacts on local people.

One Earth@cp-oneearth.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Online now: Global assessment of alien freshwater megafauna reveals complex socio-economic impacts

Rivers aren’t just warming: they’re being reshaped by extreme events Our new paper in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com shows how floods, droughts & heatwaves are pushing ecosystems past their limits, with recovery no longer guaranteed We can build resilience, but it requires a shift in how we manage rivers

Extreme events and river biodiversity under climate change - Nature Reviews Biodiversity

Extreme events — such as floods, droughts and heatwaves — are escalating in frequency, magnitude and duration. This Review discusses the implications of these global changes for biodiversity in rivers...

nature.com

⏳ With the next CAP reform on the horizon, the message is clear: water-focused measures need to move from the margins to the mainstream. 📖 Full article: freshwaterblog.net/2026/03/04/w...

What works in freshwater restoration? New research charts the course of successful projects – and exposes a farm policy gap

New research maps the course of successful freshwater restoration in Europe. Image: Tom Fisk | Pexels Creative Commons Europe’s rivers and wetlands are woven into the continent’s identi…

freshwaterblog.net

Our new paper in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com highlights the untapped potential of CMS for enhancing the conservation of migratory freshwater fishes, which are currently underrepresented in Appendices I & II of CMS. Check the full text here: rdcu.be/eXOlk

Our opinion piece discussing the potential spread of invasive species following riverine barrier removals is now out 🦞🐟 Excited to share my first first author publication! @rosscuthbert.bsky.social @fengzhihe.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Riverine Barrier Removals Could Proliferate Biological Invasions

Artificial barriers (e.g., dams) are longstanding features of global freshwater habitats, which are being removed in growing numbers due to the limitations they place on native species movements. How....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

There are still a few spots open on this course for anyone interested!

Arash Ghoddousi@arashghoddousi.bsky.social · 2y ago

We’re holding an #interdisciplinary PhD course on ‘science of #conservation’ in South Africa this March. It involves a range of lectures, group-work activities and a mini-project applying social and ecological tools in N Drakensberg. Apply here (only a few spots left): www.pe-rc.nl/TheScienceof...

Check out our new review led by Peter Haase and James Sinclair. We assess the effectiveness of conservation actions on river biodiversity and identify causes of success and failure.

Nature Reviews Biodiversity@natrevbiodiv.nature.com · 2y ago

A Review from Haase et al summarizes freshwater conservation efficacy. Freshwater conservation appears to have lower frequency of positive outcomes compared to marine and terrestrial conservation. The authors offer insights for improvement in the future! go.nature.com/4h4oKm1

Hydropower impacts on riverine biodiversity. A paper recently out in Nature Reviews - Earth and Environment with @fengzhihe.bsky.social @scjaehnig.bsky.social jcsvenning.bsky.social and others! A good one-stop shop for understanding the impacts of hydropower dams. www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Hydropower impacts on riverine biodiversity - Nature Reviews Earth & Environment

Hydropower is a renewable energy source that can contribute to growing energy demands. This Review considers the ecological consequences of hydropower plants on riverine systems and emphasizes the urg...

nature.com