Freshwater ecoregions of North America : a conservation assessment / Robin A. Abell ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Abell, Robin A.

World Wildlife Fund (U.S.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biodiversity conservation--North America.

Biodiversity conservation.

Biotic communities--North America.

Biotic communities.

Freshwater ecology--North America.

Freshwater ecology.

North America.

Physical Description:

xxii, 319 pages : illustrations, color maps ; 28 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Island Press, [2000]

Summary:

North America's freshwater habitats and the extraordinary biodiversity they contain are facing unprecedented threats from a range of sources, including flow alteration, habitat fragmentation, introduced species, and overall land use changes. With nearly every freshwater system suffering from some degree of degradation and conservation resources limited, there is an urgent and practical need to set priorities.

World Wildlife Fund-U.S. assembled a team of leading scientists to conduct a conservation assessment of freshwater ecoregions as an initial step in identifying the areas where protective and restorative measures should be implemented first. Freshwater Ecoregions of North America presents that assessment and outlines measures that must be taken to conserve, and in many cases restore, native biodiversity.

The book identifies freshwater ecoregions that support globally outstanding biological diversity, assesses the types and immediacy of threats to North American ecoregions, identifies gaps in information that hamper an accurate evaluation of biodiversity, and provides a broad-scale framework for conservation activities. In addition, it features full-color maps and appendixes that provide detailed descriptions of methodologies, raw scores and statistical analysis of results, and an integrated biological distinctiveness and conservation status index.

The authors are affiliated with the Conservation Science Program of World Wildlife Fund.

Contents:

The Challenge 6

2. Approach 9

Delineation of Ecoregions and Geographic Scope of the Study 9

Assignment of Major Habitat Types 12

Discriminators 14

Biological Distinctiveness Index (BDI)

Overview 15

Conservation Status

Overview 17

Integrating Biological Distinctiveness and Conservation Status 22

3. Biological Distinctiveness of North American Ecoregions 25

Species Richness 25

Endemism 39

Rare Ecological or Evolutionary Phenomena 46

Rare Habitat Type 48

Synthesis of Biological Distinctiveness Data 48

4. Conservation Status of North American Ecoregions 59

Snapshot Conservation Status 59

Conservation Snapshot Criteria 62

Threat Assessment 70

Final Conservation Status 70

Additional Conservation Status Data 70

5. Setting the Conservation Agenda: Integrating Biological Distinctiveness and Conservation Status 87

6. Recommendations 101

North America's Global Responsibilities for Biodiversity Conservation 101

Targets Requiring Urgent Action 103

7. Site-Specific Conservation 109

Dams 112

Additional Site-Selection Tools 119

A. Methods for Assessing the Biological Distinctiveness of Freshwater Ecoregions 121

B. Methods for Assessing the Conservation Status of Freshwater Ecoregions 127

C. Biological Distinctiveness Data and Scores 131

D. Conservation Status Assessment and Scores 141

E. Statistical Analysis of Biological Distinctiveness and Conservation Status Data 149

F. Integration Matrices for the Eight Major Habitat Types 155

G. Ecoregion Descriptions 165

H. Conservation Partner Contact Information 265.

Notes:

"World Wildlife Fund--United States."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-304) and index.

ISBN:

155963734X

OCLC:

41548306