Climate change will strongly affect many European freshwater fish species.
Climate change will strongly affect many European freshwater fish species. This is particularly the case for species in the Mediterranean region, according to the latest findings of an international team of researchers from institutions including IGB, the University of Girona in Spain, the Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE) and the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Many fish species are threatened globally by development and overfishing. Climate change is an emerging threat and it is understood that this will have negative impacts on many species. Freshwater fish species face particular challenges: dry inland waters, fluctuating water levels and, above all, rising water temperatures will affect numerous species in the future – fish stocks will decline, and more species of fish will become extinct. According to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), around one-third of freshwater fish species are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Consequently, freshwater fish are among the world’s most at-risk species.
A new study − published in Global Change Biology – by a team of researchers led by Ivan Jaric from the Czech Academy of Sciences investigated which species traits influence sensitivity to climate change. “It will not be possible to avert the looming crisis in freshwaters by introducing a catch quota. Management initiatives and programmes to protect European fish stocks must take into account future changes in habitat conditions. In light of this, it is important to identify regions and species that will be most impacted by climate change,” stated Ivan Jaric, lead author of the study, explaining the team’s research approach.
Read more at Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
Image via Pixabay
