Potential ecological impacts vary depending on the freshwater ecoregion and the taxonomic group considered. Fig. 3 (Lower) shows the number of species of freshwater fish in each freshwater ecoregion, a taxonomic group especially vulnerable to water withdrawals. The Arabian Interior has fewer than 50 freshwater species, perhaps not surprising given its dry climate, whereas the Ganges Delta and Plain has more than 250 species of fish (20). Of particular conservation concern is the Western Ghats of India, which will have 81 million people with insufficient water by 2050 but also houses 293 fish species, 29% of which are endemic to this ecoregion and occur nowhere else in the world.
It is difficult to quantitatively predict how many fish species globally will be imperiled by increased future urban water use, simply because the current relationship between urban water use and imperilment is unknown, because the current conservation status of many fish species has not been assessed. One exception that serves as a useful case study is in the Mediterranean. An International Union for Conservation of Nature survey of all fish species in the Mediterranean Basin found 253 endemic fish species (21). The Basin is highly urbanized, with many cities that experience problems of water shortage (22). In part because of excess water extraction, more than half (56%) of these endemic fish species are listed as “critically endangered,” “endangered,” or “vulnerable” (21). The Mediterranean case indicates the potential for urban water withdrawals to negatively impact endemic fish species.
Potential ecological impacts vary depending on the freshwater ecoregion and the taxonomic group considered. Fig. 3 (Lower) shows the number of species of freshwater fish in each freshwater ecoregion, a taxonomic group especially vulnerable to water withdrawals. The Arabian Interior has fewer than 50 freshwater species, perhaps not surprising given its dry climate, whereas the Ganges Delta and Plain has more than 250 species of fish (20). Of particular conservation concern is the Western Ghats of India, which will have 81 million people with insufficient water by 2050 but also houses 293 fish species, 29% of which are endemic to this ecoregion and occur nowhere else in the world.
It is difficult to quantitatively predict how many fish species globally will be imperiled by increased future urban water use, simply because the current relationship between urban water use and imperilment is unknown, because the current conservation status of many fish species has not been assessed. One exception that serves as a useful case study is in the Mediterranean. An International Union for Conservation of Nature survey of all fish species in the Mediterranean Basin found 253 endemic fish species (21). The Basin is highly urbanized, with many cities that experience problems of water shortage (22). In part because of excess water extraction, more than half (56%) of these endemic fish species are listed as “critically endangered,” “endangered,” or “vulnerable” (21). The Mediterranean case indicates the potential for urban water withdrawals to negatively impact endemic fish species.
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