Freshwater Ecoregions of North America
A Conservation Assessment
368 pages
8.5 x 11
Book Description
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.
As an initial step in identifying those areas where protective and restorative measures should be implemented first, World Wildlife Fund-US assembled a team of leading scientists to conduct a conservation assessment of freshwater ecoregions. 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
- provides a broad-scale framework for conservation activities
In addition, it offers appendixes that provide detailed descriptions of methodologies, raw scores and statistical analysis of results, and an integrated biological distinctiveness and conservation status index. Also included are 21 full-color maps.
Freshwater Ecoregions of North America is an authoritative reference on a subject of vital importance, and will be an essential tool for scientists, conservation professionals, students, and anyone interested in the conservation of North America's freshwater systems.
Contents
List of Special Essays
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acronyms
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. Introduction
-Assessment Overview
-Structure of the Book
-The Challenge
Chapter 2. Approach
-Delineation of Ecoregions and Geographic Scope of the Study
-Assignment of Major Habitat Types
-Discriminators
-Biological Distinctniveness Index (BDI)--Overview
-Conservation Status--Overview
-Integrating Biological Distinctiveness and Conservation Status
3. Biological Distinctiveness of North American Ecoregions
-Species Richness
-Endemism
-Rare Ecological or Evolutionary Phenomena
-Rare Habitat Type
-Synthesis of Biological Distinctiveness Data
4. Conservation Status of North American Ecoregions
-Snapshot Conservation Status
-Conservation Snapshot Criteria
-Threat Assessment
-Final Conservation Status
-Additional Conservation Status Data
5. Setting the Conservation Agenda: Integrating Biological Distinctiveness and Conservation Status
6. Recommendations
-North America's Golbal Responsibilities for Biodiversity Conservation
-Targets Requiring Urgent Action
7. Site-Specific Conservation
-Dams
-Additional Site Selection Tools
Appendixes
-Appendix A: Methods for Assessing the Biological Distinctiveness of Freshwater Ecoregions
-Appendix B: Methods for Assessing the Conservation Status of Freshwater Ecoregions
-Appendix C:Biological Distinctiveness Data and Scores
-Appendix D: Conservation Status Assesment and Scores
-Appendix E: Statistical Analysis of Biological Distinctiveness and Conservation Status Data
-Appendix F: Integration Matrices for the Eight Major Habitat Types
-Appendix G: Ecoregion Descriptions
-Appendix H: Conservation Partner Contact Information
Glossary
Literature Cited and Consulted
Authors
Contributors
Index
