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Hydrological impacts affecting endangered fish species: a Spanish case study
Author(s) -
Sánchez Navarro Rafael,
Stewardson Michael,
Breil Pascal,
de Jalón Diego García,
Eisele Michael
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
river research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.679
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1535-1467
pISSN - 1535-1459
DOI - 10.1002/rra.995
Subject(s) - habitat , endangered species , ecology , range (aeronautics) , extinction (optical mineralogy) , environmental science , drainage basin , fish <actinopterygii> , structural basin , geography , fishery , biology , paleontology , materials science , cartography , composite material
The Júcar River Basin (Spain) harbours endemic aquatic species that are declining or going extinct at an alarming rate. After evaluating several possible stressors, flow modification is identified as the factor critically threatening one endemic cyprinid fish species Chondrostoma arrigonis . Physical habitat for this species is compared for river reaches with different flow modification histories to understand local extinctions across this species' historical range. Time‐series of physical habitat, generated using PHABSIM, indicate a dramatic reduction in habitat area with flow modification. Our findings indicate that efforts to regulate and stabilize flows in the Júcar River Basin may cause the rapid extinction of the remaining populations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.