Mapping the world's free-flowing rivers

G Grill¹, B Lehner², M Thieme³, B Geenen⁴, D Tickner⁵, F Antonelli⁶, S Babu⁷, P Borrelli^{8

9}, L Cheng¹⁰, H Crochetiere¹¹, H Ehalt Macedo¹², R Filgueiras^{13

14}, M Goichot¹⁵, J Higgins¹⁶, Z Hogan¹⁷, B Lip¹⁸, M E McClain^{19

20}, J Meng^{21

22}, M Mulligan²³, C Nilsson^{24

25}, J D Olden²⁶, J J Opperman³, P Petry^{27

28}, C Reidy Liermann²⁹, L Sáenz^{30

31}, S Salinas-Rodríguez³², P Schelle³³, R J P Schmitt³⁴, J Snider¹¹, F Tan¹², K Tockner^{35

36

37}, P H Valdujo³⁸, A van Soesbergen²³, C Zarfl³⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada. guenther.grill@mail.mcgill.ca.
² Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada. bernhard.lehner@mcgill.ca.
³ WWF-US, Washington, DC, USA.
⁴ WWF-NL, Zeist, The Netherlands.
⁵ WWF-UK, Woking, UK.
⁶ WWF-Mediterranean, Rome, Italy.
⁷ WWF-India, New Delhi, India.
⁸ Environmental Geosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁹ European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Sustainable Resources, Ispra, Italy.
¹⁰ WWF-China, Beijing, China.
¹¹ WWF-Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
¹³ WWF-Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.
¹⁴ Rewilding Europe, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
¹⁵ WWF Greater Mekong Programme, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
¹⁶ The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Biology and Global Water Center, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA.
¹⁸ WWF-Malaysia, Sarawak, Malaysia.
¹⁹ Department of Water Science and Engineering, IHE Delft, Delft, The Netherlands.
²⁰ Department of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
²¹ WWF-Germany, Berlin, Germany.
²² HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences, Konstanz, Germany.
²³ Department of Geography, King's College London, London, UK.
²⁴ Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
²⁵ Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden.
²⁶ School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
²⁷ The Nature Conservancy, Hollis, NH, USA.
²⁸ Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁹ UW Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
³⁰ Conservation International (CI), Arlington, VA, USA.
³¹ Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University (MTU), Houghton, MI, USA.
³² WWF-Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico.
³³ WWF International, Gland, Switzerland.
³⁴ Natural Capital Project, Department of Biology and the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
³⁵ Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany.
³⁶ Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
³⁷ Austrian Science Fund, FWF, Vienna, Austria.
³⁸ WWF-Brazil, Brasília, Brazil.
³⁹ Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.

PMID: 31068722
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9

Mapping the world's free-flowing rivers

G Grill et al. Nature. 2019 May.

. 2019 May;569(7755):215-221.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9. Epub 2019 May 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada. guenther.grill@mail.mcgill.ca.
² Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada. bernhard.lehner@mcgill.ca.
³ WWF-US, Washington, DC, USA.
⁴ WWF-NL, Zeist, The Netherlands.
⁵ WWF-UK, Woking, UK.
⁶ WWF-Mediterranean, Rome, Italy.
⁷ WWF-India, New Delhi, India.
⁸ Environmental Geosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁹ European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Sustainable Resources, Ispra, Italy.
¹⁰ WWF-China, Beijing, China.
¹¹ WWF-Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
¹³ WWF-Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.
¹⁴ Rewilding Europe, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
¹⁵ WWF Greater Mekong Programme, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
¹⁶ The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Biology and Global Water Center, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA.
¹⁸ WWF-Malaysia, Sarawak, Malaysia.
¹⁹ Department of Water Science and Engineering, IHE Delft, Delft, The Netherlands.
²⁰ Department of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
²¹ WWF-Germany, Berlin, Germany.
²² HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences, Konstanz, Germany.
²³ Department of Geography, King's College London, London, UK.
²⁴ Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
²⁵ Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden.
²⁶ School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
²⁷ The Nature Conservancy, Hollis, NH, USA.
²⁸ Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁹ UW Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
³⁰ Conservation International (CI), Arlington, VA, USA.
³¹ Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University (MTU), Houghton, MI, USA.
³² WWF-Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico.
³³ WWF International, Gland, Switzerland.
³⁴ Natural Capital Project, Department of Biology and the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
³⁵ Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany.
³⁶ Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
³⁷ Austrian Science Fund, FWF, Vienna, Austria.
³⁸ WWF-Brazil, Brasília, Brazil.
³⁹ Center for Applied Geoscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.

PMID: 31068722
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9

Erratum in

Author Correction: Mapping the world's free-flowing rivers.
Grill G, Lehner B, Thieme M, Geenen B, Tickner D, Antonelli F, Babu S, Borrelli P, Cheng L, Crochetiere H, Macedo HE, Filgueiras R, Goichot M, Higgins J, Hogan Z, Lip B, McClain ME, Meng J, Mulligan M, Nilsson C, Olden JD, Opperman JJ, Petry P, Liermann CR, Sáenz L, Salinas-Rodríguez S, Schelle P, Schmitt RJP, Snider J, Tan F, Tockner K, Valdujo PH, van Soesbergen A, Zarfl C. Grill G, et al. Nature. 2019 Aug;572(7768):E9. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1379-9. Nature. 2019. PMID: 31337922

Abstract

Free-flowing rivers (FFRs) support diverse, complex and dynamic ecosystems globally, providing important societal and economic services. Infrastructure development threatens the ecosystem processes, biodiversity and services that these rivers support. Here we assess the connectivity status of 12 million kilometres of rivers globally and identify those that remain free-flowing in their entire length. Only 37 per cent of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometres remain free-flowing over their entire length and 23 per cent flow uninterrupted to the ocean. Very long FFRs are largely restricted to remote regions of the Arctic and of the Amazon and Congo basins. In densely populated areas only few very long rivers remain free-flowing, such as the Irrawaddy and Salween. Dams and reservoirs and their up- and downstream propagation of fragmentation and flow regulation are the leading contributors to the loss of river connectivity. By applying a new method to quantify riverine connectivity and map FFRs, we provide a foundation for concerted global and national strategies to maintain or restore them.

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Comment in

A river that flows free connects up in 4D.
Poff NL. Poff NL. Nature. 2019 May;569(7755):201-202. doi: 10.1038/d41586-019-01393-2. Nature. 2019. PMID: 31068718 No abstract available.

References

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1. Lehner, B. et al. High-resolution mapping of the world’s reservoirs and dams for sustainable river-flow management. Front. Ecol. Environ. 9, 494–502 (2011). - DOI
1. Nilsson, C. et al. Forecasting environmental responses to restoration of rivers used as log floatways: an interdisciplinary challenge. Ecosystems 8, 779–800 (2005).
1. Revenga, C., Brunner, J., Henninger, N., Kassem, K. & Payne, R. Freshwater Systems. Report No. 1569734607 (World Resources Institute, 2000).
1. Dudgeon, D. et al. Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges. Biol. Rev. Camb. Philos. Soc. 81, 163–182 (2006). - PubMed - PMC

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Mapping the world's free-flowing rivers

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Mapping the world's free-flowing rivers

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