About a quarter of pre -water animals are at risk of disappearance, scientists say.
Researchers from various universities studied about 23,500 animal species, such as fish, crabs and dragonflies, which are listed in the red list of the International Nature Conservation Union (MSOP).
Scientists have found that about 24% of freshwater animals are at risk of extinction. The reason for this is facilitated by a number of threats from pollution to climate change.
According to scientists, most species are threatened by the disappearance mainly found in freshwater ecosystems around Lake Victoria in Central Africa, Titicaca Lakes on the border of Bolivia and Peru, Sri Lanka, as well as in Western gats in India.
Zoologist from MSOP in the UK Catherine Seyer noted that freshwater ecosystems, including rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, swamps and water-bolotyans, occupy less than 1% of the planet’s surface, but at the same time are a house for 10% of all animals species.
According to her, most species have several threats at once, which lead to fatal consequences.
The co -author of the study by Patricia Charvete, a biologist from the Brazilian Federal University of Seara, drew attention to possible threats to the existence of animals living near rivers and swamp land.
“If an acid or oil leak occurs, a whole species may be under threat. These animals have no other place where they could go,” she said.
The results of the study are published in the journal Nature. Work is “the first study in the world in which scientists analyze global risks for freshwater species.”