Apocalypse now? Prospects for conserving freshwater biodiversity in East Asia
Richard Norris Lecture
- Institute for Applied Ecology
- Public lectures/seminars
- Staff Events
- Student Events
- Environmental Science
Freshwater ecosystems cover <1% of the Earth’s surface, yet host almost 10% of animal species. They also experience sustained human impacts. In densely-populated East Asia, water-engineering schemes intended to boost economic development will degrade riverine habitats, imperil biodiversity, and compromise the livelihoods of people who depend on freshwater ecosystem services. If the benefits accruing from intact and biodiverse freshwater ecosystems do not constitute basis to ensure their preservation, what will? And, what are the prospects for conservation in a rapidly-changing world?
About Our Speaker David Dudgeon is Chair Professor of Ecology and Biodiversity and Director of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong. There, he has spent three decades researching and writing about the streams and rivers of monsoonal East Asia, and the animals that live in and around them. His work ranges from field experiments that involve invertebrates and fishes in small streams, through studies of food webs, to broader-scale analyses concerning the conservation of freshwater biodiversity. Dudgeon is Editor-in-Chief of Freshwater Biology, and is working on a book - Freshwater Biodiversity and its Conservation – currently long overdue at the publisher.