Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

The Moore Center for Science at Conservation International is one of the world’s premier conservation research institutes, producing and applying groundbreaking and policy-relevant research to help decision-makers protect nature. To date, Conservation International has published more than 1,100 peer-reviewed articles, many in leading journals including Science, Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

On average, each of our scientific papers is cited more than 45 times by other scholars — a rate exceeding that of any other U.S. conservation organization as well as leading universities.

Here is an archive of our most recent research.

People need freshwater biodiversity

Abigail J. Lynch, Steven J. Cooke, Angela H. Arthington, Claudio Baigun, Lisa Bossenbroek, Chris Dickens, Ian Harrison, Ismael Kimirei, Simone D. Langhans, Karen J. Murchie, Julian D. Olden, Steve J. Ormerod, Margaret Owuor, Rajeev Raghavan, Michael J. Samways, Rafaela Schinegger, Subodh Sharma, Ram‐Devi Tachamo‐Shah, David Tickner, Denis Tweddle, Nathan Young, Sonja C. Jähnig

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water

February 08, 2023

Freshwater biodiversity, from fish to frogs and microbes to macrophytes, provides a vast array of services to people. Mounting concerns focus on the accelerating pace of biodiversity loss and declining ecological function within freshwater ecosystems that continue to threaten these natural benefits. Here, we catalog nine fundamental ecosystem services that the biotic components of indigenous freshwater biodiversity provide to people, organized into three categories: material (food; health and genetic resources; material goods), non-material (culture; education and science; recreation), and regulating (catchment integrity; climate regulation; water purification and nutrient cycling). If freshwater biodiversity is protected, conserved, and restored in an integrated manner, as well as more broadly appreciated by humanity, it will continue to contribute to human well-being and our sustainable future via this wide range of services and associated nature-based solutions to our sustainable future.

CITATION

Lynch, A. J., Cooke, S. J., Arthington, A. H., Baigun, C., Bossenbroek, L., Dickens, C., Harrison, I., Kimirei, I., Langhans, S. D., Murchie, K. J., Olden, J. D., Ormerod, S. J., Owuor, M., Raghavan, R., Samways, M. J., Schinegger, R., Sharma, S., Tachamo‐Shah, R., Tickner, D., … Jähnig, S. C. (2023). People need freshwater biodiversity. WIREs Water. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1633