Abstract

30 yr Global Surface Water Change, Implications for Aquatic Diversity
Track: Environmental Management
Authors: Margaret Kalacska, Oliver Lucanus, Pablo Arroyo

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened on Earth facing environmental and anthropogenic pressures often surpassing their terrestrial counterparts. We created three global surface water extent surfaces from Landsat imagery spanning the mid 80s to 2016. We found not only evidence of droughts but notable decreases in water extent over time for many ecoregions. We discuss implications of our findings in terms of the imperilment of endemic aquatic fauna and potential mitigation measures.