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Extinction risk and conservation priority analyses for 64 endemic fishes in the Upper Yangtze River, China

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Abstract

It is a global concern to assess extinction risk and set conservation priority for threatened species. In the present study, we assessed extinction risks and conservation priorities for 64 endemic fish species in the Upper Yangtze River, which might be threatened by cascade dams in the Lower Jinsha River. Eight independent criteria were selected and scored to calculate an Extinction Risk Index (ERI) and a Conservation Priority Index (CPI) for each species with a linear rating system. These criteria reflect extinction-prone life-history traits, distribution characteristics, threat extents, and other conservation concerns. Species with high current threats, large body sizes, low fecundity, low historical occurrences and low recent-record rates had high ERIs (i.e. high risk of extinction). High CPIs (i.e. high conservation priorities) were assigned to species (e.g. Yangtze sturgeon) that represented those most in need of conservation in the impacted region given their high extinction risks, high levels of future threat from damming, high economic and genetic values. We recommend habitat protection and other conservation measures should be taken to conserve those endemic fish species with high conservation priorities.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Liu Fei, Li Ming-Zheng and other colleagues in our laboratory for their help with data analyses. We also thank Kuo Ting-Chun and Ally Stocks in Project Seahorse, University of British Columbia, and the anonymous referees for helpful comments that greatly improved our manuscript. A special gratitude is given to Jessica Ward in the Department of Fisheries, University of Minnesota, for her editorial service on the early manuscript. This study was supported by the Ministry of Water Resources of China (NO. 200901011) and the Three Gorges Project eco-environmental monitoring system (JJ [2011]-028).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiong Zhang

  2. The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation of Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Xiong Zhang, Xin Gao, Jianwei Wang & Wenxuan Cao

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  1. Xiong Zhang
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Correspondence to Jianwei Wang.

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Zhang, X., Gao, X., Wang, J. et al. Extinction risk and conservation priority analyses for 64 endemic fishes in the Upper Yangtze River, China. Environ Biol Fish 98, 261–272 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-014-0257-4

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