Proposed hydropower dams in Gabon pose a substantial threat to the African nation’s most culturally and economically important fishes, according to a new study.
Proposed hydropower dams in Gabon pose a substantial threat to the African nation’s most culturally and economically important fishes, according to a new study.
The study, published today in the journal Ecosphere, is the first of its kind to predict the distribution of fishes throughout central African freshwaters by linking museum records to ecological data. That synthesis allowed the study’s authors to infer how the nearly 40 dams planned for construction in Gabon might affect its many fish species.
Many of the culturally and economically important fish species in Gabon move from the ocean into rivers, with some known to swim up to 250 miles upstream into pure freshwaters.
Gabon has some of the world’s most pristine unimpeded river systems and high freshwater biodiversity. The proposed dams will block access to much of the freshwater habitat that is also suitable for marine species and will impact at least 350 fish species, said Brian Sidlauskas, study co-author and associate professor at Oregon State University.
Read more at Oregon State University
Photo: The Ogooue is one of Gabon's three free-flowing rivers at least 500 kilometers in length. Photo by Megan Sixt.
