The Amazon: from a long quiet river to a climate trap

When it comes to climate change, adaptation means migration for both animal and plant species. In order to reach territories that are now better adapted to their natural climatic preferences, species move further and further away each year. However, new research conducted by the EDB laboratory (UMR CNRS / UPS / IRD 5174) has shown that several obstacles endanger the biodiversity of the Amazon. In particular, hydroelectric dams and the geography of the 6,400 km of the river are to blame.

After the study was published in the journal Global Change Biology, IRD le Mag' wrote an article entitled “Climat, barrages et Andes, le triple piège aquatique amazonien” (Climate, dams and the Andes, the Amazon aquatic triple trap) about these researches. Read the article (French only).

Publication Herrera et al. (2020) - Global Change Biology - The combined effects of climate change and river fragmentation on the distribution of Andean Amazon fishes.
Herrera‐R, G. A., Oberdorff, T., Anderson, E. P., Brosse, S., Carvajal‐Vallejos, F. M., Frederico, R. G., ... & Tedesco, P. A. (2020). The combined effects of climate change and river fragmentation on the distribution of Andean Amazon fishes. Global Change Biology, 26(10), 5509-5523.