| Titre : | Freshwater crabs and the biodiversity crisis: Importance, threats, status, and conservation challenges |
| Auteurs : | Neil Cumberlidge, Auteur ; Peter K. L. Ng, Auteur ; Darren C. J. Yeo, Auteur ; Celio Magalhaes, Auteur ; Martha R. Campos, Auteur ; Fernando Alvarez, Auteur ; Tohru Naruse, Auteur ; Savel R. Daniels, Auteur ; Lara J. Esser, Auteur ; Felix Y. K. Attipoe, Auteur ; France-Lyse Clotilde-Ba, Auteur ; William Darwall, Auteur ; Anna McIvor, Auteur ; Jonathan E. M. Baillie, Auteur ; Ben Collen, Auteur ; Mala Ram, Auteur |
| Type de document : | Article |
| Dans : | Biological Conservation (142(8) AUG 2009) |
| Article en page(s) : | 1665-1673 |
| Langues: | Anglais |
| Résumé : | Freshwater ecosystems in the tropics host a diverse endemic fauna including freshwater crabs, but the rapid loss and deterioration of habitat means that many species are now under imminent threat. Studies on freshwater fish and amphibians suggest a third to half of the species in some tropical freshwaters is either extinct or endangered, but the status of the freshwater crabs is not known. Freshwater crabs, with 1280 species, represent one-fifth of all the World's brachyurans. We therefore undertook a comprehensive IUCN Red List assessment of the freshwater crabs, which was the first time that such a study had been attempted on a global scale for any group of freshwater invertebrates. The conservation status of all known species from the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australasia revealed unexpectedly high threat levels. Here we show that about one-sixth of all freshwater crab species have an elevated risk of extinction, only one-third are not at-risk, and although none are actually extinct, almost half are too poorly known to assess. Out of 122 countries that have populations of freshwater crabs, |



