SYDNEY, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- A study of Australia's Tropical North Queensland freshwater fish has found numerous species face severe risks of extinction from multiple threats, including habitat loss, invasive species, and warmer waters.
Led by Griffith University's Australian Rivers Institute, the assessment identified the Daintree rainbowfish, found only in small rainforest streams in the Daintree region of Far North Queensland, as the species facing the highest risk, with up to 10 unique threats to its population, according to a university statement released Wednesday.
"Freshwater fish are also important components of stream ecosystems and are indicators of ecosystem health. Their decline signals broader environmental deterioration," said lead author Kaitlyn O'Mara, research fellow at the Australian Rivers Institute.
"Many are found nowhere else on Earth. If they are lost from the Wet Tropics, they become globally extinct," O'Mara said.
The study, published in Pacific Conservation Biology, assessed 24 threats, including climate change, invasive species, water extraction, habitat degradation and hybridization.
Researchers found invasive species, climate-driven changes to temperature and hydrology, habitat and water quality degradation, and hybridization with translocated native fishes were among the most severe threats, particularly for narrowly distributed rainbowfish and migratory cling gobies.
They called for urgent conservation actions including habitat restoration, invasive species control, improved riparian management and captive breeding. ■
