2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

5/26/2021 | 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM | Global prevalence of non-perennial rivers and streams | Virtual Platform

Global prevalence of non-perennial rivers and streams

Flowing waters play a unique role in supporting global biodiversity, biogeochemical cycles, and human societies. While the importance of permanent watercourses is well recognized, the prevalence, value and fate of non-perennial rivers and streams that periodically cease to flow tend to be overlooked, if not ignored. This oversight contributes to the degradation of the main source of water and livelihood for millions of people. Here we show that water ceases to flow for at least one day per year along the majority of the world’s rivers by length. Leveraging global information on the hydrology, climate, geology, and surrounding land cover of the Earth’s river network, we predict that non-perennial rivers occur within all climates and biomes, and on every continent. Our findings question the assumptions underpinning foundational river concepts across scientific disciplines. To understand and adequately manage the world’s flowing waters, their biodiversity and functional integrity, a paradigm shift is needed towards a new conceptual model of rivers that includes flow intermittence. By mapping the distribution of non-perennial rivers and streams, we provide a stepping-stone towards addressing this grand challenge in freshwater science.

Non-perennial rivers
Flow regime
GIS upscaling

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Presenters/Authors

Mathis L. Messager (), Department of Geography, McGill University, Canada | RiverLy Research Unit, INRAE, France, mathis.messager@mail.mcgill.ca;