Water development has threatened the ecological integrity of riverine ecosystems. Increasing water demand, persistent drought, and climate change exacerbate the effects of habitat degradation and loss in altered systems such as the Colorado River basin. Today, biologists are challenged to identify management actions that benefit native fishes while not hindering water development or management. Herein, we discuss the importance of the natural flow regime for functioning riverine ecosystems and provide examples from four tributaries to the Green River, a major headwater branch of the Colorado River. These tributaries represent a gradient of impacts ranging from water abstraction to the point of complete seasonal desiccation to a relatively natural flow regime, and consequently have maintained different levels of instream habitat complexity and native fish persistence. Despite decades of management, endangered species lack self-sustaining populations and other native species have been extirpated from over half their ranges, which begs the question: can water development and fish conservation be balanced under current water laws and climate change-driven declines in runoff? Given the continued decline in freshwater biodiversity and abundance occurring across the globe, we contend that immediate designation of rivers with natural flow regimes as freshwater conservation areas will enhance native species recovery.

中文翻译：

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本地鱼类需要自然流动机制

水资源开发已经威胁到河流生态系统的生态完整性。不断增加的用水需求、持续干旱和气候变化加剧了科罗拉多河流域等改变系统中栖息地退化和丧失的影响。今天，生物学家面临的挑战是确定有利于本地鱼类而不妨碍水开发或管理的管理行动。在这里，我们讨论了自然流态对河流生态系统运作的重要性，并提供了来自科罗拉多河主要源头支流绿河的四个支流的例子。这些支流代表了从取水到完全季节性干燥点到相对自然的流动状态的影响梯度，并因此保持了不同水平的河流栖息地复杂性和本地鱼类的持久性。尽管进行了数十年的管理，但濒临灭绝的物种缺乏自给自足的种群，其他本地物种已从其分布范围的一半以上灭绝，这就引出了一个问题：在现行水法和气候变化驱动的径流减少的情况下，水资源开发和鱼类保护能否平衡？ ? 鉴于全球淡水生物多样性和丰富度持续下降，我们认为立即将具有自然流态的河流指定为淡水保护区将促进本地物种的恢复。这就引出了一个问题：在当前的水法和气候变化驱动的径流减少的情况下，水资源开发和鱼类保护是否可以平衡？鉴于全球淡水生物多样性和丰富度持续下降，我们认为立即将具有自然流态的河流指定为淡水保护区将促进本地物种的恢复。这就引出了一个问题：在当前的水法和气候变化驱动的径流减少的情况下，水资源开发和鱼类保护是否可以平衡？鉴于全球淡水生物多样性和丰富度持续下降，我们认为立即将具有自然流态的河流指定为淡水保护区将促进本地物种的恢复。