The Nature Conservancy - UW Madison Center

University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment

Analyzing the world's great rivers with the center

The world’s great river systems benefit people many ways, including putting food on the table, moderating the weather, slowing climate change and regulating flooding. A new partnership between the Great Rivers Center for Conservation and Learning and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment intends to produce a series of maps that show exactly where these ecosystem services, as they are called by scientists, exist in major river systems.

The university developed a computer model that forms the basis for the center’s analysis. Currently, the center is analyzing the benefits provided by 80 major rivers that are located on every continent except Antarctica. Using existing data, the center already assessed six river basins for their ability to provide four ecosystem services: climate regulation, crop yield, flood regulation and carbon storage. Further analysis will delve into the effect of all 80 river systems on water quality and water quantity and to identify areas within each river basin that provide the most significant benefits to people and the native plants and animals that depend on them.

“The long-term integrity of our world’s great rivers is largely going to be influenced by decisions made on the basis of food production and water quality and water availability. By focusing in on those services, we’ll be able to look at how land-based conservation can meet people’s needs and conserve terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity,” said Paul West, the center scientist who is working on this analysis.

Completed research shows areas that ranked high in Nature Conservancy-led conservation assessments due to abundance and diversity of native plants and animals also contribute substantially to local flood and climate regulation. This demonstrates that by protecting high-quality natural areas within river basins, people can continue to receive crucial benefits.

“By looking at ecological services across a large region – including protected areas, agricultural land, and urban areas – we ultimately can look for solutions that improve the quality of the environment, the economy, and human welfare,” said Jon Foley, the director of the university’s Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.

Pool 8 of the Mississippi River at LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

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