DR. BARRY CHERNOFF - UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO - OCTOBER 2, 2002 (1)

[Barbara Bugosh <bbugosh@andrew.cmu.edu>]

October 2, 2002  -  Teleconference Distance Seminar
Dr. Barry Chernoff,  Department of Zoology  Field Museum,  University of 
Chicago
Noon - 1 PM EST

The Panatanal and Paraguay Aquatic Ecosystems:  Biodiversity, Ecology and 
Economics of Sustainable Use

Barry Chernoff
Department of Zoology
Field Museum of Natural History
1400 S. Lakeshore Drive
Chicago, IL 60605


Abstract:

South America has the richest aquatic flora and fauna of any continent on 
the planet.  In addition to the time of isolation of South America from the 
other continents, part of the reason that South America is so species rich 
may be the large proportion of the continent that is occupied by rivers or 
other water bodies.  The Amazon, Paraguay and Orinoco basins comprise three 
of the five largest river basins in the world in terms of length and volume 
of water-flow.  As an example using fishes, there are more than 9000 
species of freshwater fishes in South America which is approximately equal 
to the number of birds and 1.8 times the number of mammals in the world.
	The Paraguay River basin is the second largest in South America covering 
more than 1,100,000 km2 over its 2,550 km course.  The Paraguay River is 
one of only two rivers in the world that has its headwaters in the tropics 
and its mouth in the temperate zone.  This has a critical implication for 
the conservation of the tropical species inhabiting the basin.  Though many 
have assumed that the Paraguay and Amazon faunas are recently separated, 
the existence of ancient fossil fishes that are closely related to extant 
species indicates that many of the species-lineages currently inhabiting 
the Paraguay River basin are ancient (>30,000,000 million years).
	The Pantanal is the world's largest wetlands containing more than 365,000 
km2 in the upper Paraguay River basin of Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia.  The 
Pantanal is  home to thousands of species of plants and animals.  The 
Pantanal provides critical nursery grounds for many species of fishes and 
critical refuge or sanctuary for migratory birds, black caiman, deer and 
jaguars.  Yet the species that inhabit both the Pantanal and other parts of 
the Paraguay River are extensively and increasingly threatened due to 
deforestation and habitat conversion associated with agriculture and cattle 
ranching.  The largest threat of all, including to sustainable cattle 
ranching and agriculture involves the Hidrovia Project that would 
potentially, straighten and channelize the Paraguay River and ultimately 
connect it to the Amazon drainage.
	Studies of the community structure of the Pantanal and the Paraguay River 
argue strongly for the establishment of corridors and some protected areas. 
This approach would protect the commercial- and sports fishes with the 
added benefit of protecting more than 90% of the aquatic biodiversity.  The 
plan would lead to not only sustainable use of the Pantanal and Paraguay 
Rivers but would also provide a currently underexploited fishery in 
Paraguay to help meet future world needs for protein (i.e., a food bank). 
The economics of sustainable use are presented in relationship to a number 
of the costs of non-sustainable development in the Paraguay River drainage.

NOTE:  DUE TO THE VOLUME OF SLIDES, THERE ARE THREE SEPARATE NOTICES POSTED 
ON THE BULLETIN BOARD TO ENABLE ALL TO OPEN AND VIEW.

Attachment: chernoff.CM.1-20.ppt
Description: MS-Powerpoint presentation

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