Editorial: Dams and wetland biodiversity: Impacts and mitigating measures

To meet energy, water and transportation needs, an incredible amount of dams have been constructed around the world. For example, only in the Yangtze River's watershed of China, over 50,000 dams were built since 1950 (Nilsson et al., 2005; Wu et al., 2019). Dams could contribute to energy and water supply, and flood protection, but they also affect aquatic ecosystems by alteration of hydrologic regime and fragmentation (Barbarossa et al., 2020). While about 50% of the river around the world is currently changed by dam, this percentage is expected to increase to 93% because of the pending construction of about 3,700 major hydropower dams (Grill et al., 2015).

To meet energy, water and transportation needs, an incredible amount of dams have been constructed around the world. For example, only in the Yangtze River's watershed of China, over 50,000 dams were built since 1950 (Nilsson et al., 2005; Wu et al., 2019). Dams could contribute to energy and water supply, and flood protection, but they also affect aquatic ecosystems by alteration of hydrologic regime and fragmentation (Barbarossa et al., 2020). While about 50% of the river around the world is currently changed by dam, this percentage is expected to increase to 93% because of the pending construction of about 3,700 major hydropower dams (Grill et al., 2015).