Description: While the Río Paraguay Basin is sparsely populated, poorly surveyed, and has experienced relatively little human disturbance, it currently faces one large development project: the Hidrovia Paragua-Parana, which proposes to dredge and channel extensive portions of the Río Paraguay watershed, altering water flow and seasonal flooding cycles. Conservation International's rapid assessment team aimed to document aquatic diversity and the state of the aquatic ecosystem in order to determine sustainable conservation and development strategies for the region--resulting in critical new knowledge of the area's ecosystem.
Brief description: Phillip W. Willink is an ichthyologist at the Field Museum in Chicago.Barry Chernoff is the curator and head of the Division of Fishes in the Department of Zoology at the Field Museum and a Rapid Assessment Program team leader. Jennifer McCullough is the manager of the Rapid Assessment Program in the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International.