Rivers are a large part of the water mass. The flowing water through a wide range of landscapes from mountains to the sea, helps maintain the biodiversity within this beautiful habitat.
Sizes of rivers can be variable
The Reprua river is only 18m long and the shortest river. Located in Georgia, it is also one of the coldest rivers on earth. The Nile is the longest river, which is 6,800km long and starts in Lake Victoria to flow all the way up to the Mediterranean sea! But probably the most famous river is the Amazon river it is the second longest and the widest meaning it holds the most water giving it the nickname “The River Sea”
What lives there?
Rivers, like any other habitat, have extreme biodiversity. Freshwater fish, such as pike, trout and piranha dominate, while pink dolphins are common in the tropics. Wading birds like godwits and petrels are able to find food in and around rivers.
Conservation- problems and solutions:
Sadly, humans hardly care about everything surrounding us. The most common thing about humans is greed. This is the reason we destroy the Earth. These rivers have been so important that we began to destroy them. We block them with dams, meaning eels cannot migrate. Pollution harms these rivers which are blocked by a dam and cannot flush it out. We need to stop polluting rivers…
Rivers are so so special! They can be long or short, deep or shallow, hot or cold whist biodiversity is abundant. We should help, not hunt, our rivers so we should remove dams, stop polluting and clean-up after ourselves.
Glossary:
- Biodiversity- the difference in species
- Migrate- move from one place to a place far away
- Tropics- Warmest parts of the earth
- Pollution- Waste material in random places that can cause harm
Ahel’s Conservation Club 