Urban expansion causes ecological collapse in streams in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area

The advance of urbanization in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area in Brazil is causing the collapse of food webs in local streams. A study published in August in the journal Nature Cities reveals that the impact of the metropolis goes far beyond a simple reduction in species. Degradation selectively eliminates organisms based on their size and simplifies ecological interactions. Networks of 190 connections plummet to just three.

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