Data supporting the findings of Keijzer et al. (2024) Threats of dams to the persistence of the world’s freshwater fishes. Global Change Biology.

Habitat fragmentation due to dams is a well-known threat to freshwater fish. Yet, the global consequences of fragmentation for the viability of freshwater fish populations are unknown. Here, we provide the first global assessment of the threats of dams to the persistence of freshwater fish species. We developed a global macroecological relationship between freshwater fish range size and body size and used this relationship to assess whether isolated range fragments are too small to support a species. Our assessment includes 7,369 freshwater fish species and considers the effects of 31,780 dams globally.