Protecting connectivity promotes successful biodiversity and fisheries conservationShow others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: Science, ISSN 0036-8075, E-ISSN 1095-9203, Vol. 375, no 6578, p. 336-+Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The global decline of coral reefs has led to calls for strategies that reconcile biodiversity conservation and fisheries benefits. Still, considerable gaps in our understanding of the spatial ecology of ecosystem services remain. We combined spatial information on larval dispersal networks and estimates of human pressure to test the importance of connectivity for ecosystem service provision. We found that reefs receiving larvae from highly connected dispersal corridors were associated with high fish species richness. Generally, larval "sinks" contained twice as much fish biomass as "sources" and exhibited greater resilience to human pressure when protected. Despite their potential to support biodiversity persistence and sustainable fisheries, up to 70% of important dispersal corridors, sinks, and source reefs remain unprotected, emphasizing the need for increased protection of networks of well-connected reefs.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2022. Vol. 375, no 6578, p. 336-+
National Category
Ecology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-468103DOI: 10.1126/science.abg4351ISI: 000745036100037PubMedID: 35050678OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-468103DiVA, id: diva2:1648840
2022-04-012022-04-012024-01-15Bibliographically approved