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Marine Biodiversity Hotspots and Conservation Priorities for Tropical Reefs
Callum M. Roberts,12*Colin J. McClean,2John E. N. Veron,3Julie P. Hawkins,2Gerald R. Allen,48Don E. McAllister,5Cristina G. Mittermeier,4Frederick W. Schueler,6Mark Spalding,7Fred Wells,8Carly Vynne,4Timothy B. Werner4
Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse of shallow
water marine ecosystems but are being degraded worldwide by humanactivities and climate warming. Analyses of the geographic rangesof
3235 species of reef fish, corals, snails, and lobsters revealedthat
between 7.2% and 53.6% of each taxon have highly restrictedranges,
rendering them vulnerable to extinction. Restricted-rangespecies are
clustered into centers of endemism, like those describedfor
terrestrial taxa. The 10 richest centers of endemism cover15.8% of
the world's coral reefs (0.012% of the oceans) but includebetween
44.8 and 54.2% of the restricted-range species. Many occurin regions
where reefs are being severely affected by people,potentially leading
to numerous extinctions. Threatened centersof endemism are major
biodiversity hotspots, and conservationefforts targeted toward them
could help avert the loss of tropicalreef biodiversity.
1 Department of Organismic and Evolutionary
Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138, USA.
2 Environment Department, University of York, York,
YO10 5DD, UK.
3 Australian Institute of Marine
Science, Private Mail Box No. 3, Townsville MC, Queensland, 4810, Australia.
4 Center for Applied Biodiversity
Science, Conservation International, 1919 M Street, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, USA.
5 Ocean Voice
International, Post Office Box 20060, Royal Post Office Perth Mews,
Perth, Ontario, Canada K7H 3M6.
6 Eastern Ontario
Biodiversity Museum, Box 1860, Kemptville, Ontario, Canada K0G 1J0.
7 United Nations Environment Programme-World
Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), 219 Huntingdon Road,
Cambridge, CB3 0DL, UK.
8 Western Australian Museum,
Francis Street, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed at the Environment
Department, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK. E-mail:cr10{at}york.ac.uk
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LETTERS
Andrew H. Baird, David R. Bellwood, Joseph H. Connell, Howard V. Cornell, Terry P. Hughes, Ronald H. Karlson, Brian R. Rosen;, John C. Briggs;, Callum M. Roberts, Colin J. McClean, John E. N. Veron, Julie P. Hawkins, Gerald R. Allen, Don E. McAllister, Cristina G. Mittermeier, Frederick W. Schueler, Mark Spalding, Fred Wells, Carly Vynne, and Timothy B. Werner (10 May 2002) Science296 (5570), 1026.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.296.5570.1026] |Full Text »
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