1. Ecological dependencies make remote reef fish communities most vulnerable to coral loss
- Author
-
Giovanni Strona, Pieter S. A. Beck, Mar Cabeza, Simone Fattorini, François Guilhaumon, Fiorenza Micheli, Simone Montano, Otso Ovaskainen, Serge Planes, Joseph A. Veech, Valeriano Parravicini, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences [Helsinki], Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki, European Commission - Joint Research Centre [Ispra] (JRC), Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki-Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki, University of L'Aquila [Italy] (UNIVAQ), MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Hopkins Marine Station [Stanford], Stanford University, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente e del Territorio (DISAT), Università degli Studi di Milano = University of Milan (UNIMI), Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l'environnement (CRIOBE), Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Texas State University, ANR-17-CE32-0006,REEFLUX,Flux d'énergie au sein des récifs coralliens: une perspective basée sur les vertébrés(2017), Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Ecological Data Science, Global Change and Conservation Lab, Mar Cabeza-Jaimejuan / Principal Investigator, Biosciences, Otso Ovaskainen / Principal Investigator, Strona, G, Beck, P, Cabeza, M, Fattorini, S, Guilhaumon, F, Micheli, F, Montano, S, Ovaskainen, O, Planes, S, Veech, J, and Parravicini, V
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Richness ,conservation biology ,ekologiset verkostot ,General Physics and Astronomy ,01 natural sciences ,Conservation of Natural Resource ,Anthropogenic Effect ,meriekologia ,Patterns ,0303 health sciences ,Diversity ,Multidisciplinary ,Conservation biology ,Coral Reefs ,Anthropogenic Effects ,Climate-change ecology ,Fishes ,Biodiversity ,Anthozoa ,Habitat ,1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology ,Coral Reef ,Human ,climate-change ecology ,Conservation of Natural Resources ,[SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes ,Science ,Climate Change ,Biotic interactions ,010603 evolutionary biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Article ,koralliriutat ,03 medical and health sciences ,Animals ,Coral Bleaching ,Humans ,Spatial Analysis ,Food-web ,ecological networks ,14. Life underwater ,030304 developmental biology ,Animal ,kalakannat ,General Chemistry ,Disturbance ,Spatial Analysi ,ilmastonmuutokset ,15. Life on land ,biodiversiteetti ,13. Climate action ,Ecological networks ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,Fishe - Abstract
Ecosystems face both local hazards, such as over-exploitation, and global hazards, such as climate change. Since the impact of local hazards attenuates with distance from humans, local extinction risk should decrease with remoteness, making faraway areas safe havens for biodiversity. However, isolation and reduced anthropogenic disturbance may increase ecological specialization in remote communities, and hence their vulnerability to secondary effects of diversity loss propagating through networks of interacting species. We show this to be true for reef fish communities across the globe. An increase in fish-coral dependency with the distance of coral reefs from human settlements, paired with the far-reaching impacts of global hazards, increases the risk of fish species loss, counteracting the benefits of remoteness. Hotspots of fish risk from fish-coral dependency are distinct from those caused by direct human impacts, increasing the number of risk hotspots by ~30% globally. These findings might apply to other ecosystems on Earth and depict a world where no place, no matter how remote, is safe for biodiversity, calling for a reconsideration of global conservation priorities., Coral reefs face both local and global stressors. Here, the authors show how a positive relationship between distance from human settlements and ecological specialisation makes remote coral reef fish communities more vulnerable to coral loss.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF