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Protection efforts have resulted in ~10% of existing fish biomass on coral reefs.

Authors :
Caldwell IR
McClanahan TR
Oddenyo RM
Graham NAJ
Beger M
Vigliola L
Sandin SA
Friedlander AM
Randriamanantsoa B
Wantiez L
Green AL
Humphries AT
Hardt MJ
Caselle JE
Feary DA
Karkarey R
Jadot C
Hoey AS
Eurich JG
Wilson SK
Crane N
Tupper M
Ferse SCA
Maire E
Mouillot D
Cinner JE
Source :
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A] 2024 Oct 15; Vol. 121 (42), pp. e2308605121. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 07.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

The amount of ocean protected from fishing and other human impacts has often been used as a metric of conservation progress. However, protection efforts have highly variable outcomes that depend on local conditions, which makes it difficult to quantify what coral reef protection efforts to date have actually achieved at a global scale. Here, we develop a predictive model of how local conditions influence conservation outcomes on ~2,600 coral reef sites across 44 ecoregions, which we used to quantify how much more fish biomass there is on coral reefs compared to a modeled scenario with no protection. Under the assumptions of our model, our study reveals that without existing protection efforts there would be ~10% less fish biomass on coral reefs. Thus, we estimate that coral reef protection efforts have led to approximately 1 in every 10 kg of existing fish biomass.<br />Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1091-6490
Volume :
121
Issue :
42
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
39374392
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2308605121