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Hosts of the Plio-Pleistocene past reflect modern-day coral vulnerability
Hosts of the Plio-Pleistocene past reflect modern-day coral vulnerability
- Source :
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279:2448-2456
- Publication Year :
- 2012
- Publisher :
- The Royal Society, 2012.
-
Abstract
- The risk of global extinction of reef-building coral species is increasing. We evaluated extinction risk using a biological trait-based resiliency index that was compared with Caribbean extinction during the Plio-Pleistocene, and with extinction risk determined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Through the Plio-Pleistocene, the Caribbean supported more diverse coral assemblages than today and shared considerable overlap with contemporary Indo-Pacific reefs. A clear association was found between extant Plio-Pleistocene coral genera and our positive resilience scores. Regional extinction in the past and vulnerability in the present suggests that Pocillopora, Stylophora and foliose Pavona are among the most susceptible taxa to local and regional isolation. These same taxa were among the most abundant corals in the Caribbean Pliocene. Therefore, a widespread distribution did not equate with immunity to regional extinction. The strong relationship between past and present vulnerability suggests that regional extinction events are trait-based and not merely random episodes. We found several inconsistencies between our data and the IUCN scores, which suggest a need to critically re-examine what constitutes coral vulnerability.
- Subjects :
- Conservation of Natural Resources
Coral
Biodiversity
Biology
Extinction, Biological
Risk Assessment
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Strontium Isotopes
Species Specificity
Animals
IUCN Red List
natural sciences
Computer Simulation
Reef
History, Ancient
Research Articles
General Environmental Science
Extinction event
Likelihood Functions
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
Extinction
General Immunology and Microbiology
Coral Reefs
Fossils
Ecology
Endangered Species
Bayes Theorem
social sciences
General Medicine
Coral reef
biochemical phenomena, metabolism, and nutrition
Models, Theoretical
Anthozoa
humanities
Logistic Models
Caribbean Region
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
geographic locations
Extinction debt
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14712954 and 09628452
- Volume :
- 279
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....4d032bf352cc3722877bb995fced34b0
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2621