New York (August 28, 2014)鈥�A new study reports that an expansion of marine protected areas is needed to protect fish species that perform key ecological functions. According to investigators from the 菊花视频 and other organizations, previous efforts at protecting fish have focused on saving the largest numbers of species, often at the expense of those species that provide key and difficult-to-replace ecological functions.

Many vital ecological functions of ocean ecology are performed by fish species that also are food for millions of people. This study uncovers a significant problem: the world鈥檚 most ecologically valuable fish communities are currently vulnerable and are being missed by the world鈥檚 current network of marine protected areas. If these tropical fish populations and the ecological services that they provide are to be ensured, say the authors, then the world鈥檚 existing marine protected area network must be expanded. The paper appears in the current online edition of Ecology Letters.

鈥淭he recognition that all species are not the same and that some play more important and different roles in ocean ecology prompted this new investigation. The study was expected to identify regions with vulnerable fish populations, something that has been sidetracked by the past species richness focus,鈥� said Dr. Tim McClanahan, WCS Senior Conservationist and a co-author of the study. 鈥淚f you lose species with key functions, then you undermine the ability of the ocean to provide food and other ecological services, which is a wake up call to protect these vulnerable species and locations. Our analysis identifies these gaps and should provide the basis to accelerate the protection of ocean functions.鈥�

The authors of the study compiled a global database on tropical coastal fish populations from 169 locations around the world, focusing on species occurring in 50 meters of water or less. The team compared these data with distribution maps for 6,316 tropical reef fish species. Human threats such as fishing, pollution, and climate change were also included in the analyses.

What the authors found was that many areas with threatened but functionally important fish were found outside of existing marine protected areas. Also, the study examined other vulnerabilities such as taxonomic sensitivity (the number of threatened species in a fish assemblage or community) and functional sensitivity (the number of functions in danger of being lost because of external threats).

From a regional perspective, the analysis revealed that species richness 鈥渉otspots鈥� are located in the Indo-Australian Archipelago and the Caribbean. Species-rich areas for short-ranged fish were located in peripheral zones in the Atlantic as well as the Indo-Pacific.

Areas of high vulnerability included the coastal waters of Chile, the eastern tropical Pacific, and the eastern Atlantic Ocean, areas where comparatively few fish species perform vital environmental functions with few or no redundancies or species that fill similar roles.

鈥淧rotecting the ecological services that fish populations provide for coastal habitats is as important as protecting wildlife species themselves,鈥� said Dr. Caleb McClennen, Executive Director of WCS鈥檚 Marine Program. 鈥淭his decision theory framework can help marine managers make recommendations about where to place marine protected areas that expand and protect the ocean鈥檚 ability to provide key services.鈥�

The authors of the study are: Valeriano Parravicini of the Institut de Recherche pour le D茅veloppement, Domaine du Petit Arbois, and the University of Perpignan; S茅bastian Vill茅ger of the Laboratoire Ecologie des Syst猫mes Marins C么tiers; Tim McClanahan of the 菊花视频; Jesus Ernesto Arias-Gonz谩lez of the Laboratorio de Ecolog铆a de Ecosistemas de Arrecifes Carolinos; David R. Bellwood of James Cook University; Jonathan Belmaker of Tel Aviv University; Pascale Chabanet of the Institut de Recherche pour le D茅veloppement; Sergio R. Floeter of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; Alan M. Friedlander of the University of Hawaii at Manoa; Fran莽ois Guilhaumon of the Laboratoire Ecologie des Syst猫mes Marins C么tiers; Laurent Vigliola of the Institut de Recherche pour le D茅veloppement; Michel Kulbicki of the Institut de Recherche pour le D茅veloppement; and David Mouillot of the Laboratoire Ecologie des Syst猫mes Marins C么tiers and James Cook University.

CONTACT:
OHN DELANEY: (1-718-220-3275; jdelaney@wcs.org)
STEPHEN SAUTNER:(1-718-220-3682; ssautner@wcs.org)
菊花视频 (WCS)
MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. VISION: WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in more than 60 nations and in all the world鈥檚 oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: www.wcs.org ; http://www.facebook.com/TheWCS ; http://www.youtube.com/user/WCSMedia; Follow: @thewcs.

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