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Abundance and local-scale processes contribute to multi-phyla gradients in global marine diversity

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posted on 2023-05-19, 13:03 authored by Graham EdgarGraham Edgar, Alexander, TJ, Lefcheck, JS, Bates, AE, Kininmonth, SJ, Thomson, RJ, Duffy, JE, Costello, MJ, Richard Stuart-SmithRichard Stuart-Smith
Among the most enduring ecological challenges is an integrated theory explaining the latitudinal biodiversity gradient, including discrepancies observed at different spatial scales. Analysis of Reef Life Survey data for 4127 marine species at 2406 coral and rocky sites worldwide confirms that the total ecoregion richness peaks in low latitudes, near +15°N and −15°S. However, although richness at survey sites is maximal near the equator for vertebrates, it peaks at high latitudes for large mobile invertebrates. Site richness for different groups is dependent on abundance, which is in turn correlated with temperature for fishes and nutrients for macroinvertebrates. We suggest that temperature-mediated fish predation and herbivory have constrained mobile macroinvertebrate diversity at the site scale across the tropics. Conversely, at the ecoregion scale, richness responds positively to coral reef area, highlighting potentially huge global biodiversity losses with coral decline. Improved conservation outcomes require management frameworks, informed by hierarchical monitoring, that cover differing site- and regional-scale processes across diverse taxa, including attention to invertebrate species, which appear disproportionately threatened by warming seas.

History

Publication title

Science Advances

Issue

10

Article number

e1700419

Number

e1700419

Pagination

1-13

ISSN

2375-2548

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (A A A S)

Place of publication

United States

Rights statement

Copyright 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Marine biodiversity

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