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Widespread diversity deficits of coral reef sharks and rays
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Widespread diversity deficits of coral reef sharks and rays

Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Michael R. Heithaus, Michelle R. Heupel, M. Aaron MacNeil, Mark Meekan, Euan Harvey, C. Samantha Sherman, Leanne M. Currey-Randall, Jordan S. Goetze, Jeremy J. Kiszka, …
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), Vol.380(6650), pp.1155-1160
2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade4884
PMID: 37319199

Abstract

A global survey of coral reefs reveals that overfishing is driving resident shark species toward extinction, causing diversity deficits in reef elasmobranch (shark and ray) assemblages. Our species-level analysis revealed global declines of 60 to 73% for five common resident reef shark species and that individual shark species were not detected at 34 to 47% of surveyed reefs. As reefs become more shark-depleted, rays begin to dominate assemblages. Shark-dominated assemblages persist in wealthy nations with strong governance and in highly protected areas, whereas poverty, weak governance, and a lack of shark management are associated with depauperate assemblages mainly composed of rays. Without action to address these diversity deficits, loss of ecological function and ecosystem services will increasingly affect human communities. Editor’s summary In recent years, much attention has been given to catastrophic declines in sharks. Most of this attention has focused on large pelagic species that are highly threatened by direct and indirect harvest. Simpfendorfer et al . looked globally at the smaller, coral reef–associated species of sharks and rays and found steep declines in shark species (see the Perspective by Shiffman). Five of the most common reef shark species have experienced a decline of up to 73%. As shark species decline on coral reefs, ray species increase, indicating a community-wide shift. Species are best protected when active protections are in place, suggesting routes for better conservation. —Sacha Vignieri Overfishing is driving common coral reef sharks toward global extinction and shifting reefs to ray-dominated assemblages.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#14 Life Below Water
#15 Life on Land

Source: InCites

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61 Times Cited - Web of Science

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.2 Marine Biology
3.2.92 Fisheries Ecology
Web Of Science research areas
Ecology
ESI research areas
Environment/Ecology
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