Document Type
Article
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
2017
Journal
Science Advances
Volume
3
Issue
10
Abstract
Among themost 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 degrees N and -15 degrees 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.
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.1700419
Keywords
Species Richness; Coral-Reefs; Latitudinal Gradients; Niche Conservatism; Sea-Urchin; Protected Areas; Mass Mortality; Range Shifts; Biodiversity; Fish
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Edgar, GJ; Alexander, TJ; Lefcheck, JS; Bates, AE; Kininmonth, SJ; and Et al., Abundance and local-scale processes contribute to multi-phyla gradients in global marine diversity (2017). Science Advances, 3(10).
10.1126/sciadv.1700419
