Public Library of Science
Browse
DOCUMENT
Figure_S1.doc (1.19 MB)
DOCUMENT
Figure_S2.doc (122.5 kB)
DOCUMENT
Figure_S3.doc (141 kB)
DOCUMENT
Figure_S4.doc (72 kB)
DOCUMENT
Figure_S5.doc (265.5 kB)
DOCUMENT
Table_S1.doc (46 kB)
DOCUMENT
Table_S2.doc (49.5 kB)
DOCUMENT
Table_S3.doc (57 kB)
DOCUMENT
Table_S4.doc (241.5 kB)
DOCUMENT
Table_S5.doc (96.5 kB)
DOCUMENT
Text_S1.doc (65.5 kB)
1/0
11 files

Global Human Footprint on the Linkage between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning in Reef Fishes

dataset
posted on 2011-04-05, 02:09 authored by Camilo Mora, Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, Arturo Ayala Bocos, Paula M. Ayotte, Stuart Banks, Andrew G. Bauman, Maria Beger, Sandra Bessudo, David J. Booth, Eran Brokovich, Andrew Brooks, Pascale Chabanet, Joshua E. Cinner, Jorge Cortés, Juan J. Cruz-Motta, Amilcar Cupul Magaña, Edward E. DeMartini, Graham J. Edgar, David A. Feary, Sebastian C. A. Ferse, Alan M. Friedlander, Kevin J. Gaston, Charlotte Gough, Nicholas A. J. Graham, Alison Green, Hector Guzman, Marah Hardt, Michel Kulbicki, Yves Letourneur, Andres López Pérez, Michel Loreau, Yossi Loya, Camilo Martinez, Ismael Mascareñas-Osorio, Tau Morove, Marc-Olivier Nadon, Yohei Nakamura, Gustavo Paredes, Nicholas V. C. Polunin, Morgan S. Pratchett, Héctor Reyes Bonilla, Fernando Rivera, Enric Sala, Stuart A. Sandin, German Soler, Rick Stuart-Smith, Emmanuel Tessier, Derek P. Tittensor, Mark Tupper, Paolo Usseglio, Laurent Vigliola, Laurent Wantiez, Ivor Williams, Shaun K. Wilson, Fernando A. Zapata

Difficulties in scaling up theoretical and experimental results have raised controversy over the consequences of biodiversity loss for the functioning of natural ecosystems. Using a global survey of reef fish assemblages, we show that in contrast to previous theoretical and experimental studies, ecosystem functioning (as measured by standing biomass) scales in a non-saturating manner with biodiversity (as measured by species and functional richness) in this ecosystem. Our field study also shows a significant and negative interaction between human population density and biodiversity on ecosystem functioning (i.e., for the same human density there were larger reductions in standing biomass at more diverse reefs). Human effects were found to be related to fishing, coastal development, and land use stressors, and currently affect over 75% of the world's coral reefs. Our results indicate that the consequences of biodiversity loss in coral reefs have been considerably underestimated based on existing knowledge and that reef fish assemblages, particularly the most diverse, are greatly vulnerable to the expansion and intensity of anthropogenic stressors in coastal areas.

History

Usage metrics

    PLOS Biology

    Categories

    Licence

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC