The population sizes and global extinction risk of reef-building coral species at biogeographic scales
Dietzel, A.; Bode, M.; Connolly, S.R.; Hughes, T.P. (2021). The population sizes and global extinction risk of reef-building coral species at biogeographic scales. Nature Ecology & Evolution 5(5): 663-669. https://hdl.handle.net/10.1038/s41559-021-01393-4
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution. Springer Nature. ISSN 2397-334X, more
Related to:Dietzel, A.; Bode, M.; Connolly, S.R.; Hughes, T.P. (2022). Reply to: Conclusions of low extinction risk for most species of reef-building corals are premature. Nature Ecology & Evolution 6(4): 359-360. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01660-y, more
Muir, P.R.; Obura, D.O.; Hoeksema, B.W.; Sheppard, C.; Pichon, M.; Richards, Z.T. (2022). Conclusions of low extinction risk for most species of reef-building corals are premature. Nature Ecology & Evolution 6(4): 357-358. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01659-5, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Dietzel, A.
- Bode, M.
- Connolly, S.R.
- Hughes, T.P.
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| Abstract |
Knowledge of a species’ abundance is critically important for assessing its risk of extinction, but for the vast majority of wild animal and plant species such data are scarce at biogeographic scales. Here, we estimate the total number of reef-building corals and the population sizes of more than 300 individual species on reefs spanning the Pacific Ocean biodiversity gradient, from Indonesia to French Polynesia. Our analysis suggests that approximately half a trillion corals (0.3 × 1012–0.8 × 1012) inhabit these coral reefs, similar to the number of trees in the Amazon. Two-thirds of the examined species have population sizes exceeding 100 million colonies, and one-fifth of the species even have population sizes greater than 1 billion colonies. Our findings suggest that, while local depletions pose imminent threats that can have ecologically devastating impacts to coral reefs, the global extinction risk of most coral species is lower than previously estimated. |
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