45,000 marine species are at-risk: What's most vulnerable?

Date:
February 16, 2022
Source:
University of Queensland
Summary:
A framework for identifying the most vulnerable marine species will
boost global conservation and policy efforts against anthropogenic
climate change.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A framework for identifying the most vulnerable marine species will
boost global conservation and policy efforts against anthropogenic
climate change.


========================================================================== University of Queensland researchers and global marine experts developed
the framework by reviewing marine biology literature and categorising a
wide range of threats -- from climate change, to pollution, to fishing --
faced by more than 45,000 species.

Dr Nathalie Butt from UQ's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
said the research revealed the most endangered species from all threats.

"Molluscs, corals, and echinoderms -- hard or spiny creatures such sea
urchins -- are truly feeling the impacts in our oceans, facing a diverse
range of threats," Dr Butt said.

"They're affected by fishing and bycatch, pollution and climate change.

"Flowerpot corals -- an incredibly fragile but stunning form of coral
found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Persian Sea -- is one
group of species that is especially affected by climate change-related stressors, such as ocean acidification.



==========================================================================
"We also discovered that starfish, sea snails and flying fish are
increasingly vulnerable to climate change-related stressors, all of
which can be found in oceans around the world.

"Roughy fishes are quite vulnerable to the effects of pollution,
including organic, inorganic, and nutrient pollution, which was quite a surprise, as they live at a range of depths, including deep sea, which demonstrates how far the effects of pollution are spreading." Dr Butt
said the accelerating rate of environmental change was a motivating
factor for the development of the framework.

"The environment is changing so quickly because of human actions, and we
need to use all information available to help us assess which animals are
at risk and why, and to help develop the most appropriate ways to protect
and manage them -- that's where this framework comes in," she said.

"This framework is unique as it uses biological characteristics or traits
of marine species to assess their vulnerability to specific stressors or threats with the greatest potential impact, such as pollution, fishing,
and of course, climate change." Fellow researcher Associate Professor
Carissa Klein said this information would allow users to make more
informed decisions about how to allocate and prioritise their resources
to protect the world's most vulnerable species.



========================================================================== "Conservationists can use the framework to prioritise resources for
their protection and determine which management actions would best
protect particular species or groups of species and where," Dr Klein said.

"We assessed all species and all threats that we know about now across
the planet.

"The exciting thing is that we built the framework so that we could
accommodate new information, whether that be about new species or
information about threatening processes.

"This means that the work can also be applied in particular places to
protect the ocean, using more detailed information about the species,
and their threats, in that place." The project was jointly researched
with the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) and involved
global taxonomic experts from around the world.

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Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Nathalie Butt, Benjamin S. Halpern, Casey C. O'Hara, A. Louise
Allcock,
Beth Polidoro, Samantha Sherman, Maria Byrne, Charles Birkeland,
Ross G.

Dwyer, Melanie Frazier, Bradley K. Woodworth, Claudia P. Arango,
Michael J. Kingsford, Vinay Udyawer, Pat Hutchings, Elliot Scanes,
Emily Jane McClaren, Sara M. Maxwell, Guillermo Diaz‐Pulido,
Emma Dugan, Blake Alexander Simmons, Amelia S. Wenger, Christi
Linardich, Carissa J. Klein.

A trait‐based framework for assessing the vulnerability
of marine species to human impacts. Ecosphere, 2022; 13 (2) DOI:
10.1002/ecs2.3919 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220216095849.htm

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