The limitations of diversity metrics in directing global marine conservation

James P.W. Robinson, Easton R. White, Logan D. Wiwchar, Danielle C. Claar, Justin P. Suraci and Julia K. Baum

Marine Policy, 2014, vol. 48, issue C, 123-125

Abstract: Biodiversity hotspots have been used extensively in setting conservation priorities for marine ecosystems. A recent Nature publication claims to have uncovered new latitudinal gradients in the evenness of reef communities and new reef hotspots based on functional diversity. Simulation models show that the purported evenness gradient is a mathematical inevitability of differences in species richness and detectability between vastly different marine ecosystems, namely ‘reefs’ in tropical, temperate, and polar regions. Constraints on evenness, along with disparity amongst communities in possible functional traits, cast doubt on the utility of global functional diversity comparisons for management of marine systems.

Keywords: Evenness; Functional diversity; Macroecology; Marine fish; Reef ecosystems; Underwater visual census (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:marpol:v:48:y:2014:i:c:p:123-125

DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2014.03.012

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