Threatened fish species in the Northeast Atlantic are functionally rare
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 2023-10 | ||||||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Coulon Noémie 1, 2, Lindegren Martin3, Goberville Eric4, Toussaint Aurèle5, Receveur Aurore6, Auber Arnaud2 |
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| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA) MNHN CNRS, IRD, SU, UCN, UA Dinard ,France 2 : IFREMER, Unité Halieutique Manche Mer du Nord Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques Boulogne‐sur‐Mer ,France 3 : Centre for Ocean Life, c/o National Institute of Aquatic Resources Technical University of Denmark Kgs. Lyngby ,Denmark 4 : Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA) MNHN CNRS, IRD, SU, UCN, UA Paris ,France 5 : Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences University of Tartu Tartu, Estonia 6 : CEntre de Synthèse et dAnalyse sur la Biodiversité (CESAB) Fondation pour la recherche sur la biodiversité (FRB) Montpellier ,France |
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| Source | Global Ecology And Biogeography (1466-822X) (Wiley), 2023-10 , Vol. 32 , N. 10 , P. 1827-1845 | ||||||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1111/geb.13731 | ||||||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Keyword(s) | distinctiveness, extinction risk, functional rarity, IUCN, marine fish, species trait, threatened | ||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Aim The criteria used to define the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List categories are essentially based on demographic parameters at the species level, but they do not integrate species' traits or their roles in ecosystems. Consequently, current IUCN-based protection measures may not be sufficient to conserve ecosystem functioning and services. Some species may have a singular combination of traits associated with unique functions. Such functionally distinct species are increasingly recognized as a key facet of biodiversity since they are, by definition, functionally irreplaceable. The aim of this study is to investigate whether threatened species are also functionally rare and to identify which traits determine extinction risk. Location European continental shelf seas. Time period 1984–2020. Major taxa studied Marine fish. Methods Using newly compiled trait information of 425 marine fish species in European waters, and more than 30 years of scientific bottom trawl surveys, we estimated the functional distinctiveness, restrictedness and scarcity of each species and cross-referenced it with their IUCN conservation status. Results In European continental shelf seas, 38% of the species threatened with extinction (9 out of 24 species) were identified as the most functionally distinct. By mapping extinction risk in the multidimensional species trait space, we showed that species with the greatest risk of extinction are long-lived and of high trophic level. We also identified that the most functionally distinct species are sparsely distributed (4% of the total area on average) and have scarce abundances (<1% of the relative mean abundance of common species). Main Conclusions Because a substantial proportion of threatened species are functionally distinct and thus may play unique roles in ecosystem functioning, we stress that species traits—especially functional rarity—should become an indispensable step in the development of conservation management plans. |
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