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

Abstract

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.

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Affiliated Institutions

• University of Technology Sydney AU
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration US
• Universidad del Mar MX
• NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center US
• ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies AU
• Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research DE
• Kōchi University JP
• Universidad de Guadalajara MX
• Newcastle University GB
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography US
• University of New Caledonia NC
• Microsoft Research (United Kingdom) GB
• Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute PA
• WorldFish MY
• Australian Research Council AU
• World Conservation Monitoring Centre GB
• Institut de Recherche pour le Développement NC
• Simón Bolívar University VE
• United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health CA
• Blue Ventures GB
• The University of Queensland AU
• Tel Aviv University IL
• Écologie Marine Tropicale des Océans Pacifique et Indien RE
• Institut de Recherche pour le Développement FR
• Universidad del Valle CO
• Universidad de Costa Rica CR
• Australian Wildlife Conservancy AU
• National Geographic Society US
• Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur MX
• Dalhousie University CA
• University of California, Santa Barbara US
• McGill University CA
• Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes ES
• James Cook University AU
• Charles Darwin Foundation EC
• National Archives of Ecuador EC
• Federación de Aseguradores Colombianos CO
• University of Hawaii System US
• University of Tasmania AU
• University of Sheffield GB
• Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de la Réunion RE
• Université de Perpignan FR

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