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LETTER
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Extinction risk and bottlenecks in the conservation of charismatic marine species
Article first published online: 13 DEC 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00206.x
Copyright and Photocopying: ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Additional Information
How to Cite
McClenachan, L., Cooper, A. B., Carpenter, K. E. and Dulvy, N. K. (2012), Extinction risk and bottlenecks in the conservation of charismatic marine species. Conservation Letters, 5: 73–80. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00206.x
Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Terms and Conditions set out at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/onlineopen#OnlineOpen_Terms
Publication History
- Issue published online: 26 JAN 2012
- Article first published online: 13 DEC 2011
- Received 20 July 2011 Accepted 12 October 2011
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Keywords:
- CITES;
- climate change;
- elasmobranchs;
- fishing impacts;
- IUCN Red List;
- reef fish;
- taxonomic bias
Abstract
The oceans face a biodiversity crisis, but the degree and scale of extinction risk remains poorly characterized. Charismatic species are most likely to garner greatest support for conservation and thus provide a best-case scenario of the status of marine biodiversity. We summarize extinction risk and diagnose impediments to successful conservation for 1,568 species in 16 families of marine animals in the movie Finding Nemo. Sixteen percent (12–34%) of those that have been evaluated are threatened, ranging from 9% (7–28%) of bony fishes to 100% (83–100%) of marine turtles. A lack of scientific knowledge impedes analysis of threat status for invertebrates, which have 1,000 times fewer conservation papers than do turtles. Legal protection is severely deficient for sharks and rays; only 8% of threatened species in our analysis are protected. Extinction risk among wide-ranging taxa is higher than most terrestrial groups, suggesting a different conservation focus is required in the sea.