Widespread diversity deficits of coral reef sharks and rays

Full description

A global survey of coral reefs reveals that overfishing is driving resident shark species toward extinction, causing diversity deficits in reef elasmobranch (shark and ray) assemblages. Our species-level analysis revealed global declines of 60 to 73% for five common resident reef shark species and that individual shark species were not detected at 34 to 47% of surveyed reefs. As reefs become more shark-depleted, rays begin to dominate assemblages. Shark-dominated assemblages persist in wealthy nations with strong governance and in highly protected areas, whereas poverty, weak governance, and a lack of shark management are associated with depauperate assemblages mainly composed of rays. Without action to address these diversity deficits, loss of ecological function and ecosystem services will increasingly affect human communities.

Notes

External Organisations
James Cook University (QLD); Florida International University; University of Tasmania; Dalhousie University; Australian Institute of Marine Science; Curtin University; Stony Brook University; International Pole and Line Foundation-Maldives; Red Sea Global; Kap Natirel; Mahonia Na Dari; South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity; King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Blue Resources Trust; Cape Eleuthera Institute; Qatar University; Georgia Aquarium; Macquarie University; University of Costa Rica; Albion College; University of California; Coastal Impact; Centre Universitaire de Formation et de Recherche de Mayotte; Cardiff University; Wageningen University; Sophia University; Waitt Institute; Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville; Universidade Federal Fluminense; Marine Megafauna Foundation; Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; Universidade Federal do Ceará; Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation; Mote Marine Laboratory; Pelagios Kakunjá; Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo; Murdoch University; Operation Wallacea Ltd.; Wildlife Conservation Society, Fiji; Shedd Aquarium; Kenya Fisheries Service; Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development, Kiribati; Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute; University of the West Indies; Yardie Environmental Conservationists Limited; Coral Reef Research Foundation; Pontifical Xavierian University; NIWA; Island Conservation Society; Saving the Blue; Aquarium of the Pacific; Inland Fisheries Ireland; Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean East Africa; Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources Pago Pago; Universidade de São Paulo; Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines; Ministry for Marine Affairs and Fisheries; Universitas Dayanu Ikhsanuddin; Universidade Federal da Bahia; HJR Reefscaping; University of Havana; National Geographic Society; SalvageBlue, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Massey University; University of Cambridge; Indo Ocean Project; Reef Check, Dominican Republic; Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme; Tunghai University; University of Washington; Universidad del Sinú; Universiti Malaysia Sabah; University of Khorfakkan; Wildlife Conservation Society, Madagascar; Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE); TRAFFIC; The SFS Center for Marine Resource Studies; Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Western Australia); Memorial University of Newfoundland; Universidad de La Habana; Universite de la Nouvelle-Caledonie

Associated Persons
Colin A. Simpfendorfer (Creator); Michael R. Heithaus (Creator); Michelle R. Heupel (Creator); M. Aaron MacNeil (Creator); Euan Harvey (Creator); C. Samantha Sherman (Creator); Leanne M. Currey-Randall (Creator); Jordan S. Goetze (Creator); Jeremy J. Kiszka (Creator); Matthew J. Rees (Creator); Conrad W. Speed (Creator); Vinay Udyawer (Creator); Mark E. Bond (Creator); Kathryn I. Flowers (Creator); Gina M. Clementi (Creator); Jasmine Valentin-Albanese (Creator); M. Shiham Adam (Creator); Khadeeja Ali (Creator); Jacob Asher (Creator); Eva Aylagas (Creator); Océane Beaufort (Creator); Cecilie Benjamin (Creator); Anthony T. F. Bernard (Creator); Michael L. Berumen (Creator); Stacy Bierwagen (Creator); Chico Birrell (Creator); Erika Bonnema (Creator); Rosalind M. K. Bown (Creator); Edward J. Brooks (Creator); J. Jed Brown (Creator); Dayne Buddo (Creator); Patrick J. Burke (Creator); Camila Cáceres (Creator); Marta Cambra (Creator); Diego Cardeñosa (Creator); Jeffrey C. Carrier (Creator); Sara Casareto (Creator); Jennifer E. Caselle (Creator); Venkatesh Charloo (Creator); Joshua E. Cinner (Creator); Thomas Claverie (Creator); Eric E. G. Clua (Creator); Jesse E. M. Cochran (Creator); Neil Cook (Creator); Jessica E. Cramp (Creator); Brooke M. D’Alberto (Creator); Martin De Graaf (Creator); Mareike C. Dornhege (Creator); Mario Espinoza (Creator); Andy Estep (Creator); Lanya Fanovich (Creator); Naomi F. Farabaugh (Creator); Daniel Fernando (Creator); Carlos E. L. Ferreira (Creator); Candace Y. A. Fields (Creator); Anna L. Flam (Creator); Camilla Floros (Creator); Virginia Fourqurean (Creator); Laura Gajdzik (Creator); Laura García Barcia (Creator); Ricardo Garla (Creator); Kirk Gastrich (Creator); Lachlan George (Creator); Tommaso Giarrizzo (Creator); Rory Graham (Creator); Tristan L. Guttridge (Creator); Valerie Hagan (Creator); Royale S. Hardenstine (Creator); Stephen M. Heck (Creator); Aaron C. Henderson (Creator); Patricia Heithaus (Creator); Heidi Hertler (Creator); Mauricio Hoyos Padilla (Creator); Robert E. Hueter (Creator); Rima W. Jabado (Creator); Jean-Christophe Joyeux (Creator); Vanessa Jaiteh (Creator); Mohini Johnson (Creator); Stacy D. Jupiter (Creator); Muslimin Kaimuddin (Creator); Devanshi Kasana (Creator); Megan Kelley (Creator); Steven T. Kessel (Creator); Benedict Kiilu (Creator); Taratau Kirata (Creator); Baraka Kuguru (Creator); Fabian Kyne (Creator); Frida Lara (Creator); Jaedon Lawe (Creator); Elodie J. I. Lédée (Creator); Steve Lindfield (Creator); Andrea Luna-Acosta (Creator); Jade Q. Maggs (Creator); B. Mabel Manjaji-Matsumoto (Creator); Andrea Marshall (Creator); Lucy Martin (Creator); Daniel Mateos-Molina (Creator); Philip Matich (Creator); Erin McCombs (Creator); Ashlie McIvor (Creator); Llewelyn Meggs (Creator); Stephen Moore (Creator); Sushmita Mukherji (Creator); Ryan Murray (Creator); Stephen J. Newman (Creator); Josep Nogués (Creator); Clay Obota (Creator); Domingo Ochavillo (Creator); Owen O'Shea (Creator); Kennedy E. Osuka (Creator); Yannis P. Papastamatiou (Creator); Nishan Perera (Creator); Bradley Peterson (Creator); Caio R. Pimentel (Creator); Fabián Pina-Amargós (Creator); Hudson T. Pinheiro (Creator); Alessandro Ponzo (Creator); Andhika Prasetyo (Creator); L. M. Sjamsul Quamar (Creator); Jessica R. Quinlan (Creator); José Amorim Reis-Filho (Creator); Hector Ruiz (Creator); Alexei Ruiz-Abierno (Creator); Enric Sala (Creator); Melita A. Samoilys (Creator); William R. Sample (Creator); Michelle Schärer-Umpierre (Creator); Audrey M. Schlaff (Creator); Kurt Schmid (Creator); Sara N. Schoen (Creator); Nikola Simpson (Creator); Adam N. H. Smith (Creator); Julia L. Y. Spaet (Creator); Lauren Sparks (Creator); Twan Stoffers (Creator); Akshay Tanna (Creator); Rubén Torres (Creator); Michael J. Travers (Creator); Maurits Van Zinnicq Bergmann (Creator); Laurent Vigliola (Creator); Juney Ward (Creator); Joseph D. Warren (Creator); Alexandra M. Watts (Creator); Colin K. Wen (Creator); Elizabeth R. Whitman (Creator); Aaron J. Wirsing (Creator); Aljoscha Wothke (Creator); Esteban Zarza-González (Creator); Demian D. Chapman (Creator)