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Assessing global marine biodiversity status within a coupled socio-ecological perspective.
Selig, Elizabeth R; Longo, Catherine; Halpern, Benjamin S; Best, Benjamin D; Hardy, Darren; Elfes, Cristiane T; Scarborough, Courtney; Kleisner, Kristin M; Katona, Steven K.
Affiliation
  • Selig ER; Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Ecosystem Science and Economics, Conservation International, Arlington, Virginia, USA. eselig@conservation.org
PLoS One ; 8(4): e60284, 2013.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23593188
People value the existence of a variety of marine species and habitats, many of which are negatively impacted by human activities. The Convention on Biological Diversity and other international and national policy agreements have set broad goals for reducing the rate of biodiversity loss. However, efforts to conserve biodiversity cannot be effective without comprehensive metrics both to assess progress towards meeting conservation goals and to account for measures that reduce pressures so that positive actions are encouraged. We developed an index based on a global assessment of the condition of marine biodiversity using publically available data to estimate the condition of species and habitats within 151 coastal countries. Our assessment also included data on social and ecological pressures on biodiversity as well as variables that indicate whether good governance is in place to reduce them. Thus, our index is a social as well as ecological measure of the current and likely future status of biodiversity. As part of our analyses, we set explicit reference points or targets that provide benchmarks for success and allow for comparative assessment of current conditions. Overall country-level scores ranged from 43 to 95 on a scale of 1 to 100, but countries that scored high for species did not necessarily score high for habitats. Although most current status scores were relatively high, likely future status scores for biodiversity were much lower in most countries due to negative trends for both species and habitats. We also found a strong positive relationship between the Human Development Index and resilience measures that could promote greater sustainability by reducing pressures. This relationship suggests that many developing countries lack effective governance, further jeopardizing their ability to maintain species and habitats in the future.
Subject(s)

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Ecosystem / Conservation of Natural Resources / Biodiversity / Marine Biology Type of study: Prognostic_studies / Screening_studies Aspects: Determinantes_sociais_saude Language: En Journal: PLoS One Journal subject: CIENCIA / MEDICINA Year: 2013 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Country of publication:

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Ecosystem / Conservation of Natural Resources / Biodiversity / Marine Biology Type of study: Prognostic_studies / Screening_studies Aspects: Determinantes_sociais_saude Language: En Journal: PLoS One Journal subject: CIENCIA / MEDICINA Year: 2013 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Country of publication: