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Li X, Wang H, McCauley DJ, Altieri AH, Silliman BR, Lefcheck JS, Wu J, Li B, He Q. A wide megafauna gap undermines China's expanding coastal ecosystem conservation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadg3800. [PMID: 37556546 PMCID: PMC10411873 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg3800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
To fulfill sustainable development goals, many countries are expanding efforts to conserve ecologically and societally critical coastal ecosystems. Although megafauna profoundly affect the functioning of ecosystems, they are neglected as a key component in the conservation scheme for coastal ecosystems in many geographic contexts. We reveal a rich diversity of extant megafauna associated with all major types of coastal ecosystems in China, including 218 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, cephalopods, and fish across terrestrial and marine environments. However, 44% of these species are globally threatened, and 78% have not yet been assessed in China for extinction risk. More worrisome, 73% of these megafauna have not been designated as nationally protected species, and <10% of their most important habitats are protected. Filling this wide "megafauna gap" in China and globally would be a leading step as humanity strives to thrive with coastal ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xincheng Li
- Coastal Ecology Lab, MOE Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, National Observations and Research Station for Wetland Ecosystems of the Yangtze Estuary (Shanghai), School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Hanchen Wang
- Coastal Ecology Lab, MOE Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, National Observations and Research Station for Wetland Ecosystems of the Yangtze Estuary (Shanghai), School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Douglas J. McCauley
- Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA
| | - Andrew H. Altieri
- Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Brian R. Silliman
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
| | - Jonathan S. Lefcheck
- Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network and MarineGEO Program, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037, USA
- University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge, MD 21613, USA
| | - Jihua Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems and College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Bo Li
- Institute of Biodiversity, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, Yunnan, China
| | - Qiang He
- Coastal Ecology Lab, MOE Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, National Observations and Research Station for Wetland Ecosystems of the Yangtze Estuary (Shanghai), School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai 200438, China
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Gauld JG, Silva JP, Atkinson PW, Record P, Acácio M, Arkumarev V, Blas J, Bouten W, Burton N, Catry I, Champagnon J, Clewley GD, Dagys M, Duriez O, Exo K, Fiedler W, Flack A, Friedemann G, Fritz J, Garcia‐Ripolles C, Garthe S, Giunchi D, Grozdanov A, Harel R, Humphreys EM, Janssen R, Kölzsch A, Kulikova O, Lameris TK, López‐López P, Masden EA, Monti F, Nathan R, Nikolov S, Oppel S, Peshev H, Phipps L, Pokrovsky I, Ross‐Smith VH, Saravia V, Scragg ES, Sforzi A, Stoynov E, Thaxter C, Van Steelant W, Toor M, Vorneweg B, Waldenström J, Wikelski M, Žydelis R, Franco AMA. Hotspots in the grid: Avian sensitivity and vulnerability to collision risk from energy infrastructure interactions in Europe and North Africa. J Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jethro G. Gauld
- School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich UK
| | - João P. Silva
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos Universidade do Porto Vairão Portugal
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos Universidade de Lisboa Lisbon Portugal
| | | | | | - Marta Acácio
- School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich UK
| | - Volen Arkumarev
- Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds BirdLife Bulgaria Sofia Bulgaria
| | - Julio Blas
- Department of Applied Biology Estación Biológica de Doñana Seville Spain
| | - Willem Bouten
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Niall Burton
- British Trust for Ornithology The Nunnery Thetford UK
| | - Inês Catry
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos Universidade do Porto Vairão Portugal
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos Universidade de Lisboa Lisbon Portugal
| | - Jocelyn Champagnon
- Tour du Valat Research institute for conservation of Mediterranean wetlands Arles France
| | - Gary D. Clewley
- British Trust for Ornithology Scotland Stirling University Innovation Park Stirling UK
| | | | - Olivier Duriez
- Centre of Evolutionary and Functional Ecology CNRS Campus Montpellier France
| | | | - Wolfgang Fiedler
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell am Bodensee Germany
| | - Andrea Flack
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell am Bodensee Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour University of Konstanz Constance Germany
| | | | | | | | - Stefan Garthe
- Research and Technology Centre (FTZ) Kiel University Kiel Germany
| | | | - Atanas Grozdanov
- Department of Zoology and Anthropology Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia Bulgaria
- Fund for wild Flora and Fauna Bulgaria
| | - Roi Harel
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem Israel
| | | | - René Janssen
- Bionet Natuuronderzoek EL Stein (Lb) The Netherlands
| | - Andrea Kölzsch
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell am Bodensee Germany
| | - Olga Kulikova
- Institute of Biological Problems of the North FEB RAS Magadan Russia
| | - Thomas K. Lameris
- Netherlands, Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Pascual López‐López
- Movement Ecology Lab, Environmental Research Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia Valencia Spain
| | - Elizabeth A. Masden
- Institute, North Highland College – UHI University of the Highlands and Islands Thurso UK
| | - Flavio Monti
- Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment University of Siena Siena Italy
| | - Ran Nathan
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem Israel
| | - Stoyan Nikolov
- Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds BirdLife Bulgaria Sofia Bulgaria
| | - Steffen Oppel
- Centre for Conservation Science Research Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Cambridge UK
| | - Hristo Peshev
- Fund for wild Flora and Fauna Bulgaria
- Department of Geography, Ecology and Environmental Protection South‐West University Neofit Rilski Blagoevgrad Bulgaria
| | - Louis Phipps
- The Vulture Conservation Foundation Zürich Switzerland
| | - Ivan Pokrovsky
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell am Bodensee Germany
- Institute of Plant & Animal Ecology, UB RAS Ekaterinburg Russia
- Institute of Biological Problems of the North, FEB RAS Magadan Russia
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Chris Thaxter
- British Trust for Ornithology The Nunnery Thetford UK
| | - Wouter Van Steelant
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Mariëlle Toor
- Department of Biology and Environmental Science Linnaeus University Kalmar Sweden
| | - Bernd Vorneweg
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell am Bodensee Germany
| | - Jonas Waldenström
- Department of Biology and Environmental Science Linnaeus University Kalmar Sweden
| | - Martin Wikelski
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell am Bodensee Germany
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