Marine Biodiversity Hotspots and Conservation Priorities for Tropical Reefs

@article{Roberts2002MarineBH,
  title={Marine Biodiversity Hotspots and Conservation Priorities for Tropical Reefs},
  author={Callum M. Roberts and Colin J. McClean and John E. N. Veron and Julie P. Hawkins and Gerald R. Allen and Donald Evan McAllister and Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier and Frederick W. Schueler and Mark D. Spalding and Fred E. Wells and Carly Vynne and Timothy B. Werner},
  journal={Science},
  year={2002},
  volume={295},
  pages={1280 - 1284}
}
Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse of shallow water marine ecosystems but are being degraded worldwide by human activities and climate warming. Analyses of the geographic ranges of 3235 species of reef fish, corals, snails, and lobsters revealed that between 7.2% and 53.6% of each taxon have highly restricted ranges, rendering them vulnerable to extinction. Restricted-range species are clustered into centers of endemism, like those described for terrestrial taxa. The 10 richest… 

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