Island building and overfishing in the Spratly Islands archipelago are predicted to decrease larval flow and impact the whole system. (5th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wolanski, Eric; Choukroun, Severine; Nhan, Nguyen Huu
• Is Part Of: Estuarine, coastal and shelf science. Volume 233(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-02-05
• Subjects: Flushing -- Currents -- Coral -- Larvae -- Resilience; Estuarine oceanography -- Periodicals; Coasts -- Periodicals; Estuarine biology -- Periodicals; Seashore biology -- Periodicals; Coasts; Estuarine biology; Estuarine oceanography; Seashore biology; Periodicals; 551.461805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106545
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-7714

Abstract

Abstract: The Spratly Islands archipelago in the South China Sea is a disputed marine area impacted by a destructive free-for-all race to resources. Though physically open, the archipelago is a semi-closed system because the flushing time scales are comparable to the pelagic larval duration of coral and reef fish larvae. Island-building, overfishing and destructive clam harvesting in the archipelago destroy, or at the very least severely damage, the directly impacted reefs. At these reefs, larvae are not produced anymore, or produced in significantly lessened numbers, and thus larval recruitment is decreased in reefs downstream. This diminishes the resilience of the whole Spratly Islands archipelago reef ecosystem. Highlights: Though physically open, the archipelago is a semi-closed system for reef larvae. Island-building, overfishing and clam harvesting severely damage the reefs. They also diminish the resilience of the whole ecosystem. Conservation measures are urgently needed to enable sustainability.