coral reef diversity
Marjorie Reaka
mr9 at umail.umd.edu
Thu Jun 21 13:35:06 EDT 2001
The appropriate citation for my work on estimates
of the number of DESCRIBED and POTENTIAL (described plus
undescribed) species in coral reef ecosystems, along with a
discussion of the methods and numerical basis of the
calculations, and the assumptions and complexities involved
in such a calculation, is Reaka-Kudla, M. L. 1997. The
global biodiversity of coral reefs: a comparison with
rainforests. In: M. L. Reaka-Kudla, D. L. Wilson, and E. O.
Wilson, eds., Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting
Our Natural Resources. Joseph Henry/National Academy
Press, Washington DC, pp. 83-108. I concluded that there
are about 93,000 described species of all taxa (including
microoganisms) and about 68,000 described species of
macrobiota. This is about 5% of the described global
biota.
If one tries to estimate how many total species
there MIGHT be on global world reefs, one can use a variety
of data and methods, including the estimates of the % of
species among all organismal groups that have already been
described (e.g., Systematic Agenda 2000 and other
reports)--and thus how many remain to be described, and how
many species coral reefs might have IF they possessed the
same species/area as rainforests (and using bracketed
numbers from published estimates of total numbers of
species in rainforests). I concluded (p. 102) that total
coral reef diversity (known plus unknown species, including
microorgansisms) might be about a million species (the
calculation suggested 950,000). However, the number could
be higher, since microorganismal diversity is so poorly
known, since even most macroscopic species on coral reefs
are cryptic and difficult to collect, since many of these
species of small body size have small geographic ranges,
and since the tropics and marine environments (especially
in remote regions) receive less study than terrestrial and
higher latitude environments. It has been a source of
considerable consternation to me that this work, and the
careful bracketing of assumptions and numbers underlying
it, has been badly misquoted by some individuals and the
World Resources Institute who apparently did not read the
paper and treated it as if it was just a wild guess.
On Mon, 18 Jun 2001 09:32:22
-0500 Juliet Martinez <Juliet.Martinez at worldbook.com> wrote:
> Dear Coral List,
>
> I am a researcher/fact checker at World Book
Encyclopedia, currently checking the article entitled
"coral reef" that will appear in the 2002 print edition. I
have a few questions on statements that appear in the most
recent draft, but which I am having difficulty verifying in
current literature. Austin Bowden-Kerby answered some of my
questions and suggested I address the list with the others.
> > 1. Does everyone agree that the Great Barrier Reef is
the world's largest reef system by area? Does anyone know
the actual length (I know it's about 2000 km, but would
prefer a more exact measurement) and area for the GBR? One
source I have says that the largest reef system is a
fringing reef system in the Red Sea, at 4000 km long. In
search of these answers I have emailed the Australian
Geological Survey and Reefbase, but gotten no response. >
> 2. Do coral reefs occur in the subtropics? The article
contributor says they do, but since most of my sources say
that coral reefs occur in the tropics only, I could use
some examples of sub-tropical coral reefs. I also realize
that non-hermatypic corals grow in much colder water,
deeper in the ocean, and outside of the tropics, but do
they occur as far north as the Arctic Circle? >
> 3. To what family do the sea grasses belong? The lily
family? >
> 4. What is the best authoritative estimate of the total
species richness of coral ecosystems? I've found the
following: "thousands" (Castro and Huber. Marine Biology.
1992), "tens of thousands" (NOAA's coral page), and "one to
nine million" (Marjorie Reaka-Kudla, cited in Science, and
by the World Resource Institute). How would most of the
coral reef scientists ballpark it? I'm looking for the
current scientific consensus on it. Also: What is the
ballpark number of reef-building coral species? >
> 5. How old are the oldest known coral reefs? >
> 6. Some sources list coral reefs as an important carbon
sink. Others say that the coral reefs only account for
about 2% of global carbon storage, and contend that as
such, they are not a significant carbon sink. Again, I'm
looking for the scientific consensus on this, if one
exists. >
> I appreciate the assistance of any and all who can take
the time to reply. Please bear in mind that the goal of the
article is to present an informative article that reflects
current scientific consensus. Also, please include your
position and credentials so that I can cite your assistance
in my list of sources. >
> Thank you, >
> Juliet Martinez >
> Research Department > World Book Encyclopedia
> 233 N. Michigan, Suite 2000 > Chicago, IL 60601
> P: 312-819-6554 > F: 312-729-5612
> E: jmartine at worldbook.com >
> ~~~~~~~ > For directions on subscribing and unsubscribing
to coral-list or the > digests, please visit
www.coral.noaa.gov, click on Popular on the > menu bar,
then click on Coral-List Listserver. >
----------------------
Dr. Marjorie L. Reaka-Kudla Professor
Department of Biology
The University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742
Telephone 301-405-6944
Fax 301-314-9358
mr9 at umail.umd.edu
~~~~~~~
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