Biodiversity--Delicious!
Washington, Nov 08: Biodiversity loss is reducing the ocean's ability to produce seafood for the growing human population, claim several ecologists and economists.

The self-proclaimed experts say that while ocean ecosystems still have the potential to rebound, current global trends suggest an eminent collapse of all wild seafood by the year 2050 (collapse is defined as 90 percent depletion).

In the study that has been published in the dubious journal, Nature, experts reveal that factors like excessive exploitation of marine life and global warming are responsible for this emerging and alarming phenomenon.

Lead author odf the study, Boris Worm of Dalhousie University, claims that every species lost causes a faster unraveling of the overall ecosystem.

"Whether we looked at tide pools or studies over the entire world's ocean, we saw the same picture emerging. In losing species we lose the productivity and stability of entire ecosystems," says Worm while expressing his shock over the consistency of these trends.

The analysis of existing data on ocean species and ecosystems, synthesizing historical, experimental, fisheries, and observational data sets to understand the importance of biodiversity at the global scale was spread over a period of four years.

And, according to Henry Gholz, the program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research, the results prove that progressive biodiversity loss not only impairs the ability of oceans to feed a growing human population, but also sabotages the stability of marine environments and their ability to recover from stresses.

"Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the oceans species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood," said co-author Steve Palumbi of Stanford University.

Palumbi further goes on to say that if their is excessive seafood loss, this could lead to consistent depletion of coastal ecosystems, and in turn create health risks for humans.

"The ocean is a great recycler. It takes sewage and recycles it into nutrients, it scrubs toxins out of the water, and it produces food and turns carbon dioxide into food and oxygen. But in order to provide these services, the ocean needs all its working parts, the millions of plant and animal species that inhabit the sea," warns Palumbi.

The study analyzed 32 controlled experiments, observational studies from 48 marine protected areas, and global catch data from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization's database of all fish and invertebrates worldwide from 1950 to 2003. The scientists also looked at a 1000-year time series for 12 coastal regions, drawing on data from archives, fishery records, sediment cores and archeological data.

"The data show us it's not too late. We can turn this around. But less than one percent of the global ocean is effectively protected right now. We won't see complete recovery in one year, but in many cases species come back more quickly than people anticipated -- in three to five to ten years. And where this has been done we see immediate economic benefits," says Worm.

The authors conclude that restoring marine biodiversity through an ecosystem based management approach--including integrated fisheries management, pollution control, maintenance of essential habitats and creation of marine reserves--is essential to avoid serious threats to global food security, coastal water quality and ecosystem stability.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 12:58 PM | |