Widespread diversity deficits of coral reef sharks and rays.
Colin A SimpfendorferMichael R HeithausMichelle R HeupelM Aaron MacNeilMark G MeekanEuan S HarveyC Samantha ShermanLeanne M Currey-RandallJordan S GoetzeJeremy J KiszkaMatthew J ReesConrad W SpeedVinay UdyawerMark E BondKathryn I FlowersGina M ClementiJasmine Valentin-AlbaneseMohamed Shiham AdamKhadeeja AliJacob AsherEva AylagasOcéane BeaufortCecilie BenjaminAnthony T F BernardMichael L BerumenStacy L BierwagenChico BirrellErika BonnemaRosalind M K BownEdward J BrooksJ Jed BrownDayne BuddoPatrick J BurkeCamila CáceresMarta CambraDiego CardeñosaJeffrey C CarrierSara CasaretoJennifer E CaselleVenkatesh CharlooJoshua Eli CinnerThomas ClaverieEric E G CluaJ Nicholas CochranNeil CookJessica E CrampBrooke M D'AlbertoMartin de GraafMareike C DornhegeMario EspinozaAndy EstepLanya FanovichNaomi F FarabaughDaniel FernandoCarlos E L FerreiraCandace Y A FieldsAnna L FlamCamilla FlorosVirginia FourqureanLaura GajdzikLaura García BarciaRicardo GarlaKirk GastrichLachlan GeorgeTommaso GiarrizzoRory GrahamTristan L GuttridgeValerie HaganRoyale S HardenstineStephen M HeckAaron C HendersonPatricia HeithausHeidi HertlerMauricio Hoyos PadillaRobert E HueterRima W JabadoJean-Christophe JoyeuxVanessa JaitehMohini JohnsonStacy D JupiterMuslimin KaimuddinDevanshi KasanaMegan KelleySteven Thomas KesselBenedict KiiluTaratau KirataBaraka KuguruFabian KyneTim J LangloisFrida LaraJaedon LaweElodie J I LédéeSteve LindfieldAndrea Luna-AcostaJade Q MaggsB Mabel Manjaji-MatsumotoAndrea D MarshallLucy MartinDaniel Mateos-MolinaPhilip MatichErin McCombsAshlie J McIvorDianne L McLeanLlewelyn MeggsStephen MooreSushmita MukherjiRyan MurrayStephen J NewmanJosep NoguésClay ObotaDomingo OchavilloOwen R O'SheaKennedy E OsukaYannis P PapastamtiouNishan PereraBradley J PetersonCaio R PimentelFabián Pina-AmargósHudson T PinheiroAlessandro PonzoAndhika PrasetyoL M Sjamsul QuamarJessica R QuinlanJosé Amorim Reis-FilhoHector RuizAlexei Ruiz-AbiernoEnric SalaPelayo Salinas de-LeónMelita A SamoilysWilliam R SampleMichelle T Schärer-UmpierreAudrey M SchlaffKurt SchmidSara N SchoenNikola SimpsonAdam N H SmithJulia L Y SpaetLauren SparksTwan StoffersAkshay TannaRubén TorresMichael J TraversMaurits P M van Zinnicq BergmannLaurent VigliolaJuney WardJoseph D WarrenAlexandra M WattsColin Kuo-Chang WenElizabeth R WhitmanAaron J WirsingAljoscha WothkeEsteban Zarza-GonzâlezDemian D ChapmanPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2023)
A global survey of coral reefs reveals that overfishing is driving resident shark species toward extinction, causing diversity deficits in reef elasmobranch (shark and ray) assemblages. Our species-level analysis revealed global declines of 60 to 73% for five common resident reef shark species and that individual shark species were not detected at 34 to 47% of surveyed reefs. As reefs become more shark-depleted, rays begin to dominate assemblages. Shark-dominated assemblages persist in wealthy nations with strong governance and in highly protected areas, whereas poverty, weak governance, and a lack of shark management are associated with depauperate assemblages mainly composed of rays. Without action to address these diversity deficits, loss of ecological function and ecosystem services will increasingly affect human communities.