Extinction predictor 'will help protect coral reefs'

10:04 AM Thu 17 Feb 2011 GMT

'Parrotfish cleaning the reef for coral settlement' ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies &copy Click Here to view large photo

More than a third of coral reef fish species are in jeopardy of local extinction from the impacts of climate change on coral reefs, a new scientific study has found. (Local extinction refers to the loss of species from individual locations, while they continue to persist elsewhere across their range.) A new predictive method developed by an international team of marine scientists has found that a third of reef fishes studied across the Indian Ocean are potentially vulnerable to increasing stresses on the reefs due to climate change. The method also gives coral reef managers vital insights to better protect ...

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by ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies