Worm Boris, Lotze Heike K, Myers Ransom A
Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Aug 19;100(17):9884-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1333941100. Epub 2003 Aug 7.
Concentrations of biodiversity, or hotspots, represent conservation priorities in terrestrial ecosystems but remain largely unexplored in marine habitats. In the open ocean, many large predators such as tunas, sharks, billfishes, and sea turtles are of current conservation concern because of their vulnerability to overfishing and ecosystem role. Here we use scientific-observer records from pelagic longline fisheries in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to show that oceanic predators concentrate in distinct diversity hotspots. Predator diversity consistently peaks at intermediate latitudes (20-30 degrees N and S), where tropical and temperate species ranges overlap. Individual hotspots are found close to prominent habitat features such as reefs, shelf breaks, or seamounts and often coincide with zooplankton and coral reef hotspots. Closed-area models in the northwest Atlantic predict that protection of hotspots outperforms other area closures in safeguarding threatened pelagic predators from ecological extinction. We conclude that the seemingly monotonous landscape of the open ocean shows rich structure in species diversity and that these features should be used to focus future conservation efforts.
生物多样性的集中区域，即热点地区，是陆地生态系统中的保护重点，但在海洋栖息地中仍未得到充分探索。在公海中，许多大型捕食者，如金枪鱼、鲨鱼、旗鱼和海龟，由于它们易受过度捕捞的影响以及在生态系统中的作用，目前受到保护关注。在这里，我们利用来自大西洋和太平洋远洋延绳钓渔业的科学观察员记录，表明海洋捕食者集中在不同的多样性热点地区。捕食者多样性在中纬度地区（北纬和南纬20 - 30度）持续达到峰值，这里是热带和温带物种分布范围的重叠区域。单个热点地区靠近珊瑚礁、陆架断裂带或海山等显著的栖息地特征，并且常常与浮游动物和珊瑚礁热点地区重合。西北大西洋的封闭区域模型预测，在保护受威胁的远洋捕食者免于生态灭绝方面，热点地区的保护比其他区域封闭措施更有效。我们得出结论，公海看似单调的景观在物种多样性方面呈现出丰富的结构，这些特征应用于指导未来的保护工作。
