Godet Laurent, Toupoint Nicolas, Olivier Frédéric, Fournier Jérôme, Retière Christian
Département Milieux et Peuplements Aquatiques, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Station Marine de Dinard USM0404, France.
Ambio. 2008 Jul;37(5):347-55. doi: 10.1579/07-a-317.1.
Conservation of the marine environment mainly focuses on threatened elements and more precisely on vulnerable and endangered species like birds and mammals. When dealing with the conservation of marine habitats, the scientific community is mainly interested in hot spots of diversity, like seagrass beds in Europe, or hot spots of endemism, like coral reefs in tropical areas. Nevertheless, using the example of a common and widespread marine invertebrate, the sandmason worm (Lanice conchilega, Polychaeta, Terebellidae), we show that vulnerability and rarity are not the only criteria to take into account in order to select the best natural element for conservation. This species can form dense beds that increase biodiversity, are attractive feeding grounds for birds and fishes, and have a high socioeconomic value. In consequence, they have a high functional value that should be considered as an important conservation stake. Through the example of the Chausey archipelago and the Bay of the Mont Saint-Michel (France), we propose a synthetic interdisciplinary approach to evaluate the conservation needs of these beds. The issue is even more pressing when one considers that these natural elements and many similar ones still do not benefit from any legal protection in Europe despite their high heritage value.
海洋环境保护主要关注受威胁的元素，更确切地说是关注鸟类和哺乳动物等易危和濒危物种。在处理海洋栖息地保护问题时，科学界主要关注多样性热点地区，如欧洲的海草床，或特有性热点地区，如热带地区的珊瑚礁。然而，以一种常见且分布广泛的海洋无脊椎动物——沙泥蜂虫（Lanice conchilega，多毛纲，蛰龙介科）为例，我们表明脆弱性和稀有性并非选择最佳自然保护对象时唯一需要考虑的标准。该物种能够形成密集的群落，增加生物多样性，是鸟类和鱼类极具吸引力的觅食地，具有很高的社会经济价值。因此，它们具有很高的功能价值，应被视为重要的保护对象。通过法国肖西群岛和圣米歇尔山湾的例子，我们提出一种综合跨学科方法来评估这些群落的保护需求。考虑到这些自然元素以及许多类似的元素尽管具有很高的遗产价值，但在欧洲仍未得到任何法律保护，这个问题就更加紧迫了。
