Maire Eva, Cinner Joshua, Velez Laure, Huchery Cindy, Mora Camilo, Dagata Stephanie, Vigliola Laurent, Wantiez Laurent, Kulbicki Michel, Mouillot David
MARBEC, UMR IRD-CNRS-UM-IFREMER 9190, Université Montpellier, 34095, Montpellier Cedex, France.
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia.
Ecol Lett. 2016 Apr;19(4):351-60. doi: 10.1111/ele.12577. Epub 2016 Feb 15.
The depletion of natural resources has become a major issue in many parts of the world, with the most accessible resources being most at risk. In the terrestrial realm, resource depletion has classically been related to accessibility through road networks. In contrast, in the marine realm, the impact on living resources is often framed into the Malthusian theory of human density around ecosystems. Here, we develop a new framework to estimate the accessibility of global coral reefs using potential travel time from the nearest human settlement or market. We show that 58% of coral reefs are located < 30 min from the nearest human settlement. We use a case study from New Caledonia to demonstrate that travel time from the market is a strong predictor of fish biomass on coral reefs. We also highlight a relative deficit of protection on coral reef areas near people, with disproportional protection on reefs far from people. This suggests that conservation efforts are targeting low-conflict reefs or places that may already be receiving de facto protection due to their isolation. Our global assessment of accessibility in the marine realm is a critical step to better understand the interplay between humans and resources.
自然资源的枯竭已成为世界许多地区的一个主要问题，最易获取的资源面临的风险最大。在陆地领域，资源枯竭传统上与通过道路网络的可达性有关。相比之下，在海洋领域，对生物资源的影响通常被纳入围绕生态系统的马尔萨斯人口密度理论。在此，我们开发了一个新框架，利用从最近人类住区或市场的潜在旅行时间来估计全球珊瑚礁的可达性。我们发现，58%的珊瑚礁距离最近人类住区不到30分钟。我们以新喀里多尼亚为例进行研究，以证明从市场出发的旅行时间是珊瑚礁鱼类生物量的有力预测指标。我们还强调了靠近人群的珊瑚礁区域相对缺乏保护，而对远离人群的珊瑚礁存在不成比例的保护。这表明保护工作针对的是冲突较少的珊瑚礁或由于其孤立状态可能已经受到实际保护的地方。我们对海洋领域可达性的全球评估是更好地理解人类与资源之间相互作用的关键一步。
