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E  C O S Y S T E M ST R U C T U R E I  N D I C AT O R S

BIODIVERSIT Y

Conservation Objective

Promote reef ecosystem health in the wake of natural and anthropogenic disturbances by maintaining

and increasing current levels of biodiversity, particularly within key functional guilds and threatened

focal species.

Threats

Main threats include destruction of habitat and nursery areas; illegal or destructive fishing practices and

overfishing (of groupers and sharks, for example); poaching (sea turtles and their eggs), overharvesting

or accidental killing of threatened species (such as boats hitting manatees); pollution (including

sedimentation and nutrification); coral bleaching and disease; competition/predation; hurricanes; and

global climate change.

Management Actions

· Establish improved monitoring programs to determine the current status and critical habitats

of key focal species.

· Develop management or recovery plans for currently unmanaged species (e.g., goliath grouper,

whale shark, sawfish) and routinely update management or recovery plans for managed species

(e.g., hawksbill turtle, manatee).

· Protect migration and larval corridors, and reduce destruction of mangrove, seagrass and

coral nursery areas.

· Reduce illegal fishing and other destructive practices like marine dredging operations.

· Reduce or eliminate the direct take of World Conservation Union (IUCN) threatened species

(Appendix 3).

Rachel T. Graham

Coral reefs are among the most biologically

diverse ecosystems in the world. (In other

words, they host a great variety of life.)

These spectacular living formations account

for one-third of all marine fish species.

It's important to monitor biodiversity,

as changes in the great richness of reef

life can help us spot important changes

in ecosystem health. Within any given

ecosystem, higher biological diversity is

generally considered to be healthier than

lower biodiversity, and extensive biodiversity

loss can be used as a proxy for ecosystem

degradation. Changes in the abundance

of rare species or range-restricted species

can also be important indicators of overall

ecosystem disturbance.

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