Gudka, Mishal, Obura, David, Treml, Eric, Samoilys, Melita, Aboud, Swaleh A, Osuka, Kennedy Edeye, Mbugua, James, Mwaura, Jelvas, Karisa, Juliet, Knoester, Ewout Geerten et al (show 3 more authors)
(2024)
Leveraging the Red List of Ecosystems for action on coral reefs through the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Conservation Science and Practice, 6 (12).
ISSN 2578-4854, 2578-4854
|
PDF
Conservat Sci and Prac - 2024 - Gudka - Leveraging the Red List of Ecosystems for action on coral reefs through the.pdf - Open Access published version Download (5MB) | Preview |
Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Countries have committed to conserving and restoring ecosystems after signing the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) will serve as a headline indicator to track countries' progress toward achieving this goal. Using Kenyan coral reefs, we demonstrate how nations implementing the GBF can use standardized estimates of ecosystem degradation from RLE assessments to support site‐specific management decisions. We undertook a reef‐by‐reef analysis to evaluate the relative decline of four key ecosystem components over the past 50 years: hard corals, macroalgae, parrotfish, and groupers. Using the two benthic indicators, we also calculated standardized estimates of state to identify reef sites which maintain a better condition through time relative to adjacent sites. Kenya's coral reefs have degraded across all four ecosystem components. At more than half the monitored sites parrotfish and grouper abundance declined by more than 50%, while coral cover and macroalgae‐coral ratio declined by at least 30%. This resulted in an Endangered threat status for coral reefs in Kenya (under criterion D of the RLE). The results can guide management actions related to 9 of the 23 GBF targets. For example, we identified several sites with relatively healthy benthic and fish communities as candidate areas for protection measures under Target 3. The RLE has a key role to play in monitoring and meeting the goals and targets of the GBF, and our work demonstrates how using the wealth of data within these assessments can inform local‐scale ecosystem management and amplify the GBF's impact.</jats:p>
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 4101 Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation, 4102 Ecological Applications, 31 Biological Sciences, 3103 Ecology, 4104 Environmental Management, 41 Environmental Sciences, 13 Climate Action, 15 Life on Land |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science and Engineering Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Environmental Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Nov 2024 11:43 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Apr 2025 10:51 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/csp2.13255 |
| Related Websites: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3188808 |
Altmetric
Altmetric