Tropical Marine Biodiversity
A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 March 2017) | Viewed by 42213
Special Issue Editor
Interests: coral reefs; reef fish; sharks; reef fisheries; corals; marine conservation; marine protected areas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Life on our planet originated in the oceans and, as a result, marine habitats display a greater diversity of life forms (i.e., a higher number of phyla) than do those on land. While some terrestrial environments, notably rain forests, may harbour more species than do any in the sea, the number of species present in tropical marine habitats, such as coral reefs, is comparable, and frequently more evident. Further the widespread use of modern genetic techniques is revealing a greater diversity of marine organisms than we previously supposed, with thousands of new species of micro-organism being recognised using genetic techniques, and new species of animals as large as sharks and cetaceans being distinguished from sibling relatives as a result of genetic sequencing.
At the same time, the series of issues concerning biodiversity, specifically marine diversity, first highlighted some thirty years ago remain. How did such an astonishing biodiversity as we see in tropical marine habitats arise? What is the function of this biodiversity, or at least, how does such high biodiversity influence ecosystem function? What is the true value of such marine biodiversity, in environmental economic terms, as a renewable resource, or as a wider social benefit? In addition, to what degree is tropical biodiversity in the oceans as threatened as that on land—how good is the evidence that in our seas also we are witnessing the fourth great extinction? A focus of this forthcoming issue will be consideration of the extent to which, in recent years, the application of new concepts and methods, especially cutting edge genetic techniques, has advanced our knowledge and understanding of these issues.
Prof. Rupert Ormond
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- Marine biodiversity
- Species diversity
- Intraspecific diversity
- Genetic diversity
- Diversity patterns
- Diversity threats
- Diversity conservation
- Benthic diversity
- Fish diversity
- Regional diversity
- Diversity hotspots
- Economic valuation
- Diversity function