A new study of Asia’s Coral Triangle, which contains nearly 30 percent of the world’s reefs, shows that when it comes to ensuring a rich and diverse range of species, size matters.
“The study suggests that marine protected areas should be as large and diverse as possible,” Peter Etnoyer, a marine biologist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said in a statement Thursday.
Etnoyer, who co-authored the study published by open access peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE, stressed that providing more protected marine space made it possible to “include more species, more habitats, and more genetic diversity to offer species the best chance of adapting to sea temperature and other environmental changes.”
The Coral Triangle covers a triangular area stretching across the Philippines, eastern Sabah, eastern Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
via Ocean scientists find how size of Coral Triangle matters in biodiversity | SciTech | GMA News Online.
See also: Secrets of world’s richest marine area revealed