. "1 Ecological Extinction and Evolution in the Brave New Ocean--JEREMY B. C. JACKSON." In the Light of Evolution, Volume II: Biodiversity and Extinction. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2008.
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In the Light of Evolution: Volume II—Biodiversity and Extinction
TABLE 1.2 Biomass of Fishes on Coral Reefs in Relation to Human Population Size per km of Reef or Reserve Status
Location
Human Population Size per km Reef or Protection Status
NOTES: See Knowlton and Jackson (2008). C, Caribbean; CP, central Pacific; IO, Indian Ocean; NCP, north central Pacific; WP, western Pacific.
aSample dates: 1997/2005.
We can put numbers on these impressions by comparison of modern Caribbean fish communities on unprotected reefs versus sites inside the few long-established marine protected areas (MPAs) where fishing is prohibited and the rules are strictly enforced (Table 1.2) (Newman et al., 2006; Paredes, 2007). Unprotected reefs in the Pacific and Indian oceans are comparably overfished, although few if any as badly as Jamaica (Table 1.2) (McClanahan et al., 2001, 2007; Dulvy et al., 2002; Friedlander and DeMartini, 2002; Jackson, 2006). As for corals, the greatest fish biomass and largest fish occur on the uninhabited and protected atolls of the central and north central Pacific that may never have been severely degraded (Table 1.2) (Knowlton and Jackson, 2008). The highest fish biomass on these isolated atolls is 1,000 g/m2, which is only double that on the best-protected Caribbean reefs. Piscivores comprise ≈50–85% of total fish biomass (McClanahan et al., 2007; Knowlton and Jackson, 2008), most of it large sharks. In general, apex predators are virtually absent from reefs
