Coral reef ecosystems and their biodiversity are essential for people, supporting many livelihoods and associated identities worldwide. Beyond its intrinsic values, biodiversity is crucial for sustaining ecosystem processes and the continued delivery of ecosystem services on which human welfare depends: species assemblages are characterized by various functions based on their traits, which affect ecosystems’ productivity and the provision of associated services1. However, coral reef biodiversity is rapidly succumbing to climate change impacts. Marine heatwave (MHW)-induced coral bleaching and mortality are increasing in frequency worldwide, adding to the impacts of human stressors such as unsustainable fishing and pollution2. In a paper published in One Earth, Eddy and colleagues3 documented a 50% decline of coral coverage in the past 50 years and a 50% loss of associated ecosystem services. These patterns translate into the erosion of coral-reef-associated biodiversity such as coral, fish and invertebrate species, and the loss of fisheries production globally. These, and similar trends, have stimulated a growing interest in evaluating the economic consequences of the loss of coral reefs and associated ecosystem services in the future, such as in Stoeckl and colleagues’4 study published in Ecosystem Services. There, the authors estimated the monetary value loss of coral reef ecosystem services with the expected loss of coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) up until 2075.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01256-7
Ecosystems services at risk
