Island building and overfishing in the Spratly Islands archipelago are predicted to decrease larval flow and impact the whole system

The Spratly Islands archipelago in the South China Sea is a disputed marine area impacted by a destructive free-for-all race to resources. Though physically open, the archipelago is a semi-closed system because the flushing time scales are comparable to the pelagic larval duration of coral and reef fish larvae. Island-building, overfishing and destructive clam harvesting in the archipelago destroy, or at the very least severely damage, the directly impacted reefs. At these reefs, larvae are not produced anymore, or produced in significantly lessened numbers, and thus larval recruitment is decreased in the reefs downstream. This diminishes the resilience of the whole Spratly Islands archipelago reef ecosystem.

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

233

1096-0015

N/A

N/A

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