In the archipelagos of Fernando De Noronha, San Pietro and Sao Paolo, Rocas atal, Trindade and Martin Vaz live marine species that do not exist anywhere in the world
In the Brazilian ocean islands many marine species live that there are no other point on the planet, they are exclusive for these places. The conclusion comes from an international study that has analyzed more than 7000 species of fish out of 87 islands and archipelagos all over the world. The results reveal that the potential of biodiversity and endemism of these ecosystems has been historically underestimated, which can have a direct impact on public policies and conservation strategies.
The ocean islands so called are very far from the coast. In Brazil there are five:
- Fernando De Noronha
- São Pedro and San Paolo
- Rocas atoll
- Trinity
- Martin Vaz
In addition to Fernando De Noronha, where there is an intense tourist activity, the others are ecological sanctuaries, areas of scientific research and closed to visit. Since they are very isolated, one of the main characteristics of these islands is to present a unique ecosystem and a great wealth of biodiversity.
“We realize that the Brazilian islands are much larger than we thought,” says researcher Hudson Pinheiro, a member of nature conservation specialists (Recn) and researcher at the USP Marine Biology Center (Cebimar). “They were hardly mentioned when they talked about endemism, but our data and new interpretations show that they are true natural workshops of the evolution of the species.”
The work, published in Peer Community Journal Wednesday 10, and led by Pinheiro in collaboration with Luiz A. Rocha (Academy of Sciences of California) and Juan Pablo Quimbayo (University of Miami), with the support of the foundation of the natural protection group of Nature Boticário, updates the scientific understanding of marine enhancer.
The study proposes the concept of “island provincial endemism”, which includes not only exclusive species of a specific island, but also those that occur in a series of islands located in the same biogheographic province, but never on the continent.
According to researchers, about 40% of endemic species falls into this category and has an extremely limited distribution, a factor that makes them highly vulnerable. Ignoring these species can lead to incorrect interpretations of biodiversity formation and which areas are more vulnerable to human impacts, including climate change.
The investigation stressed that about 12% of the world biodiversity of coral reef fish is made up of species of endemic island. In some cases, the distant islands have multiple genetic connections between them compared to the continental regions nearby – such as with Santa Helena and Ascension (British territories abroad in the southern Atlantic) and Galapagos and Nui turnip (Ecuador and Chile territories, respectively, in the Pacific) – challenging traditional ideas on isolation and dispersion of species.
“Some endemic species of Fernando De Noronha, for example, also occur in the Atoll of Rocas or on the island of San Pedro and São Paulo and vice versa”, explains Pinheiro. “But they are species that have not colonized the coastal region. Therefore, as well as the islands that are relatively close, the species that occur are considered endemic by the criterion we propose.”
The archipelago of San Pietro and San Paolo – located about 1,100 kilometers from Natal (RN) – is one of the most remote islands in the world. Due to isolation, much of its marine biodiversity occurs exclusively in its rocky cliffs. However, some fish found in the archipelago also exist in other Brazilian Oceanic islands, such as Fernando De Noronha and Atol Das Rocas, but not on the continent. These fish are adapted to the ocean conditions and play an important ecological role in the islands.
This new interpretation allows a broader look at marine conservation policies.
“The correct sizing of the size and vulnerability of the fauna populations of a particular environment is fundamental for marine protection strategies,” says the researcher. “If knowledge is limited or limited, conservation policies also tend to be limited. And the presence of endemism is one of the characteristics considered to define the priority areas for conservation.”
Source: Terra
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