Bioerosion Research in the South China Sea: Scarce, Patchy and Unrepresentative
Coral reefs are in decline globally, resulting in changed constructive and destructive processes. The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is of high biological importance, but also subjected to extreme local and global pressures. Yet, the regional calcium carbonate dynamics are not well understoo...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Oceans |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/4/1/5 |
| _version_ | 1797609646530232320 |
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| author | Yen-Huei Li Barbara Calcinai Jiayi Lim Christine H. L. Schönberg |
| author_facet | Yen-Huei Li Barbara Calcinai Jiayi Lim Christine H. L. Schönberg |
| author_sort | Yen-Huei Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Coral reefs are in decline globally, resulting in changed constructive and destructive processes. The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is of high biological importance, but also subjected to extreme local and global pressures. Yet, the regional calcium carbonate dynamics are not well understood, especially bioerosion. A literature search for research on bioerosion and bioeroders in the South China Sea found only 31 publications on bioerosion-related research and 22 biodiversity checklists that contained bioeroders, thus generating a paltry bibliography. Bioerosion research in the South China Sea is still undeveloped and reached only two publications per year over the last few years. Hong Kong is the hotspot of activities as measured in output and diversity of methods, but the research in Hong Kong and elsewhere was strongly favoring field surveys of sea urchins over other bioeroders. Overall, macroborers received almost equal attention as grazer-eroders, but interest in microborers was low. Almost 90% of the research was conducted by local workers, but 90% of the publications were still disseminated in English. Field surveys and laboratory analyses made up over 40% of the research, but experimental work was mostly missing and represents the largest, most important gap. A government initiative in Thailand generated much knowledge on the distribution of marine sponges; otherwise urchins were again prominent in diversity checklists. Comparatively, many checklists were produced for Vietnam from work by visiting scientists. Most studies investigated coastal habitats, but a fourth sampled at oceanic locations. About 36% of the checklist publications covered the entire South China Sea; the rest produced faunistic records for locations within single countries. Our efforts demonstrate that, while active bioerosion research and basic expertise exist in the South China Sea, research remained unrepresentative with respect to taxa, ecofunctional guilds, and especially to controlled experiments. The latter are urgently needed for prognoses, modelling and management in this populated and overused marine environment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:04:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8894e7f29133412f9037a4933f90d99a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-1924 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:04:17Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Oceans |
| spelling | doaj.art-8894e7f29133412f9037a4933f90d99a2023-11-17T13:07:29ZengMDPI AGOceans2673-19242023-01-0141516710.3390/oceans4010005Bioerosion Research in the South China Sea: Scarce, Patchy and UnrepresentativeYen-Huei Li0Barbara Calcinai1Jiayi Lim2Christine H. L. Schönberg3Department of Oceanography, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, TaiwanDepartment of Life and Environmenta Science, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60131 Ancona, ItalyDepartment of Oceanography, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, TaiwanDepartment of Oceanography, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, TaiwanCoral reefs are in decline globally, resulting in changed constructive and destructive processes. The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is of high biological importance, but also subjected to extreme local and global pressures. Yet, the regional calcium carbonate dynamics are not well understood, especially bioerosion. A literature search for research on bioerosion and bioeroders in the South China Sea found only 31 publications on bioerosion-related research and 22 biodiversity checklists that contained bioeroders, thus generating a paltry bibliography. Bioerosion research in the South China Sea is still undeveloped and reached only two publications per year over the last few years. Hong Kong is the hotspot of activities as measured in output and diversity of methods, but the research in Hong Kong and elsewhere was strongly favoring field surveys of sea urchins over other bioeroders. Overall, macroborers received almost equal attention as grazer-eroders, but interest in microborers was low. Almost 90% of the research was conducted by local workers, but 90% of the publications were still disseminated in English. Field surveys and laboratory analyses made up over 40% of the research, but experimental work was mostly missing and represents the largest, most important gap. A government initiative in Thailand generated much knowledge on the distribution of marine sponges; otherwise urchins were again prominent in diversity checklists. Comparatively, many checklists were produced for Vietnam from work by visiting scientists. Most studies investigated coastal habitats, but a fourth sampled at oceanic locations. About 36% of the checklist publications covered the entire South China Sea; the rest produced faunistic records for locations within single countries. Our efforts demonstrate that, while active bioerosion research and basic expertise exist in the South China Sea, research remained unrepresentative with respect to taxa, ecofunctional guilds, and especially to controlled experiments. The latter are urgently needed for prognoses, modelling and management in this populated and overused marine environment.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/4/1/5Western Pacificliterature reviewbibliographyresearch focuscoral reefdisturbance |
| spellingShingle | Yen-Huei Li Barbara Calcinai Jiayi Lim Christine H. L. Schönberg Bioerosion Research in the South China Sea: Scarce, Patchy and Unrepresentative Oceans Western Pacific literature review bibliography research focus coral reef disturbance |
| title | Bioerosion Research in the South China Sea: Scarce, Patchy and Unrepresentative |
| title_full | Bioerosion Research in the South China Sea: Scarce, Patchy and Unrepresentative |
| title_fullStr | Bioerosion Research in the South China Sea: Scarce, Patchy and Unrepresentative |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bioerosion Research in the South China Sea: Scarce, Patchy and Unrepresentative |
| title_short | Bioerosion Research in the South China Sea: Scarce, Patchy and Unrepresentative |
| title_sort | bioerosion research in the south china sea scarce patchy and unrepresentative |
| topic | Western Pacific literature review bibliography research focus coral reef disturbance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/4/1/5 |
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