Importance of Reefs

 ... reefs have been shown to generate biodiversity and many species to other marine habitats ... Coral reefs are thus not just ecological attractors of many species, but evolutionary rates are greater than anywhere else in the oceans. Destroying reefs thus means that recovery from the current biodiversity crisis will be delayed in the entire ocean. (p. 47)


Source:
Kiessling, Wolfgang and George A. Heiss. "Coral Reefs." Pages 45-54 in Djoghlaf, Ahmed and Felix Dodds (eds.). Biodiversity and Ecosystem Insecurity: A Planet in Peril. London: Earthscan, 2011. [QH541.15 B56B5683 2011X EARTHSCI] (U. of Toronto, Earth Science Library) 

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