Use and usefulness of measures of marine endemicity in South Africa

Numerous authors have cited numbers, or proportions, of endemic species within South(ern) African marine taxa, but comparisons between these statistics are confounded by differing definitions of regional boundaries and differences among data sets analysed. The authors tabulated and compared key ende...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:South African Journal of Science 2016-03, Vol.112 (3/4), p.1-1
Main Authors: Griffiths, Charles L, Robinson, Tamara B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aves
Biodiversity
Biogeography
Biota
Boundaries
Coasts
Distribution
Ecosystems
Endemic species
Mammalia
Marine
marine conservation
Marine fauna
Polyplacophora
range restriction
Studies
Taxa
Taxonomy
Zoological research
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Summary:Numerous authors have cited numbers, or proportions, of endemic species within South(ern) African marine taxa, but comparisons between these statistics are confounded by differing definitions of regional boundaries and differences among data sets analysed. The authors tabulated and compared key endemicity statistics for regional marine taxa and explained biases in the data sets. The most comprehensive data sets available give overall marine endemicity within the national boundaries of South Africa as 28-33%, but estimates within individual taxa making up these totals vary enormously, from 0% (Aves, Mammalia) to over 90% (Polyplacophora). They also examined published data documenting localised endemicity patterns around the coastline. These consistently show the highest numbers of endemics occurring along the South Coast. Properly and consistently calculated measures of national endemicity do, however, retain significant conservation value, and the rates for South African marine biota are high relative to other regions globally, being exceeded only by New Zealand and Antarctica.
ISSN:0038-2353
1996-7489
DOI:10.17159/sajs.2016/20150249