title: Marine defaunation: animal loss in the global ocean.
abstract: Marine defaunation, or human-caused animal loss in the oceans, emerged forcefully only hundreds of years ago, whereas terrestrial defaunation has been occurring far longer. Though humans have caused few global marine extinctions, we have profoundly affected marine wildlife, altering the functioning and provisioning of services in every ocean. Current ocean trends, coupled with terrestrial defaunation lessons, suggest that marine defaunation rates will rapidly intensify as human use of the oceans industrializes. Though protected areas are a powerful tool to harness ocean productivity, especially when designed with future climate in mind, additional management strategies will be required. Overall, habitat degradation is likely to intensify as a major driver of marine wildlife loss. Proactive intervention can avert a marine defaunation disaster of the magnitude observed on land.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. douglas.mccauley@lifesci.ucsb.edu.
authors.forename: Douglas J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: McCauley
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
authors.forename: Malin L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pinsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Palumbi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Estes
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
authors.forename: Francis H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Joyce
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Warner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D044822:Biodiversity; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D056727:Endangered Species; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012623:Seawater