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MESOPHOTIC CORAL ECOSYSTEMS – A LIFEBOAT FOR CORAL REEFS?
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Ecosystem services are benefits provided to human societies
by ecosystems — services such as regulating climate and
weather, maintaining biodiversity and providing food and
essential habitat (Costanza et al. 1997). As extensions of
many shallow coral reef ecosystems, MCEs provide many
of the well-documented ecosystem services associated with
shallow coral reefs, as well as some services that may be
unique to MCEs (Figure 5.1).
These ecosystem services include:
• habitat for economically- and ecologically-important species,
• a potential recovery source for shallow populations,
• employment infishing, and toa lesser extent, recreationand tourism,
• new medicines and other natural products, and
• protection from coastal erosion and storms — submerged
mesophotic reef banks that are close to land may possibly
dampen long period swells and tsunamis.
Ecosystem services provided by
mesophotic coral ecosystems
5.1.
Introduction
Chapter 5.
Daniel Holstein
, University of the Virgin Islands, USA
Tyler B. Smith
, University of the Virgin Islands, USA
Richard S. Appeldoorn
, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, USA
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Figure 5.1.
Summary of ecosystem services provided by MCEs.