Extinction risk in a changing ocean

Abstract

Only a handful of marine species are known to have gone globally extinct in modern times (Carlton et al., 1999; Dulvy et al., 2003). Yet it is difficult to know if this low extinction rate is due to greater resilience of marine species relative to terrestrial species, less human impact on marine species, or simply an artifact of so little of the ocean having been explored and documented. Into this already uncertain extinction picture, climate change presents additional complication.