Dear MARMAM recipients, New open access paper in Royal Society Open Science: Functional extinction of dugongs in China Authors: Mingli Lin, Samuel T. Turvey, Chouting Han, Xiaoyu Huang, Antonios D. Mazaris, Mingming Liu, Heidi Ma, Zixin Yang, Xiaoming Tang and Songhai Li Link: Functional extinction of dugongs in China | Royal Society Open Science (royalsocietypublishing.org) <https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211994> Abstract: Dugongs (Dugong dugon) experienced a serious population decline in China during the twentieth century, and their regional status is poorly understood. To determine their current distribution and status, we conducted a large-scale interview survey of marine resource users across four Chinese provinces and reviewed all available historical data covering the past distribution of dugongs in Chinese waters. Only 5% of 788 respondents reported past dugong sightings, with a mean last-sighting date of 23 years earlier, and only three respondents reported sightings from within the past 5 years. Historical records of dugongs peak around 1960 and then decrease rapidly from 1975 onwards; no records are documented after 2008, with no verified field observations after 2000. Based on these findings, we are forced to conclude that dugongs have experienced rapid population collapse during recent decades and are now functionally extinct in China. Our study provides evidence of a new regional loss of a charismatic marine megafaunal species, and the first reported functional extinction of a large vertebrate in Chinese marine waters. This rapid documented population collapse also serves as a sobering reminder that extinctions can occur before effective conservation actions are developed. Best Regards Songhai ------------------------------------------------------------------- Songhai Li Ph.D. & Prof. Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering Chinese Academy of Sciences 28 Luhuitou Road, Sanya, 572000, China Phone: +86-898-88222393 Email: <mailto:lish@sidsse.ac.cn> lish@idsse.ac.cn <http://www.idsse.cas.cn/yjsgk2015/zzjg2015/yftx2015/shkxyjb2015/hybrdwyhysw sxyjz2015/> http://www.idsse.cas.cn/yjsgk2015/zzjg2015/yftx2015/shkxyjb2015/hybrdwyhysws xyjz2015/ <http://www.cetacean.csdb.cn/> http://www.cetacean.csdb.cn/
