Biogeography and the selection of priority areas for conservation of SouthAfrican coastal fishes

Prioritisation of areas for biodiversity conservation has been debated larg ely in the terrestrial realm. In response to the increasing need for conser vation efforts in the marine environment, this study compiles and analyses available data on species distributions and compares different approaches t o the selection of marine protected area sites for the conservation of Sout h Africa's coastal fish diversity. Species richness decreases from Mozambiq ue southwards to the Cape, due mainly to a subtropical subtraction effect, and is uniformly low along the west coast. The number of species endemic to southern Africa is also higher in the east than the west, and peaks in the region of Port Elizabeth. Hotspot analysis does not provide a useful site- selection tool in a linear (coastal) analysis, at least in the absence of a bundance data. Cluster analysis shows that coastal fishes conform to the sa me three biogeographical provinces as other marine taxa, although the zonal boundaries vary between groups and are particularly difficult to determine for fishes. Multidimensional scaling better illustrates the fairly even ra te of species turnover east of Cape Point. The selection of sites at the ce ntre and boundaries of vaguely-defined biogeographical zones is thus relati vely difficult, and excludes several localised endemics. These problems can be resolved by using complementarity analysis. In the absence of abundance data, to avoid "reserving" species at the periphery of their ranges, a pra gmatic approach is developed, in which data are refined to include species' core distributions only. The roles of existing marine protected areas are also considered in assessing future conservation needs. (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience Ltd. All rights reserved.