Marine conservation: linking taxonomy, Red Listing, and public engagement
The majority of marine invertebrate species are undescribed and absent from biodiversity frameworks, leaving them beyond the reach of conservation mechanisms. We show that three disciplines-taxonomy, International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List assessment, and public engagement-achieve disproportionately greater impact when operated as a coupled system rather than in isolation. Each pillar feeds the others: taxonomic knowledge underpins assessments; assessments attract public and policy attention; and public engagement, in turn, drives commitment to new discovery, evaluation, and actions to recover threatened species. New tools for DNA sequencing, specimen imaging, and data sharing have made this integration achievable at speed and scale. Public engagement amplifies the reach of taxonomy and conservation, generating funding, contributors, and the policy traction needed to protect the ocean's overlooked life.
Authors
- Pat Hutchings (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7521-3930)
- Angelika Brandt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5807-1632)
- Miguel Vences (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0747-0817)
- Rebecca J. Goldburg
- Gregory D. Edgecombe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9591-8011)
- Anne Helene S. Tandberg
- Jan Steger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7021-810X)
- Volker Mosbrugger
- Simone N. Brandão (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3487-6129)
- Alica Torkov
- Fabrizio Marcondes Machado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5085-865X)
- Torben Riehl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7363-4421)
- Austin J. Gallagher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1515-3440)
- Riley A. Pollom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-4614)
- Chong Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5035-4021)
- Ekin Tilic
- M. Böhm
- Ruth Wasmund
- Julia D. Sigwart
- Swati Thiyagarajan
- Hosea J. „Ze″ Frank
Institutions
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JP)
- Australian Museum (AU)
- Natural History Museum (GB)
- Bentley University (US)
- New Jersey Department of Education (US)
- Montclair State University (US)
- Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR)
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt/M (DE)
- Indianapolis Zoo (US)
- Senckenberg - Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (DE)
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (DE)
- Sengkang General Hospital (SG)
- Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (BR)
- Frankfurt Zoological Society (DE)
- Technische Universität Braunschweig (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2026.03.004
- Primary Topic
- Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00