Water out of fish?

The extinction of small marine species isn't just a bummer for biologists, but it could lead to the demise of sea life as we know it by 2048, according to a report in the November 2006 issue of Science. "Species are linked together in a web of interactions, and the losses of all species compromise the ocean's ability to provide us with clean water and resistance against natural and human-caused disasters," says J. Emmett Duffy, PhD, co-author of the study and a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, VA. Although the study focused on the ecosystem of the oceans, scientists have also raised concerns about threats to fish in lakes and rivers. Tighter controls on pollution, new marine reserves and stricter regulations on fishing could help reverse the decline.

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