Scientists warn of ocean conservation in wrong areas

Attempts to maintain biodiversity in the world's oceans could be targeting the wrong areas, with the seas around the UK as important as coral reefs.

That is the findings of a new report by scientists from the universities of Dundee and Portsmouth.

They examined the importance of each species rather than simply counting the number of species in a given area.

They found areas with fewer species, like those around the UK, were more affected by issues like pollution.

The researchers claim the study, published in the journal Nature, challenges conventional wisdom about what biodiversity means.

'Catastrophic collapse'

Professor Terry Dawson, from the University of Dundee, said: "Conventional global conservation priority has focused on tropical sites having high biodiversity richness in terms of species.

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