Island building and overfishing in the Spratly Islands archipelago are predicted to decrease larval flow and impact the whole system

The Spratly Islands archipelago in the South China Sea is a disputed marine area impacted by a destructive free-for-all race to resources. Though physically open, the archipelago is a semi-closed system because the flushing time scales are comparable to the pelagic larval duration of coral and reef fish larvae. Island-building, overfishing and destructive clam harvesting in the archipelago destroy, or at the very least severely damage, the...