IUCN Monitoring · MSA Biodiversity Index

Species Trophic
Monitor

5 IUCN-listed species tracked on Karnataka's 320km coastline. Hawksbill Turtle (CR), Whale Shark (EN), Dugong (functionally extinct). The food web below shows live cascade consequences.

1
Critically Endangered
1
Endangered
4
Declining Populations
5
Species Monitored
Karnataka Trophic Food Web — Cascade Risk
↓
🐋
L5
Level 5 — baseline prey/producers
↓
🐢
L4
VU
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
MSA: 41% ↘
LC
Spinner Dolphin
MSA: 58% ↘
CASCADE DOWN ↓
↓
🐟
L3
VU
Dugong
MSA: 11% ✕
EN
Whale Shark
MSA: 22% ↘
CR
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
MSA: 18% ↘
CASCADE DOWN ↓
↓
🦐
L2
Level 2 — baseline prey/producers
🌿
L1
Level 1 — baseline prey/producers
⚠ Trophic cascade in progress — Dugong functionally extinct in Karnataka → seagrass overgrazing → habitat loss cascades to L3 and L2 prey species
Species Details · Click to expand
VUVulnerable

Olive Ridley Sea Turtle

Lepidochelys olivacea
41%
MSA index
↘DECLINING
-23% (5yr)
~340 nesting females/yr
🎣 Trawl net bycatch (incidental capture)
Cascade Effect

Loss → seagrass overgrowth → DO depletion → benthic habitat collapse

🏝 8 nesting sites lost since 2010
Protected: Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Schedule I
ENEndangered

Whale Shark

Rhincodon typus
22%
MSA index
↘DECLINING
-67% (5yr)
Migratory — seasonal sightings
🎣 Purse seine net entanglement
VUVulnerable

Dugong

Dugong dugon
11%
MSA index
✕LOCALLY EXTINCT
-100% (5yr)
Functionally extinct in Karnataka — last confirmed sighting 2019
🎣 Seagrass habitat destruction + gill net entanglement
CRCritically Endangered

Hawksbill Sea Turtle

Eretmochelys imbricata
18%
MSA index
↘DECLINING
-41% (5yr)
Occasional — feeds near Netrani reef
🎣 Shell trade + coral reef degradation
LCLeast Concern (population declining)

Spinner Dolphin

Stenella longirostris
58%
MSA index
↘DECLINING
-18% (5yr)
Resident pods off Gokarna-Karwar coast
🎣 Noise pollution from fishing vessels + bycatch
CR
EN
VU
NT
LC
EW
EX