Editing Spratly Islands (section)

=== Wildlife ===
A total of 2,927 marine species have been recorded in the Spratly Sea, including 776 [[benthic zone|benthic]] species, 382 species of hard coral, 524 species of marine fish, 262 species of algae and sea grass, 35 species of seabirds, and 20 species of marine mammals and sea turtles.<ref name="researchgate1">{{Cite book |author1=Trần Đức Thạnh |author2=Lê Đức An |author3=Nguyễn Hữu Cử |author4=Lan Tran Dinh |author5=Tạ Hoà Phương |author6=Nguyen Quan Van |title=Vietnamese sea and islands – position, resources and typical geological and ecological wonders |date=2012 |publisher=Khoa học Tự nhiên và Công nghệ. Hà Nội |doi=10.13140/RG.2.1.3586.8403 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258698786}}</ref> Terrestrial vegetation in the islands includes 103 species of vascular plants of magnolia branches ([[Magnoliophyta]]) of 39 families and 79 genera.<ref name="researchgate1" /> The islands that do have vegetation provide important habitats for many seabirds and sea turtles.<ref name="ECO" /> Both the [[green turtle]] (''Chelonia mydas'', [[endangered species|endangered]]) and the [[hawksbill turtle]] (''Eretmochelys imbricata'', [[critically endangered]]) formerly occurred in numbers sufficient to support commercial exploitation. These species reportedly continue to nest even on islands inhabited by military personnel (such as [[Pratas]]) to some extent, though it is believed that their numbers have declined.<ref name="ECO" />

Seabirds use the islands as resting, breeding, and [[wintering]] sites. Species found here include [[streaked shearwater]] (''Calonectris leucomelas''), [[brown booby]] (''Sula leucogaster''), [[red-footed booby]] (''S. sula''), [[great crested tern]] (''Sterna bergii''), and [[white tern]] (''Gygis alba''). Little information is available regarding the current status of the islands' seabird populations, though it is likely that birds may divert nesting sites to smaller, less disturbed islands. Bird eggs cover the majority of [[Southwest Cay]], a small island in the eastern Danger Zone.<ref name="ECO" /> A variety of [[cetacean]]s such as [[dolphin]]s,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyhuaren.net/2013/china_0513/10949_4.html|title=中国海南赴南沙捕捞船队遇海豚领航 – 中国新闻 – 纽约华人网|access-date=5 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205173148/http://www.nyhuaren.net/2013/china_0513/10949_4.html|archive-date=5 February 2016}}</ref> [[orca]]s, [[pilot whale]]s, and [[sperm whale]]s are also present around the islands.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hoyt E.|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiEK_7D0e08C&pg=PA307 |title=Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises: A World Handbook for Cetacean Habitat Conservation and Planning |page=307 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-136-53830-8 |access-date=6 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Ponnampalam S.L.|url=http://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/60/60rbz221-231.pdf|title=Opportunistic observations on the distribution of cetaceans in the Malaysian South China, Sulu and Sulawesi Seas and an updated checklist of marine mammals in Malaysia|pages=221–231|journal=Raffles Bulletin of Zoology|year=2012|volume=60|issue=1|access-date=6 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814020857/http://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/60/60rbz221-231.pdf|archive-date=14 August 2016}}</ref><ref>opheliaH. 2017. [http://www.mafengwo.cn/i/7432397.html 2017、5月南沙最新航拍更新】出海偶遇鲸鱼&海警船和我们的船相伴航行全记录游记来蚂蜂窝,更多南沙群岛旅游攻略最新游记] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923194333/http://www.mafengwo.cn/i/7432397.html |date=23 September 2017}}. Retrieved on September 25, 2017</ref>

This [[ecoregion]] is still largely a mystery. Scientists have focused their research on the marine environment, while the ecology of the terrestrial environment remains relatively unknown.<ref name="ECO" />