Datasets, Tools & Reports

Search

• 

  Ocean Data Viewer »

  UNEP-WCMC has been working closely with partners including the CBD Secretariat to implement COP Decision IX/20, to develop an online interactive map and associated tools to support decision making for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the open ocean and deep seas. Building upon this decision, and incorporating related needs in the Island Biodiversity and Protected Areas Programme of Work, UNEP-WCMC has initiated a collaborative Global Marine Data Partnership, whose aim is to:

  • convene a network of partners engaged in marine and coastal biodiversity-related monitoring to build collaboration on data collection and standardisation;
  • enhance the quality, integration and interoperability of data sets ;
  • increase availability and access to this data through online data repository/ies, including an Ocean Data Viewer developed by UNEP-WCMC.

  These activities directly respond to SBSTTA recommendation XIV/3, which will be considered by COP10, through, inter alia, enabling improved assessment activities, supporting the identification of ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs), and promoting better understanding of specific and cumulative human impacts, including those of invasive alien species

  Resource Type: Tools / Applications
• 

  Marine Ecoregions of the World: a bioregionalization of coast and shelf areas »

  Here we report on a new global system for coastal and shelf areas: the Marine Ecoregions of the World, or MEOW, a nested system of 12 realms, 62 provinces, and 232 ecoregions. This system provides considerably better spatial resolution than earlier global systems, yet it pre serves many common elements and can be cross - referenced to many regional biogeographic classifications. The designation of terrestrial ecoregions has revolutionized priority setting and planning for terrestrial conservation; we anticipate similar benefits from the use of a coherent and credible marine system.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
• 

  Spatio-temporal patterns of fishing pressure on UK marine landscapes, and their implications for spatial planning and management »

  The spatio-temporal distribution of fishing pressure on marine landscapes in offshore UK (England and Wales) waters is assessed, based on a time-series of fishing vessel monitoring system (VMS) data for UK and foreign fleets deploying beam and otter trawls, and scallop dredges. The results reveal that marine landscapes with coarse or mixed sediments and weak or moderate tide stress are heavily fished.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
• 

  International trade in marine species: Is CITES a useful control mechanism? »

  The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was created to prevent species becoming threatened through international trade. It generally prohibits international commercial trade in seriously threatened species but permits trade in a regulated manner in species vulnerable to exploitation but not yet at risk of extinction. CITES covers comparatively few marine taxa, reflecting the fact that most marine species have much greater ranges and fecundity than terrestrial species and so are more resilient to exploitation. The structure of CITES limits its utility as a conservation tool for marine species, but where other mechanisms fail or are absent, it plays a useful role, and it is particularly valuable as an international trade monitoring mechanism.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
• 

  Reconstructing the movements of free-ranging demersal Fish in the North Sea: a data-matching and simulation method »

  Demersal fish cannot be readily tracked using data loggers that provide satellite-based or light-based geolocation. Moreover, fish that are highly mobile within the water column cannot readily be located with other methods, such as the tidal location method (TLM). As an alternative, we describe a process that provides estimates of geographic location by simulating movement paths through geographic locations that match temperature and depth data recorded by data loggers.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
• 

  Impacts of Ocean Fertilization on Marine Biodiversity »

  On behalf of the CBD Executive Secretary, UNEP-WCMC has compiled and synthesized available scientific information on ocean fertilization and its observed and predicted impacts on marine biodiversity and habitats. The study will inform the review of the CBD marine and coastal programme of work in 2010.

  Resource Type: Reports
• 

  Climate change and coral bleaching »

  Coral reefs are a critical global resource, both biologically, and in socio-economic terms. Coral reefs are also highly sensitive to climatic influences and appear to number among the most sensitive of all ecosystems to temperature changes, exhibiting the phenomenon known as coral bleaching when stressed by higher than normal sea temperatures.

  Resource Type: Reports
• 

  Assessing progress towards global marine protection targets: shortfalls in information and action »

  Current global marine protection targets aim to protect 10–30% of marine habitats within the next 3–5 years. However, these targets were adopted without prior assessment of their achievability. Moreover, ability to monitor progress towards such targets has been constrained by a lack of robust data on marine protected areas. Here we present the results of the first explicitly marine-focused, global assessment of protected areas in relation to global marine protection targets.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
• 

  Submarine cables and the oceans: connecting the world »

  UNEP-WCMC in collaboration with the International Cable Protection Committee and UNEP has prepared a new report which provides an objective, factual description of the sub-marine cable industry and the interaction of submarine telecommunications (which route 95% of all international communications traffic) with the marine environment. This important report seeks to focus and guide deliberations and decision making on the wise conservation and protection of the oceans in concert with their sustainable management and use.

  Resource Type: Reports
• 

  The Diversity of the Seas: A Regional Approach »

  Marine waters cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface and open ocean waters comprise by far the most extensive major ecosystem on the planet, but its biodiversity remains poorly-known. WCMC, in collaboration with UNEP's Oceans and Coastal Areas Programme Activity Centre, produced a region-by-region account of select issues in marine biological diversity. Each account includes descriptive text on the oceanography, elements of biodiversity (including estimates of species richness and endemism), and a discussion of marine fisheries and their current status.

  Resource Type: Reports