Ecorregiones marinas de América del Norte (2025)

The wealth of North America's marine and coastal waters is unparalleled. These rich storehouses of biodiversity underpin our quality of life, our economies and much of our cultural identity. From the prolific areas of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland to the exceptionally diverse Mesoamerican Coral Reef, Canada, Mexico, and the United States share a vast array of ecosystems-an interconnected continental web of life, dynamic and wondrous. Yet, when one looks at the continent as a whole, this bewildering assemblage of marine life, already threatened by land-based pollution, overfishing, and invasive species, among a wide array of stressors, is now facing new challenges from rapidly changing climatic conditions. As much of the damage occurs hidden from our view, under the deceptively unchanging blanket of the ocean's surface, North Americans are seeking new means to protect our common natural endowment. Establishing an effective system for linking places in the ocean to ensure biological connectivity, increased resilience, and protection of ecosystem integrity, required a meaningful ecological framework. In 2002 a trinational group of marine scientists and CEC officials met at NOAA's Coastal Services Center in Charleston, South Carolina, to agree on a new, unified, ecological classification for oceanic and coastal regions. This book is the result of that endeavor: an approach, system of classification, and map attempting to create consistent, standardized and understandable units out of the vastness of the continent's ocean and coastal waters; a system that could be scalable, ecosystem-oriented, and linked to existing maps and classifications. It presents the developing consensus of American, Canadian, and Mexican ecologists, marine biologists, geographers, planners, and managers on what this continent holds in terms of marine biodiversity. While the division of the oceans and coasts into discrete parcels is admittedly a difficult task and may even seem an artificial construct, naming and describing places is the only way we can begin to grasp the overwhelming complexity that binds them together. By determining how the continental waters may be catalogued as sets of habitats and assemblages of species, we can begin to understand more fully the great richness that our oceans present. Mapping ecosystems provides us a way of looking at our world on a scale we can fathom. Using descriptive profiles, this book classifies the ocean and coastal regions of North America into 24 marine ecoregions, large masses of water differentiated by oceanographic features and geographically distinct assemblages of species that interact ecologically in ways that are critical for their long-term persistence. Each chapter briefly describes the key features of each ecoregion-in terms of its physical, oceanographic, and biological characteristics, as well as the impacts we humans have had upon it. Each chapter also enables the reader to have a quick glance at the state of knowledge by means of Fact Sheets to be found near the beginning of each section. These Fact Sheets summarize geographical, oceanographical, physiological and biological information, such as the size of the region, its sea surface temperature, its primary productivity, and provide a thumbnail description of the region by depth, its key habitats, species at risk and the principal human activities engaged in there. Sometimes categories may not be present, according to their importance for the region, or to the information available. For example, the category of endemic species is quite extensive within the well-studied Gulf of California ecoregion, but omitted for the Arctic Basin, where information on the subject is more sparse. Each profile also contains information on how the region was delineated. Preface viii Marine Ecoregions of North America There are also important sections at the back of the book that contain acronyms and abbreviations; a glossary of common conservation and scientific terms used throughout the book; a list of important species, including endemic and invasive species, highlighted in the text, given by common name (English, French and Spanish) and scientific name; a list of related websites; and a reference list. Finally, and for the sake of completeness, the book also contains short descriptions of the distinct ecoregions of the US Pacific Island Territories. The resultant framework cannot presume to be a complete, all-encompassing product that will be all things to all people. Rather, its goal was to provide a common starting point, a scalable framework to collect and organize information, encourage further cooperation, and be used as a tool to better understand and manage our North American marine ecosystems. This unprecedented effort to promote a better understanding of our oceans has been possible thanks to the leadership and generous

Écorégions marines de l'Amérique du Nord

2009

The wealth of North America's marine and coastal waters is unparalleled. These rich storehouses of biodiversity underpin our quality of life, our economies and much of our cultural identity. From the prolific areas of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland to the exceptionally diverse Mesoamerican Coral Reef, Canada, Mexico, and the United States share a vast array of ecosystems-an interconnected continental web of life, dynamic and wondrous. Yet, when one looks at the continent as a whole, this bewildering assemblage of marine life, already threatened by land-based pollution, overfishing, and invasive species, among a wide array of stressors, is now facing new challenges from rapidly changing climatic conditions. As much of the damage occurs hidden from our view, under the deceptively unchanging blanket of the ocean's surface, North Americans are seeking new means to protect our common natural endowment. Establishing an effective system for linking places in the ocean to ensure biological connectivity, increased resilience, and protection of ecosystem integrity, required a meaningful ecological framework. In 2002 a trinational group of marine scientists and CEC officials met at NOAA's Coastal Services Center in Charleston, South Carolina, to agree on a new, unified, ecological classification for oceanic and coastal regions. This book is the result of that endeavor: an approach, system of classification, and map attempting to create consistent, standardized and understandable units out of the vastness of the continent's ocean and coastal waters; a system that could be scalable, ecosystem-oriented, and linked to existing maps and classifications. It presents the developing consensus of American, Canadian, and Mexican ecologists, marine biologists, geographers, planners, and managers on what this continent holds in terms of marine biodiversity. While the division of the oceans and coasts into discrete parcels is admittedly a difficult task and may even seem an artificial construct, naming and describing places is the only way we can begin to grasp the overwhelming complexity that binds them together. By determining how the continental waters may be catalogued as sets of habitats and assemblages of species, we can begin to understand more fully the great richness that our oceans present. Mapping ecosystems provides us a way of looking at our world on a scale we can fathom. Using descriptive profiles, this book classifies the ocean and coastal regions of North America into 24 marine ecoregions, large masses of water differentiated by oceanographic features and geographically distinct assemblages of species that interact ecologically in ways that are critical for their long-term persistence. Each chapter briefly describes the key features of each ecoregion-in terms of its physical, oceanographic, and biological characteristics, as well as the impacts we humans have had upon it. Each chapter also enables the reader to have a quick glance at the state of knowledge by means of Fact Sheets to be found near the beginning of each section. These Fact Sheets summarize geographical, oceanographical, physiological and biological information, such as the size of the region, its sea surface temperature, its primary productivity, and provide a thumbnail description of the region by depth, its key habitats, species at risk and the principal human activities engaged in there. Sometimes categories may not be present, according to their importance for the region, or to the information available. For example, the category of endemic species is quite extensive within the well-studied Gulf of California ecoregion, but omitted for the Arctic Basin, where information on the subject is more sparse. Each profile also contains information on how the region was delineated. Preface viii Marine Ecoregions of North America There are also important sections at the back of the book that contain acronyms and abbreviations; a glossary of common conservation and scientific terms used throughout the book; a list of important species, including endemic and invasive species, highlighted in the text, given by common name (English, French and Spanish) and scientific name; a list of related websites; and a reference list. Finally, and for the sake of completeness, the book also contains short descriptions of the distinct ecoregions of the US Pacific Island Territories. The resultant framework cannot presume to be a complete, all-encompassing product that will be all things to all people. Rather, its goal was to provide a common starting point, a scalable framework to collect and organize information, encourage further cooperation, and be used as a tool to better understand and manage our North American marine ecosystems. This unprecedented effort to promote a better understanding of our oceans has been possible thanks to the leadership and generous

Mapping Marine Ecological Regions of North America: Laying the Foundation for Cooperative Ecosystem-Based Conservation in North America

2000

SUMMARY It has been said that all that we do is touched by the ocean, yet we remain at its shores in terms of knowledge. Marine and estuarine ecosystems, including the diverse array of species and habitats they encompass, hold important roles in our lives—yet to most, the marine realm remains relatively obscure. Compared to their land counterparts, the understanding

An Overview of Marine Biodiversity in United States Waters

PLOS One, 2010

Megaregions among the large marine ecosystems of the Americas

Environmental Development, 2017

We organized environmental observations (Sea Surface Temperature, chlorophyll concentration, and primary productivity) and biological diversity indices based on reconstructed fisheries landings obtained from the Sea Around Us project to address two objectives: 1) to understand whether adjacent Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) of the Americas form megaregions for assemblages of commercially-valuable fish; and 2) to assess changes in the diversity of fisheries landings in LMEs of the Americas over time (1982 to 2010). To test for similarities between LMEs, we used the seascape approach of unsupervised clustering of annual mean environmental observations and fisheries-derived diversity indices. Beta-diversity estimates based on fisheries landings were used to evaluate the degree to which species spanned LMEs. Temporal trends were computed for each dataset by linear least-squares. Three megaregions emerged when considering similarities in species composition of fisheries landings, fisheries-derived diversity indices, and characteristic environmental conditions among LMEs. These include (A) the South Brazil Shelf, East Brazil Shelf, and North Brazil Shelf LMEs, (B) the Gulf of Mexico and Southeast U.S. Continental Shelf LMEs, and (C) the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf, Scotian Shelf, and Newfoundland-Labrador Shelf LMEs. No megaregions emerged for the Pacific Ocean. While there were some shared species assemblages between the California Current and the Gulf of Alaska, the Gulf of California, and the Pacific Central-American Coastal LMEs, these showed different average environmental conditions and fishery-derived diversity indices, so they did not cluster as a megaregion. In the Pacific Ocean, the high dissimilarity in the fisheries is in part related to different top-down pressures and strong regional differences in oceanographic properties, including upwelling and impacts of El-Niño Southern Oscillation events. Overall, between 1982 and 2010, seven LMEs diversified their fisheries (Pacific Central-America Coastal, Patagonian Shelf, South Brazil Shelf, East Brazil Shelf, North Brazil Shelf, Southeast U.S. Continental Shelf, and Newfoundland-Labrador Shelf). This may be due to a number of reasons including decreasing fishing pressure but expansion of target stocks due to management quotas, changes in regional markets, competition, effort, or a decrease in particular target stocks. Three LMEs showed increasingly less diversified fisheries, namely the California Current, the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf, and the Caribbean Sea LMEs. While in some cases this may be related to historical overfishing, such as in the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf LME, the California Current LME has been subjected to strong and conservative management practices. The Caribbean Sea LME was likely subjected to heavy fishing at a time of rapid environmental change.

Classification of marine sublittoral habitats, with application to the northeastern North America region

Habitats are defined as spatially recognizable areas where the physical, chemical, and biological environment is distinctly different from surrounding environments. A habitat can be delimited as narrowly or as broadly as the data and purpose permit, and this flexibility of scale influences the development of habitat classification schemes. Recent habitat classifications focus on a wide range of habitats that occur in European, American, and worldwide seafloor environments. The proposed classification of marine sublittoral habitats is based on recent studies in the American and Canadian parts of northeastern North America using multibeam and side-scan sonar surveys, video and photographic transects, and sediment and biological sampling. A guiding principle in this approach to habitat classification is that it will be useful to scientists and managers of fisheries and the environment. The goal is to develop a practical method to characterize the marine sublittoral (chiefly the subtidal continental shelf and shelf basin) habitats in terms of (1) their topographical, geological, biological, and oceanographical attributes and (2) the natural and anthropogenic processes that affect the habitats. The classification recognizes eight seabed themes (informal units) as the major subject elements of the classification. They are seabed topography, dynamics, texture, grain size, roughness, fauna and flora, habitat association and usage, and habitat recovery from disturbance. Themes include one or many classes of habitat characteristics related to seabed features, fauna and flora, and processes that we view as fundamental for recognizing and analyzing habitats. Within the classes, a sequence of subclasses, categories, and attributes addresses habitat characteristics with increasing detail. Much of the classification is broadly applicable worldwide (excluding some lowlatitude environments), but faunal and floral examples are representative of the northeastern North America region. In naming habitats, the classification emphasizes seabed substrate dynamics, substrate type, and seabed physical and biological complexity. The classification can accommodate new classes, subclasses, categories, and attributes, and it can easily be modified or expanded to address habitats of other regions. It serves as a template for a database that will provide a basis for organizing and comparing habitat information and for recognizing regional habitat types.

MILOSLAVICH,P., et al.. 2011. Marine Biodiversity in the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts of South America: Knowledge and Gaps. PLoS ONE 6(1): e14631. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014631

Marine ecoregions of the world: a bioregionalization of coastal and shelf areas

Bioscience, 2007

Classification of Marine Sublittoral Habitats, with Application to the Northeastern North Application to the Northeastern North America Region

Habitats are defined as spatially recognizable areas where the physical, chemical, and biological environment is distinctly different from surrounding environments. A habitat can be delimited as narrowly or as broadly as the data and purpose permit, and this flexibility of scale influences the development of habitat classification schemes. Recent habitat classifications focus on a wide range of habitats that occur in European, American, and worldwide seafloor environments. The proposed classification of marine sublittoral habitats is based on recent studies in the American and Canadian parts of northeastern North America using multibeam and side-scan sonar surveys, video and photographic transects, and sediment and biological sampling. A guiding principle in this approach to habitat classification is that it will be useful to scientists and managers of fisheries and the environment. The goal is to develop a practical method to characterize the marine sublittoral (chiefly the subtidal continental shelf and shelf basin) habitats in terms of (1) their topographical, geological, biological, and oceanographical attributes and (2) the natural and anthropogenic processes that affect the habitats. The classification recognizes eight seabed themes (informal units) as the major subject elements of the classification. They are seabed topography, dynamics, texture, grain size, roughness, fauna and flora, habitat association and usage, and habitat recovery from disturbance. Themes include one or many classes of habitat characteristics related to seabed features, fauna and flora, and processes that we view as fundamental for recognizing and analyzing habitats. Within the classes, a sequence of subclasses, categories, and attributes addresses habitat characteristics with increasing detail. Much of the classification is broadly applicable worldwide (excluding some lowlatitude environments), but faunal and floral examples are representative of the northeastern North America region. In naming habitats, the classification emphasizes seabed substrate dynamics, substrate type, and seabed physical and biological complexity. The classification can accommodate new classes, subclasses, categories, and attributes, and it can easily be modified or expanded to address habitats of other regions. It serves as a template for a database that will provide a basis for organizing and comparing habitat information and for recognizing regional habitat types.

Ecoregions: The Ecosystem Geography of the Oceans and Continents. Robert G. Bailey, Springer-Verlag, New York, USA, 1998. 176 pp., 2 folded maps. ISBN 0-387-98311-2 (paper)

Ecological Engineering, 2000

Concepts of ecosystem regions, or ecoregions. Need for a comparative system of generic regions. The process of defining. The role of climate. Macroclimate. Chapter 2 Oceanic Types and Their Controls 1 1 Factors controlling ocean hydrology. Latitude. Major wind systems. Precipitation and evaporation. Types of hydrologic zones, or oceanic ecoregions. Dietrich's oceanographic classification. Distribution of the oceanic regions.

Dare to be Deep: SeaStates Report on North America’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

Jessen, S., L. Morgan, J. Bezaury-Creel. 2016. Dare to be Deep: SeaStates Report on North America’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Ottawa, Seattle, and Mexico City. Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Marine Conservation Institute, 52pp. , 2016

Based on our analysis, our overall conclusion is that there remains a long way to go in reaching national and international targets to protect at least 10% of the ocean estate in North American countries. Overall, less than 1% of continental North America´s ocean estate is protected and only 0.04% is in fully protected areas that scientists say offer the best hope to protect ocean ecosystems for the long term. The ocean estate of continental North America (slightly over 15 million km2) is characterized by an incredible variety of ecosystems ranging from the ice covered regions of the high Arctic Ocean, to the rich temperate waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, to the tropical coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea. The diversity of marine life ranges from the smallest plankton to the largest whales, and includes seabirds, turtles, fishes and many more species. From the endangered Vaquita in the Gulf of California to the globally unique glass sponge reefs on Canada´s Pacific coast, many species require urgent protection from a variety of human related threats. While reaching the 10% marine protected area coverage target is an important next step, recent scientific evidence indicates that we need to go much further if we are to restore the health of the ocean—at least 30% needs to be placed within fully protected areas where industrial uses, including commercial fishing are precluded. In light of the biodiversity crisis on Earth, scientists have highlighted the need to establish interconnected networks of protected areas that leaves at least half of the earth for nature to thrive for generations to come, and in doing so ensuring that our needs are met too.