NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Marine ecoregion

Marine ecoregions are regions of the world's oceans, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to aid in conservation activities for marine ecosystems. Note: After losing a court case in 2002 on the use of the initials WWF, the organization previously known as the World Wrestling Federation has rebranded itself as World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE. WWF - The Conservation Organization was formerly known as World Wildlife Fund and Worldwide Fund for Nature. ...

World Wildlife Fund defines an ecoregion as "a large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities that: share a large majority of their species and ecological dynamics; share similar environmental conditions, and; interact ecologically in ways that are critical for their long-term persistence." An ecoregion is a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities. ...

The scheme used to designate and classify marine ecoregions is analogous to the classification system used by WWF for terrestrial ecoregions. major habitat types are identified—polar, temperate shelfs and seas, temperate upwelling, tropical upwelling, tropical coral, pelagic (trades and westerlies), abyssal, and hadal (ocean trench)—which correspond to the terrestrial biomes. Major biogeographic realms, analogous to the seven terrestrial ecozones, represent large regions of the ocean basins: North Temperate Atlantic, Eastern Tropical Atlantic, Western Tropical Atlantic, South Temperate Atlantic, North Temperate Indo-Pacific, Central Indo-Pacific, Eastern Indo-Pacific, Western Indo-Pacific, South Temperate Indo-Pacific, Southern Ocean, Antarctic, Arctic, and Mediterranean. Ecoregions are defined by the World Wildlife Fund as relatively large units of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, with boundaries that approximate the original extent of natural communities prior to major land-use change. Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater... In Ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities well adapted to the regions physical environment. ... Ecozone is a classification system of the world first proposed by Miklos Udvardy under the name biogeographical realms for conservation purposes. ...

The classification of Marine ecoregions is not developed to the same level of detail and comprehensiveness as that of the terrestrial ecoregions; only the priority conservation areas of the Global 200 are listed. The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as priorities for conservation. ...

A similar system of identifying areas of the oceans for conservation purposes is the system of large marine ecosystems (LMEs), developed by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). LMEs are regions of the world's oceans, encompassing coastal areas from river basins and estuaries to the seaward boundaries of continental shelves and the outer margins of the major ocean current systems. They are relatively large regions on the order of 200,000 sq km or greater, characterized by distinct bathymetry, hydrography, productivity, and trophically dependent populations. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce. ... Estuaries and coastal waters are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, providing numerous ecological, economic, cultural, and aesthetic benefits and services. ... The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, which is covered during interglacial periods such as the one we live in by relatively shallow seas and gulfs. ... An ocean current is any more or less permanent or continuous, directed movement of ocean water that flows in one of the Earths oceans. ...

Although the LMEs cover only the continental margins and not the deep oceans and oceanic islands, the 64 LMEs produce 95 percent of the world's annual marine fishery biomass yields. Most of the global ocean pollution, overexploitation, and coastal habitat alteration occur within their waters. NOAA has conducted studies of principal driving forces affecting changes in biomass yields for 33 of the 64 LMEs, which have been peer-reviewed and published in ten volumes [1] (http://www.lme.noaa.gov).

Global 200 Marine Ecoregions (World Wildlife Fund)

The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as priorities for conservation. ... The Bering Sea or Imarpik Sea is a body of water in the far northern Pacific Ocean covering over two million square kilometres. ... The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ... The Grand Banks are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. ... Chesapeake Bay - Landsat photo The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. ... The Yellow Sea (in North and South Korea, it is also called the West Sea (strangely not disputed like East Sea) is the northern part of the East China Sea, which in turn is a part of the Pacific Ocean. ... Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk (from the Russian Okhotskoe more) is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the disputed Russo-Japanese Kurile Islands on the east, the Japanese island of Hokkaido to the south and the island of Sakhalin, the Amur... The California Current is a Pacific Ocean current that moves south from pole to equator, bringing cold water past California, making the states coast colder than coastal areas of comparable latitude on the east coast of the United States ... Where it is The frigid waters of the north-flowing Benguela current move from the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica along the west coast of Africa as far as Angola. ... The Humboldt Current (or Peru Current) is a cold ocean current that flows northward off the west coast of South America. ... The Agulhas Current is the Western Boundary Current of the South-West Indian Ocean and is part of the westward-flowing South Equatorial Current. ... The Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez or Sea of Cortés; locally known in the Spanish language as Mar de Cortés or, much less frequently, Golfo de California) is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland. ... The Canary Current branches south from the North Atlantic Current and flows toward the South West about as far as Senegal where it turns West. ... The Southwest Islands or Nansei-shoto (南西諸島 Nansei-shotō) are an island chain stretching southwestward from Kyushu in Japan. ... The New Caledonia Barrier Reef is located in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, and is the second-largest coral reef in the world, after Australias Great Barrier Reef. ... Satellite image of a part of the Great Barrier Reef. ... The Andaman Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Myanmar and west of Indian Ocean. ... Easter Island and its location Easter Island (Polynesian: Rapa Nui (Great Rapa), Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is an island in the south Pacific Ocean belonging to Chile. ... Conshelf II in the Red Sea (Sudan) The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Baḥr al-Aḥmar, al-Baḥru l-’Aḥmar; Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... The Arabian Sea is the part of the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Peninsula and India. ...

Large Marine Ecosystems (NOAA)

Categories: Ecoregions The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are to be found. ... The California Current is a Pacific Ocean current that moves south from pole to equator, bringing cold water past California, making the states coast colder than coastal areas of comparable latitude on the east coast of the United States ... The Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez or Sea of Cortés; locally known in the Spanish language as Mar de Cortés or, much less frequently, Golfo de California) is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland. ... The Gulf of Mexico is a major body of water bordered and nearly landlocked by North America. ... Central America and the Caribbean The Caribbean Sea is a body of water adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, south of the Gulf of Mexico. ... The Humboldt Current (or Peru Current) is a cold ocean current that flows northward off the west coast of South America. ... Southeastern portion of Barents Sea, the Kola Peninsula and the White Sea. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Eastern Europe and Central Europe, and the Danish islands. ... The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ... The Canary Current branches south from the North Atlantic Current and flows toward the South West about as far as Senegal where it turns West. ... Where it is The frigid waters of the north-flowing Benguela current move from the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica along the west coast of Africa as far as Angola. ... The Agulhas Current is the Western Boundary Current of the South-West Indian Ocean and is part of the westward-flowing South Equatorial Current. ... The Arabian Sea is the part of the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Peninsula and India. ... Conshelf II in the Red Sea (Sudan) The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Baḥr al-Aḥmar, al-Baḥru l-’Aḥmar; Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... The Bay of Bengal is a sea that forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. ... The Gulf of Thailand is a gulf located in the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean), surrounded by the countries Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. ... The South China Sea, showing surrounding countries and neighbouring seas and oceans The South China Sea is a marginal sea, part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from Singapore to the Strait of Taiwan of around 3,500,000 km². It is the largest sea body after the five... Satellite image of a part of the Great Barrier Reef. ... The East China Sea, showing surrounding countries. ... The Yellow Sea (in North and South Korea, it is also called the West Sea (strangely not disputed like East Sea) is the northern part of the East China Sea, which in turn is a part of the Pacific Ocean. ... The Kuroshio Current is an ocean current found in the western Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Taiwan and flowing northeastward past Japan, where it merges with the easterly drift of the North Pacific Current. ... The Sea of Japan or Japan Sea in most countries and the United Nations and in academic fields, known as the East Sea in South Korea, the East Sea of Korea in North Korea, and the Japan Sea in China, is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bound... Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk (from the Russian Okhotskoe more) is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the disputed Russo-Japanese Kurile Islands on the east, the Japanese island of Hokkaido to the south and the island of Sakhalin, the Amur... Chukchi Sea (Russian: Чуко́тское мо́ре) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, between Chukotka and Alaska. ... Approximate area of the Beaufort Sea, and the disputed waters The Beaufort Sea is a large body of water north of The Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska and west of Canadas arctic islands that is a part of the Arctic Ocean. ... East Siberian Sea (Russian: ) is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean. ... The Laptev Sea (Russian: мо́ре Ла́птевых) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. ... The Kara Sea (Russian: Ка́рское мо́ре) is part of the Arctic Ocean (in the area sometimes called the Arctic Mediterranean Sea) off northern Siberia, bound by the Kara Strait (West, connecting to the Barents Sea) and the Severnaya Zemlya Islands and the Northern Land Archipelago (East, and the Laptev Sea). ... Satellite view of the Black Sea, taken by NASA MODIS Cities of the Black Sea The Black Sea (known as the Euxine Sea in antiquity) is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. ... Hudson Bay is a large body of water in northeastern Canada. ...

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Large Marine Ecosystems (NOAA)

Global 200 Marine Ecoregions (World Wildlife Fund)