Below are presentations related to the the Global Seafloor Geomorphic Features Map.
International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC3) – Marseille, France, 21 – 27 October 2013
What’s in and what’s not: using the new global seafloor geomorphic map to examine the representativeness of global marine protected areas
Miles Macmillan-Lawler, Peter T. Harris, Elaine K. Baker and Jonas Rupp
Analysis of existing marine protected areas (MPAs) using a new global seafloor geomorphology map has revealed which features are currently represented in protected areas. The analysis shows that many features have very low representation, for example fans and rises have less than 1 per cent of their total area inside existing protected areas. The ‘best’ represented features, trenches and troughs, have only 8.7 and 5.9 per cent respectively of their total area inside existing protected areas. Seamounts have only 2.8% of their area within existing MPAs. Seafloor geomorphology has proven to be a very useful physical attribute for ocean management because different geomorphic features (eg. submarine canyons, seamounts, spreading ridges, etc.) are commonly associated with particular suites of habitats and biological communities. Thus incorporating seafloor geomorphology into future marine spatial panning will help to ensure that the full range of biodiversity found in the ocean will be adequately represented.
The new global map of seafloor geomorphology is based on the analysis and interpretation of the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) 30 arc-second (~1 km) global bathymetry grid. The new map includes 29 categories of geomorphic features, as defined by the International Hydrographic Organisation. This map represents a major advance in scientific knowledge, since the previous global scale mapping was completed over 30 years ago.
The new global seafloor geomorphic map can be used as a base layer for conservation and management of marine ecosystems. The new map can promote effective management action by identifying priorities, inform time/area-based conservation and management measures, quantify the number and area of features represented in existing MPAs and inform the design of new MPA networks. Our vision is to combine global scale physical and biological data sets with seafloor geomorphic features to refine our understanding of the link between seafloor geomorphology and biodiversity.
Macmillan-Lawler et. al. IMPAC3 presentation