Number of marine mammal species, by marine ecoregion.
We extracted marine mammals from version 1.0 of the global polygon data set compiled by UNEP-WCMC from the publication Marine Mammals of the World (Jefferson et al. 1993) (for more information about the UNEP-WCMC source data set, e-mail spatialanalysis@unep-wcmc.org). There were 118 species in the data set (including cetaceans, sirenians, pinnipeds, and other marine carnivores). These included coastal and high seas species, although the latter may only occasionally venture onto continental shelf areas. It is likely that total diversity is underestimated for the Southern Ocean Realm, particularly the sub-Antarctic islands, because certain species in this realm did not have full polygon range maps. We used the range maps to calculate the number of species per marine ecoregion.
These data were derived by The Nature Conservancy, and were displayed in a map published in The Atlas of Global Conservation (Hoekstra et al., University of California Press, 2010). More information at http://nature.org/atlas.
Data derived from:
Jefferson, T. A., S. Leatherwood, and M. A. Webber. 1993. Marine Mammals of the World. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme; Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). 2008. Data on marine mammal ranges, v.1.0. Cambridge: Author. Digital media.For more about The Atlas of Global Conservation
check out the web map (which includes links to download spatial data and view
metadata) at http://maps.tnc.org/globalmaps.html.
You can also read more detail about the Atlas at http://www.nature.org/science-in-action/leading-with-science/conservation-atlas.xml,
or buy the book at http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520262560
