A bioregional classification of the continental shelf of northeastern North America for conservation analysis and planning based on representation
Understanding how well National Marine Sanctuaries and other marine protected areas represent the diversity of species present within and among the biogeographic regionswhere they occur is essential for assessing their conservation value and identifying gaps in the protection of biological diversity. One of the first steps in any such assessment should be the development of clearly defined and scientifically justified planning boundaries representing distinct oceanographic conditions and faunal assemblages. Here, we propose a set of boundaries for the continental shelf of northeastern North America defined by subdivisions of the Eastern Temperate Province, based on a review andsynthesis (i.e. meta-analysis) of the scientific literature. According to this review, the Eastern Temperate Province is generally divided into the Acadian and VirginianSubprovinces. Broad agreement places the Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Maine, and Bay of Fundy within the Acadian Subprovince. The proper association of Georges Bank is lessclear; some investigators consider it part of the Acadian and others part of the Virginian. Disparate perspectives emerge from the analysis of different groups of organisms.Further, while some studies suggest a distinction between the Southern New England shelf and the rest of the Mid-Atlantic Bight, others describe the region as a broadtransition zone with no unique characteristics of its own. We suggest there exists sufficient evidence to consider the Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, SouthernNew England, and Southern Mid-Atlantic Bight as distinct biogeographic regions from a conservation planning perspective, and present a set of proposed mapped boundaries. (PDF contains 23 pages.)
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | monograph biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
NOAA/National Ocean Service/National Marine Sanctuary Program
2007
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| Subjects: | Management, Ecology, Fisheries, Biogeography, Boundaries, Species distributions, Physiography, Gap analysis, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/20084 |
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