Fig 1.
Taxonomic and geographic coverage of AquaMaps and IUCN range data.
(A) Number and proportion of species by taxa included in each dataset (22,889 species in AquaMaps, 4,027 species in IUCN). Overlapping species are dominated by bony fishes (994 species, primarily tropical taxa) and corals (394 species). (B, C) Global marine species count per 0.5° cell according to (B) AquaMaps and (C) IUCN. The margin frequency plots show relative species count per cell at each latitude and longitude.
Fig 2.
Comparison of alignment between AquaMaps and IUCN range data.
(A) Distribution alignment (overlap of smaller range within larger) versus area ratio (the ratio of smaller range area to the larger range area) for 2,330 species included in both IUCN and AquaMaps datasets. The upper right quadrant comprises species whose maps largely agree in both spatial distribution and the extent of described ranges (n = 522; 22.4% of paired map species). The upper left quadrant comprises species whose maps agree well in distribution, but disagree in area (n = 715; 30.7%). The lower right quadrant includes species for which the paired maps generally agree in range area, but disagree on where those ranges occur (n = 649; 27.9%). The lower left quadrant indicates species for which the map pairs agree poorly in both area and distribution (n = 444; 19.1%). (B) Alignment quadrant breakdown of species by taxonomic group.
Fig 3.
Effect of 200 m depth constraint on IUCN range maps for coral species.
(A) Aggregate map combining ranges of the 562 coral species mapped in the IUCN dataset, showing raw ranges and ranges clipped to 200 m depth. (B) Alignment quadrant breakdown of paired map coral species using original data from IUCN and AquaMaps (as in Fig 2B) and the same species with IUCN ranges clipped to 200 m depth.
Fig 4.
Effect of FAO Major Fishing Area constraints on AquaMaps distributions.
(A) AquaMaps species distribution of Hoplichthys regani, the ghost flathead, with known occurrence records. (B) Aggregated AquaMaps predicted ranges for 3,208 species whose equatorial distribution encounters an eastern discontinuity exactly at 175° W, the boundary between FAO Major Fishing Areas 71 and 77 (shown in blue). Other FAO area boundaries create additional clear discontinuities.
Fig 5.
MPA gap analysis results based upon alternate choices of datasets.
Percent of species range covered by MPAs based upon methods in Klein et al. (2015). Scenario 1 replicates the original results, measuring protected range of species in AquaMaps version 08/2013 dataset, with a 50% presence threshold, against the 2014 World Database of Protected Areas, filtered for IUCN categories I-IV that overlap marine areas. Scenario 2 updates the results using AquaMaps version 08/2015, showing very small changes despite the inclusion of an additional 5,545 species. Scenario 3, still using 2015 AquaMaps data, drops the presence threshold to zero, showing an expected decrease in gap species, but also a decrease in species with 5% or greater protected range. Scenario 4 examines species MPA coverage using only the IUCN dataset.