Vulnerable marine ecosystems in the South Pacific Ocean region

Occurrence Observation
Latest version published by The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) on May 1, 2024 The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
Publication date:
May 1, 2024
License:
CC0 1.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 202,812 records in English (6 MB) - Update frequency: irregular
Metadata as an EML file download in English (14 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (10 KB)

Description

Vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) are any ecosystem that are highly vulnerable to one or more kinds of fishing activity or other disturbance, and are identified by the vulnerability of their components (e.g. habitats, communities or species). The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) Convention includes specific provisions to protect VMEs. SPRFMO has defined ten benthic invertebrate taxa that are regarded as indicators of VMEs. They are: Porifera (sponges); Actiniaria (anemones); Alcyonacea (soft corals); Gorgonacea (sea fans); Pennatulacea (sea pens); Scleractinia (stony corals); Antipatharia (black corals); Stylasteridae (hydrocorals); Crinoidea (sea lilies); and Brisingida (armless stars). For management purposes, it is important to know where VMEs are known or likely to occur, based on the best available scientific and technical information. The likely presence of VMEs can be identified using habitat suitability models for indicator taxa, ideally across the entire SPRFMO area. This is the aim of the South Pacific VME project. Records of VME indicator taxa extracted for the SPRFMO area and the New Zealand EEZ from OBIS (Online Biogeographic Information System: www.iobis.org) together with other online data sources, and data from research institutes (e.g., NIWA, CSIRO) and fisheries agencies (e.g. MPI, AFMA) were used for the project. These data were compiled and groomed prior to use in the habitat suitability modelling. Data in this dataset represent records of the VME indicator taxa as extracted from the variety of data sources listed above and may include records that are outside of the SPRFMO area.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 202,812 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

NIWA (2016). Vulnerable marine ecosystems in the South Pacific Ocean region. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Wellington, New Zealand, 202873 records, Online http://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource.do?r=vme_inverts released on February 3, 2016.

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: be62fffc-d0e7-45f2-9404-d4bc4322bc57.  The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF New Zealand.

Keywords

Specimen; Occurrence; Occurrence

Contacts

Kevin Mackay
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator
  • Marine Data Manager
NIWA
  • Private Bag 14-901
6241 Wellington
New Zealand
Ashley Rowden
  • Point Of Contact
  • Principal Scientist - Marine Ecology
NIWA
  • Private Bag 14-901
6241 Wellington
New Zealand
NZ

Geographic Coverage

South Pacific Ocean

Bounding Coordinates South West [-60, -67], North East [10, 120]

Taxonomic Coverage

VME indicator taxa for the South Pacific Ocean, as identified by Parker et al. (2009) Parker, S.J.; Penney, A.J.; Clark, M.R. (2009). Detection criteria for managing trawl impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems in high seas fisheries of the South Pacific Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 397: 309–317.

Phylum Porifera
Class Crinoidea
Order Actiniaria, Antipatharia, Scleractinia, Alcyonacea, Gorgonacea, Pennatulacea, Brisingida
Family Stylasteridae

Project Data

No Description available

Title Predicting the occurrence of vulnerable marine ecosystems for planning spatial management in the South Pacific region
Funding New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (contract number C07X7229), with some additional funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries (contracts ZBD2010/40, ZBD2013/01, and ZBD2013/02
Study Area Description Region of the South Pacific Ocean covered by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO).

The personnel involved in the project:

Ashley Rowden
  • Principal Investigator

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Rowden, A.A.; Guinotte, J.M.; Baird, S.J.; Tracey, D.M.; Mackay, K.A.; Wadhwa, S. (2013). Developing predictive models for the distribution of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the South Pacific Ocean region. New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 120. 70 p.
  2. Rowden A.A.; Clark M.R.; Lundquist C.J.; Guinotte J.M.; Anderson O.F.; Julian K.A.; Mackay K.A.; Tracey D.M.; Gerring P.K. (2015). Developing spatial management options for the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the South Pacific Ocean region. New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 155. 76 p.
  3. Anderson, O.F., Guinotte, J., Rowden, A.A., Clark, M.R., Mormede, S., Davies, A.J. (2016). Field validation of habitat suitability models for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in the South Pacific Ocean: implications for the use of broad-scale models in fisheries management. Ocean and Coastal Management, 120: 110-126.

Additional Metadata

marine, harvested by iOBIS

Alternative Identifiers be62fffc-d0e7-45f2-9404-d4bc4322bc57
https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=vme_inverts