Global Ecosystem Mapping For UN SEEA Ecosystem AccountingRoger Sayre (U. S. Geological Survey); Dawn Wright, Sean Breyer, Charlie Frye, and others (Esri)

UN SEEA Experts Forum on Ocean Ecosystem Accounting 1-3 Aug 2018 UN ESCAP, Bangkok

ELUs (land)

EMUs (marine)

ECUs (coastal)

EFUs (freshwater)

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The need to conserve global ecosystems is mandated in three UN SDGs (below). To conserve them requires knowing where they are on the landscape and in the oceans, and thus the need for global ecosystem mapping.

Freshwater: By 2020, protect

and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.

Marine: By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information.

Terrestrial: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands.

By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development.

GEO ECOSYSTEMS Initiative: Global Ecosystem Mapping

Develop a standardized, robust, and practical global ecosystems classification and map for the planet’s terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.

Global Ecological Marine Units (EMUs)

Global Ecological Land Units (ELUs)

Globally comprehensive

~4000 ELUs

Climate/Landform/Geology/Vegetation

250 m spatial resolution

Globally comprehensive and true 3D

37 EMUs

Temperature/Salinity/Oxygen/Nitrate/Phosphate/Silicate

27 km m spatial resolution

Ecological Land Units (ELUs)

The Ecophysiographic Stratification Approach

Land Cover

Lithology

Landform

Bioclimate Example: Warm Wet Plains on Metamorphic

Rock with Mostly Deciduous Forest

3,639 Ecological Land Unit Classes

Ecological Marine Units (EMUs)

EMUs (Ecological Marine Units) • 37 distinct volumetric

region units from sea

surface to seafloor

• Based on statistical

clustering of 3D point

data for six physical

and chemical

environment

parameters (50 yr

averages)

• 27 km by 27 km by

variable depth,

adequate for oceanic

characterization, but

insufficient for capture

of coastal variation

Global Ecological Marine Units (EMUs)

-400m

0m

-1200m

-2400m

-200m

-800m

-1800m

-3800m

Localized EMUs

Localized EMUs

Journal of Operational Oceanography

Special Issue on GEO Blue Planet

ECUs (Ecological Coastal Units)

We will quantitatively segment (stratify) the global coastal zone into environmentally distinct/ecologically meaningful units.

New 30 m Global Shoreline Vector (GSV) from 2014 Landsat imagery!

GSV (GID)

GSV (GID)

GSV

ECUs (Ecological Coastal Units)

The SEEA Ecosystem Types (under revision)

• Derived from land

cover classes

• Emphasized terrestrial

ecosystems -

freshwater, coastal,

and marine domains

not adequately

captured

• Not Mutually Exclusive

(no overlap) or Exhaustive

(comprehensive, does

not miss important

classes).

Proposed revision of SEEA Ecosystem Types

Ecological Domains (4)

Ecosystem Classes (20)Level One Ecosystems (42 ?)

Level Two Ecosystems (thousands)

Level Three Ecosystems…..

• Hierarchical

• Mutually exclusive, exhaustive, ecologically meaningful

• Globally comprehensive mapping in progress

• Compatible with major ecological and ecoregional classification

concepts

Proposed revision of SEEA Ecosystem Types

• Terrestrial Domain (6)

Forests, Shrublands, Grasslands, Croplands, Barrenlands (sparsely or non-vegetated), Built Environment

• Freshwater Domain (3)

Lakes and Ponds, Rivers and Streams, Wetlands

• Coastal Domain (5)

Coastal Lands, Nearshore Waters, Nearshore Seafloor, Offshore Waters, Offshore Seafloor

• Oceanic Domain (6)

Sunlit Waters, Twilight Waters, Deep Waters, Slope Seafloor, Abyssal Seafloor, and Hadal Seafloor

Proposed revision of SEEA Ecosystem Types

• Terrestrial Domain (6)

Forests, Shrublands, Grasslands, Croplands, Barrenlands (sparsely or non-vegetated), Built Environment

• Freshwater Domain (3)

Lakes and Ponds, Rivers and Streams, Wetlands

• Coastal Domain (5)

Coastal Lands, Nearshore Waters, Nearshore Seafloor, Offshore Waters, Offshore Seafloor

• Oceanic Domain (6)

Sunlit Waters, Twilight Waters, Deep Waters, Slope Seafloor, Abyssal Seafloor, and Hadal Seafloor

EMUs

Ocean Ecoregionalization –Partitioning of the Global Ocean into

‘Ecologically Meaningful’ Regions

• LME – coastal, geopolitical, expert-derived, surface

• MEOW – coastal, biogeographic, expert-derived, surface

• Longhurst – oceanic, biochemical, data-derived, surface

• Bailey – oceanic, environmental, expert-derived, surface

• GOODS – oceanic, biogeographic, expert-derived, water column

• EMUs – oceanic, environmental, data-derived, true 3D

Ocean Ecoregionalization –Partitioning of the Global Ocean into

‘Ecologically Meaningful’ Regions

• LME – coastal, geopolitical, expert-derived, surface

• MEOW – coastal, biogeographic, expert-derived, surface

• Longhurst – oceanic, biochemical, data-derived, surface

• Bailey – oceanic, environmental, expert-derived, surface

• GOODS – oceanic, biogeographic, expert-derived, water column

• EMUs – oceanic, environmental, data-derived, true 3D

The EMUS have an embedded MBSU

Recommendations

• Evaluate proposed SEEA Oceanic and Coastal ecological

domains and associated ecosystem classes for use in marine

ecosystem accounting with test accounts

• Evaluate new GSV as a standardized shoreline vector for

accounting

• Endorse fast-track development of global ECUs as candidate

standardized coastal ecosystem types fro marine ecosystem

accounting

• Replicate NOAA WOA surface point data/pixel structure as

MBSU for Oceanic domain ecosystem accounting

• For Coastal domain, identify a 30 m point data/pixel structure

as MBSU for coastal ecosystem accounting