Abstract:

This dataset contains all available distribution maps for 1,843 marine species present across the entire Gulf of Mexico. For vertebrates, it includes 1483 bony fishes, 83 sharks/rays, 27 marine mammals, 44 seabirds, and 5 sea turtles. Invertebrate and plant maps include 60 reef-building corals, 6 mangroves, 9 seagrasses, 26 sea cucumbers, 30 cone snails, 6 oysters, 43 cephalopods, and 21 lobsters. It also includes an ESRI shapefiles of our defined geographic range of the Gulf of Mexico, a species richness map, a map of all the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threatened species richness, a map of all IUCN Data Deficient (DD) species richness. Selected results from the associated paper Strongin et al., 2020 are also included, namely a classification of all threats impacting these species and a comparison of species protections under IUCN, Endangered Species Act (ESA), and NORMA 059. This dataset supports the publication: Strongin, Kyle, Beth Polidoro, Christi Linardich, Gina Ralph, Steven Saul, and Kent Carpenter. (2020). Translating globally threatened marine species information into regional guidance for the Gulf of Mexico. Global Ecology and Conservation, 23, e01010. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01010.

Suggested Citation:

Polidoro, Beth, Kent Carpenter, and Gina Ralph. 2021. Dataset for: Translating globally threatened marine species information into regional guidance for the Gulf of Mexico. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/n7-dgnt-vm75

Publications:

Strongin, K., Polidoro, B., Linardich, C., Ralph, G., Saul, S., & Carpenter, K. (2020). Translating globally threatened marine species information into regional guidance for the Gulf of Mexico. Global Ecology and Conservation, 23, e01010. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01010

Purpose:

These maps were created in order to estimate the spatial distribution of marine species, in comprehensive taxonomic clades, across the Gulf of Mexico.

Data Parameters and Units:

The Excel file "Species_Status_Comparisons_Table3" contains the comparison of species status under different threat categories from Table 3 in the associated publication Strongin et al., 2020, and the included parameters are: Genus/species; Common Name; Global RL [Species Status under global Red List category]; ESA [Species status under US Endangered Species Act category]; NORMA 59 [Species status under Mexico NORMA 59 category]; Aquarium Trade [Includes those species thought to be impacted by the aquarium trade]; Bycatch [Includes species caught as bycatch in commercial industries as well as entanglement in ghost nets or pots]; Disease [Includes species known to be significantly impacted by diseases]; Fishing [Includes those species which are the focus of targeted fishing efforts]; Habitat Loss [Includes those species whose ranges are declining due to declining habitat availability]; Industrial Development [Includes species thought to be impacted by tourism, dredging, shipping, and drilling]; Invasives [Includes species thought to be impacted by invasive species]; Pollution [Includes species impacted by runoff, eutrophication, chemical/oil spills, and noise pollution]; Predation [Limited to marine turtles and birds which are impacted by hunting efforts for their shells and eggs, and predation of seabird populations by rats]; Storms [Limited to species whose habitats and/or migration routes can be impacted by tropical storms]; Warming [Includes species significantly impacted by ocean warming, bleaching events, and/or changes in migratory movements or habitats due to changing water temperatures]; Strength of threat in Gulf compared to global [Same, more, or less]. Abbreviations are as follows: (CR) - Critically Endangered; (EN) or (E) - Endangered; (VU) - Vulnerable; (T) - Threatened; (SP) - Special Protection; (PE) - in danger of extinction; (UR) - Under Review. The Excel file "Species_Threat_Summary_Fig 1" contains a summary presented in Figure 1 in the associated publication Strongin et al., 2020 which illustrates the threats affecting species in different threatened categories according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories and criteria. The included parameters are - threat categories; and the number of species in class susceptible to listed threat: Sharks, Seabirds, Reptiles, Rays/Skates/Sawfish, Marine Mammals, Mangroves & Seagrasses, Lobsters & Horseshoe Crabs, Gastropods, Corals, Bony Fishes, and Grand Total. Also, included are the ArcGIS shapefiles of the defined geographic range of the Gulf of Mexico; species generalized distribution maps; species richness map including a map of all IUCN threatened species richness, a map of all IUCN Data Deficient (DD) species richness, and a map of all total species richness. Map projection is in WGS 84.

Methods:

Species generalized distribution maps were created in ArcGIS using protocols created by the Marine Biodiversity Unit (MBU) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) species programme (https://sites.wp.odu.edu/GMSA/) and the respective protocols of IUCN marine Species Survival Commission (SSC) specialist groups (https://www.iucn.org/commissions/ssc-groups). In summary, species inhabiting coastal areas/continental shelf were clipped to a standardized buffer of 100 km from the coastline or a depth of 200 m, whichever was further from the coast. Distributions for pelagic species, deepwater species and/or poorly known species were drawn by creating a minimum convex polygon connecting point localities from museum collections, and other reported occurrences vetted by taxonomic experts. For more detailed methods on taxonomic inclusion, IUCN species assessment process, threat analyses, and statistical and spatial analysis, please refer to the associated publication Strongin et al., 2020.

Individual Files: