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1 1.10 Application of estuarine and coastal classifications in marine ...

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ecause management decisions take place at multiple levels <strong>of</strong> organization rang<strong>in</strong>g from global<br />

(mult<strong>in</strong>ational), national, state, to an <strong>in</strong>dividual bay, estuary or study plot. The Large Mar<strong>in</strong>e<br />

Ecosystems (LME) is perhaps the best known example <strong>of</strong> a global classification <strong>and</strong> comprises<br />

ocean spaces with dist<strong>in</strong>ct bathymetry, hydrography, productivity <strong>and</strong> trophic relationships<br />

(Sherman <strong>and</strong> Duda 1999). LMEs have been widely used as spatial management units for which<br />

data on fisheries <strong>and</strong> other biological <strong>in</strong>dicators <strong>of</strong> ecological <strong>in</strong>tegrity are aggregated, analyzed<br />

<strong>and</strong> assessed (Sherman <strong>and</strong> Duda 1999, Duda <strong>and</strong> Sherman 2002). A newer hierarchical<br />

classification known as the Mar<strong>in</strong>e Ecoregions <strong>of</strong> the World classification (Spald<strong>in</strong>g et al. 2007)<br />

has more recently emerged for <strong>coastal</strong> <strong>and</strong> shelf areas shallower than 200 m <strong>and</strong> is based on<br />

biogeographical divisions. It is a nested system <strong>of</strong> 12 realms, 62 prov<strong>in</strong>ces <strong>and</strong> 232 ecoregions<br />

provid<strong>in</strong>g a broader spatial coverage <strong>and</strong> f<strong>in</strong>er thematic resolution than the exist<strong>in</strong>g LMEs <strong>and</strong> is<br />

aimed at support<strong>in</strong>g the development <strong>of</strong> ecologically representative systems <strong>of</strong> protected areas as<br />

required by the Convention on Biological Diversity <strong>and</strong> Ramsar Convention on Wetl<strong>and</strong>s. At the<br />

f<strong>in</strong>est thematic resolution, the ecoregion has already been widely used by several large nongovernmental<br />

conservation organizations to develop ecoregional mar<strong>in</strong>e <strong>classifications</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

assessments. Global regionalizations such as the LMEs <strong>and</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>e Ecoregions are sometimes<br />

referred to as spatial frameworks or bioregional <strong>classifications</strong>, primarily because they focus on<br />

the relatively broad end <strong>of</strong> the scale us<strong>in</strong>g biogeographical patterns <strong>and</strong> the distribution <strong>of</strong><br />

relatively coarse resolution physical forc<strong>in</strong>g factors. As such their management utility differs<br />

from the f<strong>in</strong>er scale more thematically resolved <strong>coastal</strong> <strong>classifications</strong> that focus on habitat types<br />

or communities. At the national level, R<strong>of</strong>f <strong>and</strong> Taylor (2000) developed a hierarchical<br />

geophysical approach to the classification <strong>of</strong> mar<strong>in</strong>e habitats for the Canadian coastl<strong>in</strong>e. Due to<br />

the large extent <strong>of</strong> the Canadian coastl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) <strong>and</strong> the relative<br />

6

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