Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Distrito Federal, 04510, Mexico.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Aug 16;108(33):13600-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1101525108. Epub 2011 Aug 1.
We identified 20 global key conservation sites for all marine (123) and freshwater (6) mammal species based on their geographic ranges. We created geographic range maps for all 129 species and a Geographic Information System database for a 46,184 1° x 1° grid-cells, ∼10,000-km(2). Patterns of species richness, endemism, and risk were variable among all species and species groups. Interestingly, marine mammal species richness was correlated strongly with areas of human impact across the oceans. Key conservation sites in the global geographic grid were determined either by their species richness or by their irreplaceability or uniqueness, because of the presence of endemic species. Nine key conservation sites, comprising the 2.5% of the grid cells with the highest species richness, were found, mostly in temperate latitudes, and hold 84% of marine mammal species. In addition, we identified 11 irreplaceable key conservation sites, six of which were found in freshwater bodies and five in marine regions. These key conservation sites represent critical areas of conservation value at a global level and can serve as a first step for adopting global strategies with explicit geographic conservation targets for Marine Protected Areas.
我们根据地理位置确定了全球 20 个海洋（123 种）和淡水（6 种）哺乳动物物种的关键保护地点。我们为所有 129 个物种创建了地理分布范围图，并为一个 46184 个 1°×1°网格单元格、约 10000 平方公里的地理信息系统数据库。所有物种和物种群体的物种丰富度、特有性和风险模式各不相同。有趣的是，海洋哺乳动物的物种丰富度与海洋中人类活动的区域强烈相关。全球地理网格中的关键保护地点是根据物种丰富度或因其特有物种的存在而不可替代性或独特性来确定的。确定了 9 个关键保护地点，它们包含了物种丰富度最高的 2.5%的网格单元格，主要分布在温带地区，拥有 84%的海洋哺乳动物物种。此外，我们还确定了 11 个不可替代的关键保护地点，其中 6 个位于淡水体，5 个位于海洋区域。这些关键保护地点代表了全球层面具有保护价值的关键区域，可以作为采取具有明确地理保护目标的全球海洋保护区战略的第一步。
