中国海洋生物多样性重要区识别报告 Simplified Report Eco-Region Based Identification of Marine Key Biodiversity Areas in China

SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionBased

IdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversity

AreasinChina(Version1.0)

Coralreef©YANGWeidi

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SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

Contents

02ExecutiveSummary

03Introduction

081OverviewofMarineBiodiversityinChina

091.1CurrentStatusofMarineBiodiversityinChina

091.2ThreatstoMarineBiodiversityinChina

122ResearchProgressontheIdentificationofImportant

BiodiverisityAreas

163IdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreas

183.1TechnicalRoute

283.2IdentificationCriteria

323.3Results

344ConclusionsandOutlooks

37ListofAbbreviations

Balaenopterabrydei©CHENBingyao

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SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

Thelossofbiodiversityisthemosturgentecologicalissuethatneedstobeaddressedglobally.Duetotheunevendistributionofbiodiversityandlimitedconservationresources,itiscrucialtomaximizeconservationbenefitsunderexistingcapacity.Concentratingeffortsonprioritizingtheprotectionofsomeimportantbiodiversityareasiscurrentlyapracticalandefficientstrategy.

MarineKeyBiodiversityAreas(MKBAs)refertomarineareasthatholdspecialsignificanceinmaintainingbiodiversity.Thisreport,basedonavailabledataandthecharacteristicsofChina’s

marineecosystemsandbiodiversity,establishesalocalizedmethodforidentifyingMKBAs.TheMKBAsidentificationinChinawillprovidecrucialsupportforselectingmarinebiodiversity

conservationpriorityareas,optimizethelayoutofmarineprotectedareas(MPA),anddesignatepublicconservationsites,aswellasOtherEffectiveArea-basedConservationMeasures(OECMs).

CriteriaforidentifyingMKBAsaredeterminedfromthreeaspects:threatenedspecies,

geographicallyrestrictedecosystem,andbiologicalprocesses.Inthisstudy,marinebiodiversitydataisintegrated,focusingonspeciessuchasmarineturtles,Indo-pacifichumpbackdolphin(Sousa

chinensis),Bryde'swhale(Balaenopterabrydei),spottedseal(Phocalargha),fish,andcoastal

waterbirds,aswellastypicalmarineecosystemslikemangroves,coralreefs,seagrassbeds,andsaltmarshes.Employingtechniquessuchasspeciesdistributionmodeling,spatialstatisticalanalysis,andexpertconsultation,thespatialdistributionofeachidentificationindicatorismapped.Basedoneco-regions,36MKBAsinChinaareidentifiedaccordingtothesetcriteria.

Inthefuture,wewillincreasethemarinespeciesandecosystemtypesofconcern,refinethebasicdataofmarinebiodiversity,andenhancetheaccuracyofkeyareaidentification,aimingtobetterfulfillChina'sgoalsformarinebiodiversityconservation.

ExecutiveSummary

Marinebiodiversityisthemostcrucialcomponentofglobalbiodiversity.Ofthe34animalphyla

currentlyidentified,33arefoundintheocean,with15beingexclusivelymarinephyla.Asamajormaritimecountry,Chinastandsamongthecountrieswiththerichestmarinebiodiversityinthe

world.Astheimportanceofmarinebiodiversitybecomesincreasinglyrecognized,theconservationofmarinebiodiversityandtheecosystemservicesitprovideshasbecomeasignificantconcernforgovernments,society,andinternationalpolicyagreements.The15thConferenceoftheParties(COP15)totheConventiononBiologicalDiversityadoptedthe"Kunming-MontrealGlobalBiodiversityFramework",settingfourlong-termglobalbiodiversityconservationgoalsfor2050andtwenty-threeactiontargetsfor2030.Amongtheseisthe"30×30"target,whichaimstoprotectatleast30%oftheworld'slandandoceansby2030,aswellasrestore30%ofdegradedecosystemsby2030.

SocietyofEntrepreneursandEcologyFoundation(SEEFoundation)launchedthestudyon

identifyingMKBAsinChinasinceDecember2020.Thiseffortaimstoprovidebasicsupport

formarinebiodiversityconservationinChinaandtoguidethescientificdevelopmentoftheSEE

Foundation'smarineconservationprojects.Duetothelackofdataonmarinebiodiversity,we

havesofarcompletedthefundamentalresearchandthecompilationoftheversion1.0reportfor

identifyingMKBAsinChina.However,thecurrentversiondoesnotincludetheresearchresults

forHongKongSAR,MacauSAR,andTaiwanProvinceduetounavailabledata.Thereleaseofthissimplifiedversion1.0reportservestwopurposes:1)toreportthepreliminaryresearchfindingstothepublicandshowcasetheMKBAsinChina,inthehopeofcallingforcollectiveconservation

actions;2)togathermoresuggestionsandfeedbacktohelpusupdateandrefinetheversion2.0reportinthefuture.

Forthisresearch,weinvitedmanyrenownedscientistsinthefieldofmarinebiodiversityinChina,toprovidevaluableinsightsanddataforthereport.Bytheendof2023,atotalof15expertgroup

meetingsandspecialspeciesseminarshavebeenheld.Wewouldliketoexpressoursincere

gratitudestoallthecolleagueswhohavededicatedsubstantialtimeandeffortsalongwithusoverthepastthreeyears!

Introduction

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SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

SteeringCommittee:

ZHOUQiulin

YANGBiao

YANGShengyun

ZHANGZhengwangLINMao

WANGJianjun

Reportpreparedby:

YUWeiwei

WANGJing

ZHANGZhaohui

ThirdInstituteofOceanography,MinistryofNaturalResourcesSEEFoundation

XiamenUniversity

BeijingNormalUniversity

ThirdInstituteofOceanography,MinistryofNaturalResourcesThirdInstituteofOceanography,MinistryofNaturalResources

ThirdInstituteofOceanography,MinistryofNaturalResourcesSEEFoundation

FirstInstituteofOceanography,MinistryofNaturalResources

Phocalargha©ZHUQian

Jointlypreparedby:

HUANGHui

HUANGXianglinLIUMin

ZHUQian

CHENBingyaoWUHaiping

HUANGLintaoWANGXianyan

CHENGuangchengZHANGYing

SouthChinaSeaInstituteofOceanology,ChineseAcademyofSciencesGuangxiAcademyofMarineSciences,GuangxiAcademyofSciencesXiamenUniversity

ShandongUniversity

NanjingNormalUniversityBeibuGulfUniversity

SouthChinaSeaInstituteofOceanology,ChineseAcademyofSciencesThirdInstituteofOceanography,MinistryofNaturalResources

ThirdInstituteofOceanography,MinistryofNaturalResourcesLingnanNormalUniversity

Datacollatedby:

ZHANGJing,ZHANGDian,KANZhiyi,YANGYUANXiaoyue,ZHUANGHongfei,GUANLei,GEFeiyang,FENGLingyang,CHENKaixin,WANGYiqun,GAOBinyu,SHENYizhi,and

FUNanjie

LocalfishermaninHainan©LIUSunmou

SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

Chapter1

Overviewof

MarineBiodiversityinChina

Mangroves©SEEFoundation

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SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

1OverviewofMarineBiodiversityinChina

1.1CurrentStatusofMarineBiodiversityinChina

BorderingonthenorthwestPacificOcean,China'ssea

areasincludetheBohaiSea,theYellowSea,theEast

ChinaSea,theSouthChinaSea,andseaareasofeast

TaiwanProvince,surroundingthemainlandinanarc

fromnortheasttosouthwest.Theareaencompassesfourlargemarineecosystems:theYellowSeasLargeMarineEcosystem,theEastChinaSeaLargeMarineEcosystem,theSouthChinaSeaLargeMarineEcosystem,andthe

KuroshioLargeMarineEcosystem.China'svastseaareasextendfromShuangtaiEstuaryatthenorthernendtotheZengmuAnsha(JamesShoal)neartheequator,spanning38latitudezoneswhichinvolvethreeclimatezones:warmtemperatezone,subtropicalzone,andtropicalzone.Therearesignificantdifferencesinnaturalgeography,climaticconditions,andecologicalenvironmentcharacteristics

betweenthenorthandthesouth.Thecoastlineislong

andwinding,stretchingover18,000kilometersfromtheYaluRiverEstuarytotheBeilunRiverEstuaryonthe

mainland.Ithasvarioustypesofcoastlinessuchasrockycoast,sandycoast,muddycoast,andbiologicalcoast.

China'smarineecosystemsarehighlydiverse,including

coastalwetlandhabitatssuchasestuaries,bays,and

tidalflats,aswellasvarioustypicalmarineecosystems

includingmangroves,seagrassbeds,saltmarshes,etc.

Statistically,thereareover1,500estuaries,over200bayslargerthan5squarekilometers,andcoastalwetlands

coveringapproximately5.8millionhectareswhichinclude1.5123millionhectaresoftidalflatsand27,100hectaresofmangroves1.

China'sseaareasbelongtothemarginalseasofthe

westernPacificOceaninthelow-tomid-latitudes.

AffectedbytheKuroshioandcoastalcurrents,the

complexhabitatsharborawidevarietyofmarinespecies.Accordingtothelateststatistics,over29,300speciesofmarineorganismshavebeendocumentedinChina'sseaareas,accountingforapproximately12.2%oftheglobaltotal(241,382species)2.ThismakesChinaasoneofthecountrieswiththerichestmarinespeciesintheworld.

1TheMinistryofNaturalResources.TheThirdNationalLandSurveyMainDataBulletin.

/dt/ywbb/202108/t20210826

_2678340.html.2021-08-26.

2HuangZ.G.,LinM.,XuK.D.,etal.MarineBodiversityConservationinChina.Beijing:SciencePress,2022.

Sousachinensisandfishingboats©HUANGXianglin

1.2ThreatstoMarineBiodiversityinChina

Inrecentyears,significantprogresshasbeenmadeintheprotectionofChina'smarineecologicalenvironment.

However,marinebiodiversitystillfacesseverethreatsandchallengesduetomarinepollution,habitatdestruction,

overfishing,climatechange,etc.

(1)Marinepollution.Accordingtothe2022Bulletinof

MarineEcologyandEnvironmentStatusofChina3,the

overallstatusofthemarineecologicalenvironmentin

Chinain2022revealedastableimprovement.However,eutrophicationremainssevereinsomebaysandestuariessuchasLiaodongBay,BohaiBay,LaizhouBay,the

YangtzeRiverEstuary,HangzhouBay,andthePearl

RiverEstuary.Thedegradationofthemarineenvironmentaffectsthenormalhabitat,foraging,reproduction,and

survivalofmarineorganisms,therebyposingdirectorindirectthreatstobiodiversity.

(2)Habitatdestruction.Long-standingcoastal

developmentactivitiessuchasseareclamation,marine

aquaculture,damanddikeconstruction,maritime

transport,tourismdevelopment,sandexcavating

andmining,offshoreoilandgasexplorationand

development,andoceandumpingactivities,haveledtothefragmentationorlossofmarinehabitats,reduction

innaturalmangroves,andsignificantdeclinesincoral

reef4andseagrasscoverage.Additionally,marine

engineeringprojectshavedestroyedandencroachedonecologicalspaces,disruptedecologicalconnectivity,andexacerbatedtheseparationofhabitatpatches,whichledtothedegradation,fragmentation,andisolationofmarine

habitatsforimportantspeciessuchasmarinemammalsandcoastalwaterbirds.

(3)Overfishing.Sincethelate1960s,thesignificant

increaseinthenumberandhorsepowerofmarinefishingvesselshasledtointensiveexploitationofChina's

marinefisheryresources.Overfishinghasresultedinasharpdeclineinoffshorefisheryresources,withsome

speciesnearlydepletedandcertaintraditionaleconomicspeciesnolongerappearingduringthefishingseason.

Furthermore,bottomtrawlinginclosedfishingareas/

seasons,aswellastheusageofillegalfishinggearhavealsodamagedthemarinefisheryecosystem,affectingthereplenishmentandrecruitmentoffisheryresources.

(4)Climatechange.Issuessuchassealevelrise,increasedwatertemperatures,oceanacidification,andextreme

weathereventscausedbyglobalwarminghavegarneredincreasingattention.Climatechangehasbecomeoneofthemostseverechallengesformarinebiodiversity.Overthepast40years,thecoastalseasurfacetemperatureof

Chinahasshownafluctuatingupwardtrend,risingby

anaverageof0.25°Cperdecade5.CoralbleachingeventscausedbyabnormalseawaterwarminghavebeenrecordedinseaareaslikeSanya,XishaIslands,andNanshaIslands,severelythreateningthehealthofcoralreefecosystems.From1980to2021,thecoastalsealevelofChinahasbeenrisingmorerapidly,withanaverageannualriseof3.4

mm/year,higherthantheglobalaverageduringthesameperiod5.Thecombinedthreatsofrisingsealevelsand

isolationofseawallsposeriskstomarineecosystemssuchasmangrovesandsaltmarshes.

3MinistryofEcologyandEnvironmentofthePeople’sRepublicofChina.BulletinofMarineEcologyandEnvironmentStatusofChina(2022).2023.5

4HuangH.StatusofCoralReefsinChina(2010-2019).Beijing:ChinaOceanPress,2021.

5NationalClimateCenterofChinaMeteorologicalAdministration.BlueBookonClimateChangeofChina(2022).Beijing:SciencePress,2022

SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

Chapter2

ResearchProgress ontheIdentificationofImportantBiodiversityAreas

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SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

2ResearchProgressontheIdentificationofImportantBiodiverisityAreas

Theintensificationofhumanactivitiesandtheimpactofclimatechangehaveledtoglobalbiodiversitylossatanalarmingrate.IdentifyingImportantbiodiversityareasfundamentaltoformulatingbiodiversityconservation

actionplansandholdssignificantimportancefor

biodiversityconservation.Thisissuehasgarnered

extensiveattentionfromtheinternationalcommunityandacademia.

Variousinternationaleffortshavebeenmadeto

analyzeandidentifyimportantbiodiversityareas,suchasBiodiversityHotspots,KBAs,EcologicallyorBiologicallySignificantMarineAreas(EBSAs),

Clownfishandseaanemone©ZHANGJing

ParticularlySensitiveSeaAreas(PSSAs),andVulnerableMarineEcosystems(VMEs).Chinahasalsodelineated

keyorprioritymarinebiodiversityareas.TheNational

EcologicalConservationandConstructionPlan(2013-

2020)defines12importantmarineeco-regions.The

ChinaBiodiversityConservationStrategyandActionPlan(2011-2030)identifiesthreepriorityareasformarineandcoastalbiodiversityconservation.Additionally,China

hasinnovatedanecologicalconservationmeasure-

ecologicalconservationred-linearea.Atotalof150,000squarekilometersofmarineecologicalconservation

red-lineareahavebeendesignated,encompassingChina's99%ofmangroves(approximately268squarekilometers),91%ofcoralreefs,89%ofseagrassbeds(approximately106squarekilometers),and94%ofundevelopedand

uninhabitedislands6.

Thecriteriafordentifingimportantbiodiversityareas

accordingtodifferentecologicalconservationand

managementneeds,eachwithitsownfocuswhile

mutuallyinterconnectedbyplayingdifferentroles:1)

CriteriaforKBAscovermultipleaspects,including

species,ecosystem,andgenetic,andareusedtoidentifyKBAsonaglobalscale,butneedtobelocalizedatregionalandnationalscales.2)CriteriaforEBSAsfocusonthe

naturalattributesofecosystems,includingthediversity

andrichnessoforganismsandhabitats,aswellasthe

vulnerabilityofmarineecosystems.3)CriteriaforPSSAstargetspecificnavigationactivities,consideringboth

naturalattributesandthecultural,economic,orscientificsignificanceoftheseaareas.4)CriteriaforVMEsareusedtoidentifyareaswhereecologicalchangesaremostintenseandmostlikelytocauseecologicalproblems,withafocusontheecologicalimpactofbottomtrawling;suchcriteria

6ChinaLandSurveyandPlanningInstitute.ChinaEcologicalConservationRedLineBlueBook(2023).Beijing:ChinaEarthPress,2023.

Table1Correpondencebetweenvariouscriteria7

emphasizeecosystemvulnerabilityandsensitivity.5)

Ecologicalconservationred-lineareacoversimportantecologicalfunctionzones,ecologicallysensitivezones,andecologicallyfragilezones.

Inthecontextofbiodiversityconservation,thereare

severalchallengesinthepracticalapplicationofthe

currentKBAcriteriatotheidentificationofMKBAsinChina.Forinstance,thereareoverlapsamongcriteria

withinthesameframework,e.g.therepeatedassessmentofthesametargetsundertheKBAsidentificationcriteriaforthreatenedspeciesandgeographicallyrestricted

species,leadingtoredundancyandincreasedtimecosts.SomeidentifiedKBAsarefragmented,andthehigh

mobilityandconnectivityofmarineenvironmentsmakefragmentedspacesdifficulttomanageandpotentially

affectmanagementeffectiveness.Besides,thedispersion

andincompleteofChina'smarinebiodiversitydata

presentsasignificantchallengetotheidentificationofKBAs.

Criteria

IUCN

CBD

IMO

FAO

KBAs

EBSAs

PSSAs

VMEs

Rarity

√

√

√

√

Uniqueness

√

√

√

√

Special

importancefor

life-historystagesofspecies

√

√

√

√

Importance

forthreatened,endangeredor

√

√

√

√

decliningspecies

and/orhabitats

Vulnerability

√

√

√

√

Fragility

√

√

√

√

Sensitivityorslowrecovery

√

√

√

√

Productivity

√

√

Biodiversity

√

√

√

Naturalness

√

√

Representative-ness

√

√

Dependency

√

Marineturtlefeedingjellyfish©WANGJing

7HuangH.,TangD.,ChenB.,etal.Shortcommentsontheapplicationofcriteriaforidentifyingecologicallyorbiologicallysignificantmarineareas(EBSAs).Sustainability,2020,12,130

SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

Chapter3

Identificationof

MarineKeyBiodiversityAreas

Schooloffish©ZHANGTian

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Duetoincompletedataonmarinebiodiversityandthechallengeofdefiningthedistributionboundariesofmarinebiodiversity,thisreportbuildsupon

thepriorworkonmarineeco-regionstoidentifyMKBAs.Thespecifictechnicalapproachisasfollows:

□Firstly,extensiveenvironmentalandbiologicalinformationwascollectedthroughvarioussources,includingpublicdatabases,fieldsurveys'data,andexpertconsultations.Thisdatathenunderwent

arigorouspre-processingphase,cleaned,

consolidated,transformedanddiscretizedprocess,tocreateacomprehensiveandreliabledataset.

□Secondly,drawingontheKBAsandotherrelevantcriteria,thestandardsforidentifyingMKBAsin

Chinawereestablishedbasedontheacquireddata

SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

3IdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreas

3.1TechnicalApproach

Inthisreport,MKBAsrefertomarineareasthatholdspecialsignificanceinmaintainingbiodiversity.Giventheconstraintsofavailabledata,thisreportfocusesonthecoastalwatersofChina'smainlandandtheadjacentwatersoftheXishaandNanshaIslands.Thecoastalwatersisdefinedbythecoastlineonthelandwardsideand

stretch12nauticalmilesseawardfromChina's

maritimebaseline.TheadjacentwatersoftheXishaandNanshaIslandsrefertothescopeoftheXishaandNanshaecologicalregionsasoutlinedinthe

"NationalEcologicalProtectionandConstructionPlan(2013-2020)".

andexpertconsultations.

□Thirdly,thestudyareasweredividedinto102eco-

regionsbyreferringtothemarineecologicalzoningresultsofHuangetal.(2020)8,whichwerebasedonbiogeographiccharacteristicsincludingclimate,biology,chemistry,

hydrology,topography,andgeomorphology.

□Finally,basedonthedataset,variousmethodssuchasGISspatialanalysisandspeciesdistributionmodelingwereemployedtospatiallyquantifytheidentification

indexes(dataanddistributionofsomeindexesareshowninTable2andFigure2).Takingeco-regionsasunits,

MKBAswereidentifiedaccordingtotheestablishedcriteria.

Coralreef©SEEFoundation

8HuangH.,AnL.N,LiW.W.etal.SpatialclassificationofmarinebiologicalconservationanditsapplicationinnearshoreChina.JournalofAppliedOceanography,2020,39(2):279-288.(inChinese)

Table2ThreatenedFishSpeciesIncludedinThisStudy9

Commonname

Scientificname

CategoriesintheIUCNRedListofThreatenedSpecies

MottledEagleRay

Aetomylaeusmaculatus

EN

BandedEagleRay

Aetomylaeusnichofi

VU

OrnateEagleRay

Aetomylaeusvespertilio

EN

PelagicThresher

Alopiaspelagicus

EN

BigeyeThresher

Alopiassuperciliosus

VU

CommonThresher

Alopiasvulpinus

VU

JapaneseEel

Anguilajaponica

EN

NarrowSawfish

Anoxypristiscuspidata

EN

DuskyMeagre

Argyrosomusjaponicus

EN

ChineseBahaba

Bahabataipingensis

CR

GreenHumpheadParrotfish

Bolbometoponmuricatum

VU

SilvertipShark

Carcharhinusalbimarginatus

VU

GreyReefShark

Carcharhinusamblyrhynchos

EN

CopperShark

Carcharhinusbrachyurus

VU

SpinnerShark

Carcharhinusbrevipinna

VU

SilkyShark

Carcharhinusfalciformis

VU

PondicherryShark

Carcharhinushemiodon

CR

OceanicWhitetipShark

Carcharhinuslongimanus

CR

BlacktipReefShark

Carcharhinusmelanopterus

VU

DuskyShark

Carcharhinusobscurus

EN

SandbarShark

Carcharhinusplumbeus

EN

WhiteShark

Carcharodoncarcharias

VU/MD

BaskingShark

Cetorhinusmaximus

EN

WingheadShark

Eusphyrablochi

EN

ThnonySeahorse

Hippocampushistrix

VU

GreatSeahorse

Hippocampuskeloggi

VU

HedgehogSeahorse

Hippocampusspinosissimus

VU

Three-spotSeahorse

Hippocampustrimaculatus

VU

ShortfinMako

Isurusoxyrinchus

EN

LongfinMako

Isuruspaucus

EN

LargeYellowCroaker

Larimichthyscrocea

CR

OceanicMantaRay

Mobulabirostris

EN

LonghornedPygmyDevilRay

Mobulaeregoodoo

EN

SpinetailDevilRay

Mobulamobular

EN

SicklefinDevilRay

Mobulatarapacana

EN

JapaneseEagleRay

Myliobatistobijei

VU

BowmouthGuitarfish

Rhinaancylostoma

CR

WhaleShark

Rhincodontypus

EN

ScallopedHammerhead

Sphyrnalewini

CR

GreatHammerhead

Sphyrnamokarran

CR

SmoothHammerhead

Sphyrnazygaena

VU

9CompiledfromtheIUCNRedListofThreatenedSpecies.

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SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

3IdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreas

Figure1TechnicalApproach

Cheloniamydas©WANGJing

Figure2DistributionoftheThreatenedFishSpeciesinChina'sSeaWaters10

10Basicdatasourcedfrom

/

2021

SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

3IdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreas

Figure3CompositeThreatIndexfortheThreatenedFishSpeciesinChina’sSeaAreas11

11Basicdatasourcedfrom

/

Figure4DistributionoftheCoralReefSuitableAreasinChina’sSeaAreas12

12Plottedaccordingtothepredictionsmadewiththespeciesdistributionmodels.ThecoralreefsitedatasourcedfromUNEP-WCMC(https://www..uk/),surveydataprovidedbytheSouthChinaSeaInstituteofOceanology,CAS,andpublishedliterature.

2223

SimplifiedReport:Eco-RegionbasedIdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreasinChina

3IdentificationofMarineKeyBiodiversityAreas

Figure5DistributionofMangrovesinChina13

13DatasourcedfromthedatasetofmangrovedistributioninChinaata2mresolutionin2019releasedbytheScienceDataBank(

/

en).

MangrovesinZhanjing©ZHANGWei

Figure6MajorDistributionPointsofBryde'sWhalesinChina'sSeaAreas14

14ChenB.,WuC.,BallanceL.T.,etal..CooperativefeedingandforaginglateralizationbyEden'swhalesoffsouthernChina.MarineMammalScience,2022,29:200-219.

Balaenopterabrydei©CHENBingyao

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