A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems

Benjamin S. Halpern,¹ Shaun Walbridge,^1* Kimberly A. Selkoe,^1,2* Carrie V. Kappel,¹ Fiorenza Micheli,³ Caterina D'Agrosa,⁴ John F. Bruno,⁵ Kenneth S. Casey,⁶ Colin Ebert,¹ Helen E. Fox,⁷ Rod Fujita,⁸ Dennis Heinemann,⁹ Hunter S. Lenihan,¹⁰ Elizabeth M. P. Madin,¹¹ Matthew T. Perry,¹ Elizabeth R. Selig,^6,12 Mark Spalding,¹³ Robert Steneck,¹⁴ Reg Watson¹⁵

The management and conservation of the world's oceans require synthesis of spatial data on the distribution and intensity of human activities and the overlap of their impacts on marine ecosystems. We developed an ecosystem-specific, multiscale spatial model to synthesize 17 global data sets of anthropogenic drivers of ecological change for 20 marine ecosystems. Our analysis indicates that no area is unaffected by human influence and that a large fraction (41%) is strongly affected by multiple drivers. However, large areas of relatively little human impact remain, particularly near the poles. The analytical process and resulting maps provide flexible tools for regional and global efforts to allocate conservation resources; to implement ecosystem-based management; and to inform marine spatial planning, education, and basic research.

¹ National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA.
² Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, Post Office Box 1346, Kane`ohe, HI 96744, USA.
³ Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Oceanview Boulevard, Pacific Grove, CA 93950–3094, USA.
⁴ Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460, USA.
⁵ Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599–3300, USA.
⁶ National Oceanographic Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
⁷ Conservation Science Program, World Wildlife Fund—United States, 1250 24th Street NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
⁸ Environmental Defense, 5655 College Avenue, Suite 304, Oakland, CA, 94618, USA.
⁹ Ocean Conservancy, 1300 19th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006, USA.
¹⁰ Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
¹¹ Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
¹² Curriculum in Ecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599–3275, USA.
¹³ Conservation Strategies Division, the Nature Conservancy, 93 Centre Drive, Newmarket, CB8 8AW, UK.
¹⁴ School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Darling Marine Center, Walpole, ME 04353, USA.
¹⁵ Fisheries Center, 2202 Main Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.

^* These authors contributed equally to this work.

Present address: School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287–4501, USA.

To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: halpern{at}nceas.ucsb.edu, selkoe{at}nceas.ucsb.edu