A tool for generating predictions and distribution maps for marine species.
AquaMAPS
AquaMaps is a tool for generating model-based, large-scale predictions of natural occurrences of species. It currently has standardized distribution maps for over 33,500 marine species including fishes, mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, and plants. For marine species, the model uses estimates of environmental preferences with respect to depth, water temperature, salinity, primary productivity, bottom oxygen, and its association with sea ice and land. These estimates of species preferences, called environmental envelopes, are derived from large datasets of occurrences from online databases such as GBIF and OBIS, from independent information from the literature stored in FishBase and SealifeBase and/or expert knowledge about the distribution of a given species and its habitat usage.
Type: virtual / e-infrastructure
Creation date: online since 2005.
Access & costs: Free online access. However, partnering with the AquaMaps team for larger research projects or publications that would make intensive use of the dataset is encouraged. Special data requests requiring further processing may be billed under a service contract depending on the additional work required.
Website: www.aquamaps.org
Contacts:
- Gabriel Reygondeau, coordinator: g.reygondeau@oceans.ubc.ca
- Twitter: @nuestracr
- Kristin Kaschner, model development: kristin.kaschner@biologie.uni-freiburg.de
- AquaMaps team: info.aquamaps@gmail.com