AbstractSpatial Patterns of Marine Biodiversity of the Gulf of MexicoTrack: Ocean, Coastal, and Marine Resources Author The design and development of a geodatabase of all known marine species of the Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem is described. The geodatabase integrates data on over 40 phyla and 15,419 living species. The information available includes taxonomy, distribution in the Gulf, habitat, depth range and bibliographic references of all species. The resulting geodatabase includes this information in an organized, searchable and easy maintenance database management system implemented in ArcGIS 9.3. Spatial patterns of distribution of different taxonomic groups where analyzed using a mesoscale environmental model of the Gulf. Results show the geographic patterns of distribution and discontinuities of taxonomic groups along Gulf ecoregions. Major patterns identified with this model were driven by bathymetry, latitudinal/longitudinal gradient and sea surface temperature. Samples of the species information available in the database, products, and future developments will be presented. Jorge Brenner Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies 6300 Ocean Dr Unit 5869 Corpus Christi, Texas 78411 United States Phone: (361) 8252056 E-mail: jorge.brenner@tamucc.edu Fabio Moretzsohn Harte Research Institute 6300 Ocean Dr Corpus Christi, Texas 78412 United States Phone: (361) 8252000 E-mail: fabio.moretzsohn@tamucc.edu John Tunnell Harte Research Institute 6300 Ocean Dr Corpus Christi, Texas 78412 United States Phone: (361) 8252000 E-mail: wes.tunnell@tamucc.edu Thomas Shirley Harte Research Institute 6300 Ocean Dr Corpus Christi, Texas 78412 United States Phone: (361) 8252000 E-mail: tom.shirley@tamucc.edu Patrick Michaud Harte Research Institute 6300 Ocean Dr Corpus Christi, Texas 78412 United States Phone: (361) 8252000 E-mail: pmichaud@pobox.com |