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Marine Ecoregions of the World
The Process
To a large degree, the MEOW system is not new, but is an effort to bring together a great array of existing biogeographic literature, both published and unpublished. Every effort has been made to produce a system that nests within, or links down, to existing regional systems. There are also close synergies with some of the existing global systems (i.e. Large Marine Ecoregions, and the works of Longhurst, Briggs, Hayden, and Bailey).
Two partners have already been using the concept of marine ecoregions as planning units for some time (see www.conserveonline.org/workspaces/MECA, and G200 Ecoregions). These TNC and WWF Global 200 (G200) ecoregions were among those reviewed by the MEOW Working Group. The TNC ecoregions mostly follow very similar biogeographic protocols to those sought by the MEOW classification and they have been largely been adopted, although several have been renamed to better suit a global nomenclature. The definition and delineation of G200 ecoregions was not always clearly documented; doing so has been a long-identified need. The MEOW ecoregions are typically smaller than the G200 ecoregions and more equivalent to the "subregions" of G200 ecoregions. In most cases (as with the G200 terrestrial ecoregions) the fine scale ecoregions described by the MEOW can be amalgamated up to form approximately G200 units.
Over 200 primary references were reviewed. At the same time, further review and input has been provided by biogeographers worldwide.
The MEOW Working Group, and their respective organizations, represent people with a practical interest in conservation and conservation planning rather than in academic biogeography and the MEOW is intended to put the thinking of biogeographers into a useful and useable framework for conservation planning and reporting.
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