AMSAIIC: Arctic marine areas of heightened ecological significance

A total of 95 areas of heightened ecological significance have been identified within the Arctic LMEs. The areas were identified primarily on the basis of their ecological importance to fish, birds and/or mammals, as these species are the most widely studied Arctic groups. The majority of areas identified are used by birds (85) and marine mammals (81), with a lower number used by fish (40, most of them spawning areas). About 70 areas are used both by birds and mammals, and only two of the areas identified are used only by fish.The areas of heightened ecological significance comprise a total area of about 12 million km2, or more than half the total area of the ice-covered part of the marine Arctic. The areas are generally not homogenous but comprise subareas used by fish, birds or mammals. Based on the approach used, subareas were identified separately for fish, birds, and mammals, or information on the use of the larger areas by these groupswas summarized. The subareas often overlap and are also often used by two or more species of birds or mammals, such as for breeding in seabird colonies or for staging by waterfowl and shorebirds. Information on species present and the times and purposes of use are given in summary tables for each LME. Thus, while the areas identified as being of heightened ecological significance cover a large total area, this is the aggregate area used over all seasons throughout the year. The area used at any one time is lower due to the strong seasonal pattern in the annual migratory cycles of fish, birds and mammals.

Simple

Date (Creation)
2013-05-06
Date (Publication)
2013-05-06
Edition

First edition
Edition date
2013-05-09
Citation identifier
https://geo.abds.is/geonetwork/1a87eadd-c170-4ebd-a3cb-81ae1a051b1d
Citation identifier
http://geo.abds.is:8081/geonetwork1a87eadd-c170-4ebd-a3cb-81ae1a051b1d
Cited responsible party
Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role

Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF - www.caff.is) Arctic Council biodievrsity Working Group

Tom Barry

 		Owner
Presentation form
Digital map
Collective title

AMAP/CAFF/SDWG, 2013. Identification of Arctic marine areas of heightened ecological and cultural significance: Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) IIc

Purpose

The Arctic Council’s 2009 Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) identified a number of recommendations to guide future action by the Arctic Council, Arctic States and others on current and future Arctic marine activity. Recommendation II C recommended: “That the Arctic states should identify areas of heightened ecological and cultural significance in light of changing climate conditions and increasing multiple marine use and, where appropriate, should encourage implementation of measures to protect these areas from the impacts of Arctic marine shipping, in coordination with all stakeholders and consistent with international law.” As a follow-up to the AMSA, the Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) working groups undertook to identify areas of heightened ecological significance.

Credit

The Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) working groups

Point of contact
Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role

Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF)

Tom Barry

abds@caff.is

Publisher
Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned
Keywords

  • Arctic marine

  • AMSAIIC

  • CAFF

  • AMAP

  • SDWG

  • Arctic Council

  • AMSA
Keywords

  • Marine sensitive areas

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

  • Sea regions

  • Habitats and biotopes

  • Oceanographic geographical features
Spatial representation type
Vector
Language
English
Character set
UTF8
Topic category
  • Biota
  • Boundaries
  • Environment
  • Oceans
N
S
E
W
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Reference system identifier
EPSG / 3408 / 10.1.0
Topology level
Geometry only
Geometric object type
Composite
Geometric object count
98
Distribution format
Name Version

Shapefile

2

Digital transfer options

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Protocol Linkage Name

OGC:WMS-1.3.0-http-get-map

 		https://geo.abds.is/geoserver/amsa2c/wms?

AMSAIIC_Significant_Areas

OGC:WMS-1.3.0-http-get-map

 		https://geo.abds.is/geoserver/abds/wms?

lme_2013_wgs

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3.772
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WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download

 		https://geo.abds.is/geonetwork/srv/api/records/1a87eadd-c170-4ebd-a3cb-81ae1a051b1d/attachments/AMSAIIC_significance_Areas.zip AMSAIIC_significance_Areas.zip

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No information provided.

Digital transfer options

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Protocol Linkage Name

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 		https://geo.abds.is/geonetwork/srv/api/records/1a87eadd-c170-4ebd-a3cb-81ae1a051b1d/attachments/AMSIIC-Sensitive-Areas.png

AMSIIC-Sensitive-Areas.png

Digital transfer options

OnLine resource
Protocol Linkage Name

WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link

 		https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/items/1d567c4b-723b-48fa-8510-828edede09a7

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Date (Publication)

Metadata

File identifier
1a87eadd-c170-4ebd-a3cb-81ae1a051b1d XML
Metadata language
English
Character set
UTF8
Hierarchy level
Dataset
Hierarchy level name

dataset
Date stamp
2026-02-19T17:47:25.67686412Z
Metadata standard name

ISO 19139 Geographic Information - Metadata - Implementation Specification
Metadata standard version

2007
Metadata author
Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role

Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF - www.caff.is) Arctic Council biodievrsity Working Group

Tom Barry

 		Owner
Other language
Language Character encoding
Icelandic UTF8
English UTF8
 
 

Overviews

overview
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Spatial extent

thumbnail

Keywords

Marine sensitive areas
GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

Habitats and biotopes Oceanographic geographical features Sea regions


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