Marine ecosystem infographics

All infographics listed on this page are JPEGs and 200-100OK in size.

They are Crown Copyright and can be reused with credit to the Department of Conservation. 

Discover New Zealand's marine environment

• New Zealand EEZ is 15X greater than our land mass
• Over half of NZ's ocean is deeper than 2000 m with a seafloor bearing diverse geomorphological features
• Up to 80% of NZ indigeneous biodiversity could be in the oceans
• Our coastal waters harbours a diversity of ecosystems from subtropical to subantarctic
• We are still discovering new species in coastal habitats!
• Most of our deeper environment remains to be biologically explored

Habitats

• Marine habitats are as diverse as terrestrial ones and are used as proxies for biodiversity
• What are "biogenic habitats"?
• Marine biogenic habitats are very diverse and provide many ecosystem services
• Different type of substrate support different communities - soft sediment examples
• Habitats and their associated biodiversity vary with different wave conditions
• Habitats and their associated biodiversity vary with depth

Key Ecological Areas (KEA)

KEA overview and their nine ecological criteria

KEA criteria: 

• Naturalness: example of a pristine versus impacted ecosystem
• Unique or endemic ecosystems: example of an hydothermal vent and its associated biodiversity
• Biological diversity: example seamount communities
• Vulnerable and fragile ecosystems: example longevity of deep sea organisms 
• Threatened or declining ecosystems
• Life stages: example of shellfish spats using specific species of seaweed at one stage of their life cycle
• Biological productivity: example of the ecosystem productivity in the Kaikoura Canyon (JPG, 338K)
• Ecosystems function and their benefits using a soft sediment community: example

Marine Protected Areas and Marine Protected Area networks design

• Definition and benefits of an MPA network
• Factors taken into considerations when designing an MPA network
• For an MPA to be viable it must provide adequate protection to the target species and habitats within
• The connectivity criteria ensures that MPAs are not too spread out to to enable species and larvae to travel between MPAs
• The representation criteria ensure that each habitat type present within a region is include in the MPA network
• The replication criteria ensures that each habitat type is present in at least two different MPAs within the network
• Species, habitats and ecosystems resilience is one of the goals of well designed and effective MPA network
• The role of MPAs and MPA network in climate change adaptation and mitigation

Green-lipped mussel beds

• Green-lipped mussel reefs are biogenic habitats with high associated biodiversity
• Green lipped mussel reefs provide a multitude of ecosystem services: example water filtration
• Green lipped mussel reefs provide a multitude of ecosystem services: example provides sustainance for many sea creatures and humans

Threats

Land-based runoff

• Sediments from land erosion can harm marine habitats
• Excess of land-based nutrients affects marine ecosystems

Impacts linked to direct human activities

• Physical impacts are damaging to sensitive seafloor communities
• Overfishing key predators affects the balance of healthy ecosystems
• Plastic pollution - microplastics can have devastating consequences on ecosystems: example of their impacts on the foodchain
• Invasive species disrupt the balance of indigenous ecosystems
• There are several types of species extinction - global, local and functional extinctions

Climate change

• Marine climate change predictions for the year 2100 if carbon emission are not adressed
• Climate change impacts marine biodiversity. examples - species distribution, migrations, abundance, behaviour, physiology etc
• Species extinctions linked to marine heatwaves: example bull kelp habitat
• Sea level rise destroys coastal habitats: example shorebirds
• Acidification of the ocean affects marine life with calcium-carbonate skeletons and shells
• How to manage the effects of climate change on the ocean-adaptation and mitigation

Cumulative impacts and management

• Threats to the marine environments don't exist in isolation from one another
• Managing a single stressor may save ecosytems and species