GCRI · Biodiversity Nexus
Coastal and marine biodiversity
Coastal and marine ecosystems, from mangroves and seagrass to coral reefs, kelp forests and the open ocean, support fisheries, protect shorelines and store carbon. They face fishing, coastal development, pollution, warming and acidification at once, and much of the ocean is observed only sparsely. This page sets out how marine biodiversity, fish stocks and coastal integrity are measured, how pressures interact, and what the evidence means for fisheries, coastal and marine authorities.
Coastal and marine biodiversity on the record.
Coastal and marine biodiversity: how the risk develops.
Marine ecosystems, fish stocks and coastal integrity. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Overexploitation
Fishing beyond what stocks can replace reduces abundance, shifts catches toward smaller species and removes predators that structure food webs. Bycatch affects seabirds, turtles, sharks and marine mammals, and illegal fishing hides the true pressure.
Warming and acidification
Marine heatwaves bleach corals and kill kelp and seagrass; warming shifts species toward the poles and changes where stocks can be fished. Acidification lowers the saturation of the carbonate minerals that corals and shellfish need to build skeletons.
Coastal squeeze
Mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass are cleared for aquaculture, ports and housing, and hemmed in by sea walls as sea level rises. Losing them removes nurseries for fish and natural buffers against storm surge.
Compounding along the coast
Nutrient runoff from land fuels algal blooms and low-oxygen zones; weakened reefs recover more slowly from storms and heat. Declining coastal fisheries then reach food security, tourism revenue and the insurance of coastal property.
Ocean state in the Amazon Basin.
Marine heat, sea temperature and chlorophyll over the Amazon Basin, from NASA GIBS. Each layer carries its own date.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 3
Ocean state, for this page
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed
- Source
- GHRSST MUR25 (NASA JPL PO.DAAC)
- Provider
- NASA JPL PO.DAAC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite analysis
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-12
- Resolution
- about 2 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite analysis of how far sea temperature departs from its usual value for the date shown; a marine heat indicator, not a coral bleaching alert.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed
- Source
- GHRSST MUR (NASA JPL PO.DAAC)
- Provider
- NASA JPL PO.DAAC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite analysis
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-12
- Resolution
- about 1 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Gap-filled satellite analysis of sea surface temperature for the date shown; not a reef or species condition report.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (clouds and sun glint leave gaps)
- Source
- MODIS Aqua ocean colour (NASA OB.DAAC)
- Provider
- NASA OB.DAAC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite retrieval; clouds and sun glint leave gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-13
- Resolution
- about 1 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite estimate of chlorophyll-a near the sea surface on the day shown, an indicator of plankton and ocean productivity; not a measure of fish stocks or harmful blooms.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Modelled (latest year GIBS publishes)
- Source
- MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1) (NASA LP DAAC)
- Provider
- NASA LP DAAC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- yearly; Satellite classification; latest year GIBS publishes
- Newest at build
- 2024-01-01
- Resolution
- about 500 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite land cover classes for the year shown, including croplands; a classification with known errors, not a farm register.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed
- Source
- VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance (NASA LANCE)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite image
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-14
- Resolution
- about 250 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite image. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (clouds leave gaps)
- Source
- MODIS Terra EVI (NASA LANCE)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite index; clouds leave gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-13
- Resolution
- about 250 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite vegetation index for the 8 days to the date shown, a habitat condition indicator; not a measure of species or biodiversity.
- Reached through
- gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
Ocean state, framed on the Amazon Basin.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · NASA JPL OPERA DIST-ALERTSources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- GHRSST Level 4 MUR analyses, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; distributed by the NASA Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- MODIS Aqua ocean colour, NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group; distributed by the NASA Ocean Biology DAAC (OB.DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
- Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- Observed (EO): NASA JPL OPERA DIST-ALERT (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026). We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Optional layers (10 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- Sea surface temperature anomaly: GHRSST MUR25, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Sea surface temperature: GHRSST MUR, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Ocean chlorophyll-a concentration: MODIS Aqua ocean colour, NASA OB.DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
- True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
Coastal ecosystems protect shores and feed millions.
| Domain | How it couples here | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Food | Fisheries depend on reefs, mangroves and seagrass as nurseries. | Fish stock status |
| Water | Rivers deliver sediment and nutrients; excess nutrients cause dead zones. | Coastal hypoxia events |
| Health | Harmful algal blooms contaminate seafood. | Shellfish toxin monitoring |
| Energy | Offshore wind and coastal power plants interact with marine life. | Marine spatial planning records |
Coral reefs face repeated mass bleaching; NOAA and the International Coral Reef Initiative confirmed a fourth global bleaching event in April 2024. The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network’s status report (2021) documents long-term change. The Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction was adopted in 2023; its status of ratification is tracked by the United Nations.
Ecosystem condition account.
The screen a team would use to follow this subject: its measures, states and decisions. Names are examples and values are illustrative.
Ecosystem condition account
Coastal and marine biodiversity · Wetland complex · Accounting year 4
- Extent change▲ 1pct of openingWatch
- Condition index0.600 to 10.07Watch
- Species of concern20recorded
- Restoration under management412haNormal
Condition indicators
| Water level regime | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Native vegetation cover | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| Invasive species pressure | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Connectivity | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.0 |
Condition index
Marine nature evidence.
Coastal and marine analyses are designed for the Regional Systems series, with the Oceans and Coasts platform. Useful contributions: reef and mangrove survey data through OBIS, bleaching observations and fisheries monitoring.
Model coastal and marine biodiversity as a system. Run the cascade.
Assembled from the Nexus Standards area profile Biodiversity and nature risk standards: the hazards it names, the systems and sectors that carry the loss, the controls that dampen it and the data that observe it. Choose the components, pick an initiating hazard and step through the cascade. The Map view places the run on an example geography with open data. Every coupling weight is a stated assumption you can change. A teaching model, not a forecast, an assessment or a certification. To model a place of your own choosing, open the full System Builder.
Hazards
- Deforestation
- Biodiversity loss (set off downstream)
- Soil erosion (set off downstream)
- Land-system change boundary transgression (set off downstream)
- Amazon rainforest dieback (set off downstream)
- Slope slide (set off downstream)
- Flash flood (set off downstream)
- Zoonotic spillover event (set off downstream)
- Wildfire (set off downstream)
- Emerging arbovirus outbreak (set off downstream)
- Malaria resurgence (set off downstream)
Systems and couplings
- Biodiversity and nature risk standards
- Climate risk standards Feedback
- Health risk standards Cascade
- Food and agriculture risk standards Dependency
- Environmental degradation hazard standards Shared hazard records
Controls
NS-0Constitution and principlesNS-1The UNI and the artefact catalogue (grammar v0.2: domain, sector, region and environment segments)NS-3Risk record UNIs (grammar, legacy crosswalk, allocation authority)NS-3bDataset and product metadata profile (STAC, DCAT, PROV-O)NS-5Figure, map and visualisation standard (with the UI/UX kit)NS-9Contextual UNIs (deployments, instances, programme instances)NS-11Verification and monitoring (evidence, attestations, zero-trust conformance observation)NRS-N5Biodiversity and nature risk and resilienceNRS-H65Hazard family: Planetary boundary transgressions (NHS-1 planet.boundary)NRS-H27Hazard family: Biodiversity and species stress (NHS-1 eco.species)NRS-H26Hazard family: Land and wetland degradation (NHS-1 eco.land)NRS-H28Hazard family: Climate-state shifts (NHS-1 eco.climate-state)NRS-H64Hazard family: Ecosystem regime shifts (NHS-1 eco.regime-shift)
Observation
- GBIF occurrence API and downloads (listed for reference)
- World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas (listed for reference)
- Global Forest Watch tree cover loss (Hansen/UMD) and alerts (listed for reference)
- ESA WorldCover 10 m land cover (listed for reference)
- Copernicus Land Monitoring Service products (listed for reference)
- Red List Index
- Forest area as a proportion of total land area
- Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity covered by protected areas
Example geography
- Pacific Island states: 150 hexagonal cells
- Vegetation disturbance alerts, 30 m (OPERA DIST-ALERT), NASA GIBS
- Surface soil moisture (SMAP), NASA GIBS
- Night lights tonight, outages (VIIRS Day/Night Band), NASA GIBS
- Rain rate, last half hour (IMERG), NASA GIBS
What is measured, and how well.
Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.
| Indicator | Unit | Cadence | Source type | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels | percent of assessed stocks | biennial | Stock assessments compiled under SDG indicator 14.4.1 | Published statistics |
| Live hard coral cover | percent of reef area surveyed | annual | Reef surveys and photo transects | OBSERVED |
| Mangrove extent | hectares | periodic | Satellite radar and optical classification | OBSERVED |
| Marine heatwave days | days per year above the seasonal threshold | daily, summarised annually | Satellite sea surface temperature | OBSERVED |
| Ocean surface pH | pH units | monthly | Moorings, ship surveys and models | ESTIMATED |
| Marine protected area coverage | percent of national waters | monthly | World Database on Protected Areas | DECLARED |
| Apparent fishing effort | hours of fishing per grid cell | daily | Vessel tracking from automatic identification systems | ESTIMATED |
| Coastal eutrophication | chlorophyll-a anomaly index | monthly | Satellite ocean colour | MODELLED |
Coupled risk, applied response.
The sectors coastal storm surge touches and how strongly they depend on each other: what a study has to observe and model together.
Choose a context
Sectors · Coastal storm surgeStress
Pillars · Coastal storm surgeKPI
In this contextDependence or handoff, heavier is strongerOutside this context
Programme yearAll phases
Context
Coastal storm surge
Mangroves and dunes absorb the surge; where they are gone, ports, substations and water intakes take it.
W · E · I · F · H · B
Risk
- Sectors
- 5 of 6
- Relations
- 10 of 15
- Coupling
- 0.64 share of total
Hover a corner, a line or a row to trace it across both sides.
Route
Applied to coastal storm surge
L · F · U · S · R · A
Response
- Pillars
- 5 of 6
- Handoffs
- 12 of 18
- Loops
- 8 closed
Expected value
- What is at stake
- $390Ba year at least, in infrastructure disruption costs to households and firms in low- and middle-income countriesWorld Bank, Lifelines, 2019
- Return on resilience
- 4 : 1benefit to costWorld Bank, Lifelines, 2019
- Avoided loss
- $80Bflood losses avoided a yearGlobal Commission on Adaptation, Adapt Now, 2019
Hover a pillar, a line or a row to read how it is applied.
A: a teaching cascade (shock 0.6, gain 0.35, four rounds) over teaching values for a typical city-region, not measurements. B: illustrative applications and the KPI each pillar answers for; values are published benchmarks, cited, not forecasts. Open events: NASA EONET, live.
Where the evidence comes from.
Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.
| Source | What it gives | Licence class |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) | Marine species occurrence and abundance records | CC0, CC BY or CC BY-NC per dataset |
| FAO FishStat and the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture | Capture, aquaculture and stock status statistics | Free and open, attribution |
| RAM Legacy Stock Assessment Database | Compiled biomass and fishing mortality series from stock assessments | Free and open, attribution |
| Global Mangrove Watch | Mangrove extent and change from satellite radar and optical data | Free and open, attribution |
| Allen Coral Atlas | Shallow reef habitat maps and bleaching monitoring | Free and open, attribution |
| Global Fishing Watch | Apparent fishing effort and vessel presence from vessel tracking | Free for non-commercial use, attribution |
| Copernicus Marine Service | Ocean temperature, currents, biogeochemistry and ocean colour | Free and open, attribution |
| Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network | Compiled reef survey data on coral and fish condition | Terms per data contributor |
How coastal and marine biodiversity is modelled, measured and tested.
The model, its assumptions, its data and its uncertainty, in the form a scientist or engineer would check. Structures follow published methods. The values drawn are illustrative, not findings.
Earth observation chain
How a satellite or sensor record becomes evidence on coastal and marine biodiversity, and where each step adds uncertainty.
- 01 · Acquireorbit, sensor and revisitUncertainty: gaps from cloud and orbit
- 02 · Calibrateradiometric and geometricUncertainty: sensor drift
- 03 · Correctatmosphere and terrainUncertainty: aerosol and slope assumptions
- 04 · Retrieve or classifythe variable or the classUncertainty: model and training error
- 05 · Validateagainst ground truthUncertainty: sample design and size
- 06 · Publishwith error bars and lineageUncertainty: stated, never hidden
Who decides, and what the evidence serves.
Biodiversity Nexus prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Who decides | The question | Evidence this page serves |
|---|---|---|
| Fisheries ministries and regional fisheries management organisations | What catch limits, closures and gear rules keep stocks within sustainable levels | Stock status and trend with assessment uncertainty; fishing effort maps |
| Marine protected-area and coastal zone authorities | Where to protect, how to manage, and whether protection is effective | Habitat maps, coverage and connectivity, condition inside and outside protection |
| Coastal planners and port authorities | Whether development removes mangroves, marshes or seagrass that protect the coast | Habitat extent and change, shoreline protection function, sea-level scenarios |
| Insurers and development finance institutions | Where reef and mangrove loss raises coastal flood losses, and what protection is worth financing | Habitat condition linked to exposure and flood models, each with its label |
Outputs this topic produces
- Coastal habitat maps with change and confidence
- Stock status evidence notes with assessment coverage stated
- Marine heatwave and bleaching exposure layers
- Coastal integrity profiles linking habitats to shoreline protection
What experts ask.
Marine ecologists and fisheries scientists ask a recurring set of questions.
- What is the status of fish stocks, and how does fishing pressure compare with what they can sustain?
- How are warming, marine heatwaves and acidification affecting reefs and other habitat-forming species?
- How much shoreline protection do reefs, mangroves, seagrass and marshes provide, and how is it changing?
- Where do land-based pollution and coastal development degrade nearshore habitats?
- How are species distributions shifting, and what does that mean for fisheries and their management?
Pressure from the land, the fleet and the climate.
Marine ecosystems face three broad sets of pressure. Fishing removes biomass and can alter food webs when predators or grazers are depleted, and destructive gear damages seabed habitat. Coastal development and land-based runoff remove mangroves and marshes and deliver sediment and nutrients that smother reefs and seagrass. Climate change warms and acidifies the ocean, causing coral bleaching, shifting species towards the poles and deeper water, and changing the timing of productivity.
Habitat-forming species such as corals, mangroves, kelp and seagrass create the structure that many other species need, and they also dissipate wave energy and trap sediment. Their loss therefore reduces both biodiversity and coastal protection at once, raising erosion and flood exposure for the communities behind them.
How the evidence is built, and where it stops.
- 01
Stock assessment
Catch data, surveys and population models estimate stock status. Many stocks, particularly in small-scale fisheries, are data-poor.
- 02
Habitat mapping
Satellite, aerial and acoustic surveys map shallow habitats, through ocean and coastal science and Earth observation. Deeper and turbid waters are hard to observe.
- 03
Ocean observation
Buoys, floats and satellites track temperature, chlorophyll and heatwaves. Biological observation at sea remains sparse.
- 04
Coastal protection modelling
Models estimate wave reduction by habitats. Results are sensitive to habitat condition and storm characteristics.
How it is studied, and what the methods cannot say.
- 01Ocean and coastal scienceFish stock assessment · Marine heatwave and bleaching exposureApplied here
- 02Ecology and biodiversity scienceSpecies distribution modelling · Population trend and viability analysisApplied here
- 03Earth observation and remote sensingForest loss and disturbance alerts · Wetland and mangrove dynamicsApplied here
- 04Spatial statistics and geostatisticsBias-corrected distribution surfaces · Hotspots of change and threatApplied here
- 05Complex systems and agent-based modellingEarly warning of regime shifts · Food-web and co-extinction networksApplied here
- 06Geospatial information systemsOverlap with sensitive biodiversity · Connectivity and corridor analysisApplied here
Where this page’s references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
- Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2020 (Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, ICRI, 2021)
- Agreement under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ, adopted 2023)
- Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS, under UNESCO IOC)
Questions and answers.
Is a declared marine protected area the same as an effective one?
Why are many fish stocks unassessed?
Can coral reefs recover from bleaching?
Why connect fish stocks and coastal protection in one topic?
Can marine habitats recover?
Are small-scale fisheries covered?
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