Global Ecological Classification of Coastal Segment Units

Publication Date

2023-03-01

Time Period

2014

Sayre, R., 2023, Global Ecological Classification of Coastal Segment Units: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9HWHSPU.

Type: Related Primary Publication

There is a lack of standardized, high resolution, and globally comprehensive data describing the global distribution of coastal ecosystems (Burke et al., 2000; Estes et al., 2018). To address the problem of a general lack of globally comprehensive geospatial data on terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal and marine ecosystem distributions, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) commissioned the development of a high spatial resolution geospatial characterization of global ecosystems (Task T1 in the GEO Ecosystems 2020–2022 Implementation Plan: https://earthobservations.org/documents/gwp20_22/GEO-ECO.pdf). The work has resulted in several standardized global ecosystem data layers, including Ecological Land Units (ELUs; Sayre et al., 2014), World Terrestrial Ecosystems (WTEs; Sayre et al., 2020), true three-dimensional oceanic pelagic Ecological Marine Units (EMUs; Sayre et al., 2017), and now global coastal segment units (CSUs; Sayre et al., 2021). Specifically, the CSUs describe land- and water-side ecological settings using the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS; FGDC, 2012).

• USGS Data Release Products