Prediction of Potentially Suitable Distribution Areas and Conservation Status of Sponges
- 1School of Ocean Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
Abstract
Sponges are widely distributed across marine environments, serving as key architects of critical benthic habitats and playing vital roles in elemental cycling and energy flow within marine ecosystems. To identify the potentially suitable habitats of the four global sponge classes and their dominant environmental drivers, this study integrated occurrence records from the Ocean Biogeographic Information System(OBIS) and ten sets of benthic marine environmental datasets, and employed the Maximum Entropy(MaxEnt) model to predict the global spatial distribution of suitable sponge habitats. The results revealed that water depth acted as the primary factor governing sponge spatial distribution; furthermore, distinct differentiation in the environmental drivers was observed shaping suitable habitats across different sponge classes. Suitable habitats for sponges were highly concentrated in coastal and marginal seas worldwide. The areas of potentially suitable habitats for each class are as follows: Calcarea(39.7×106 km2), Demospongiae(14.8×106 km2), Hexactinellida(72.8×106 km2), and Homoscleromorpha(7.28×106 km2). Collectively, only 16.72% of the global potentially suitable sponge habitats overlapped with the Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas(EBSAs), indicating insufficient conservation coverage for prime sponge habitats. The findings of this research can provide quantitative baseline data to support the delineation of global sponge conservation zones and the sustainable exploitation of marine resources.
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BibTeX
@article{jinrui2026prediction,
title = {{Prediction of Potentially Suitable Distribution Areas and Conservation Status of Sponges}},
author = {WANG Jinrui and YANG Juan},
journal = {Haiyang Kaifa yu guanli},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.20016/j.cnki.hykfygl.2026.07.003},
url = {https://doi.org/10.20016/j.cnki.hykfygl.2026.07.003},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Prediction of Potentially Suitable Distribution Areas and Conservation Status of Sponges
AU - WANG Jinrui
AU - YANG Juan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Haiyang Kaifa yu guanli
DO - 10.20016/j.cnki.hykfygl.2026.07.003
UR - https://doi.org/10.20016/j.cnki.hykfygl.2026.07.003
AB - Sponges are widely distributed across marine environments, serving as key architects of critical benthic habitats and playing vital roles in elemental cycling and energy flow within marine ecosystems. To identify the potentially suitable habitats of the four global sponge classes and their dominant environmental drivers, this study integrated occurrence records from the Ocean Biogeographic Information System(OBIS) and ten sets of benthic marine environmental datasets, and employed the Maximum Entropy(MaxEnt) model to predict the global spatial distribution of suitable sponge habitats. The results revealed that water depth acted as the primary factor governing sponge spatial distribution; furthermore, distinct differentiation in the environmental drivers was observed shaping suitable habitats across different sponge classes. Suitable habitats for sponges were highly concentrated in coastal and marginal seas worldwide. The areas of potentially suitable habitats for each class are as follows: Calcarea(39.7×106 km2), Demospongiae(14.8×106 km2), Hexactinellida(72.8×106 km2), and Homoscleromorpha(7.28×106 km2). Collectively, only 16.72% of the global potentially suitable sponge habitats overlapped with the Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas(EBSAs), indicating insufficient conservation coverage for prime sponge habitats. The findings of this research can provide quantitative baseline data to support the delineation of global sponge conservation zones and the sustainable exploitation of marine resources.
SN - 1005-9857
ER -