Open marine and coastal datasets

73 datasets from the Biohotspot source catalogue whose licence is plainly open. 26 of them are on the Biohotspot map and 67 can be downloaded directly from their source. Each page gives the publisher, licence, coverage, files and citation.

Open datasets: 73; plainly open licence
On the map: 26; ready to view in Biohotspot
Free download: 67; no sign-in needed

Habitat 41

CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
Global biodiversity patterns of marine forests of brown macroalgae (figshare supporting information incl. predictive spatial layers)
figshare
Kelp forestsMacroalgae
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology
Zenodo
Boulder and cobble shoresCoastal saltmarshes and reedbedsIntertidal forests and shrublands
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
Global erosion projections dataset (JRC LISCOAST, globalErosionProjections.zip)
European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC Open Data)
Sandy shores
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
Global database of Coastal Characteristics (GCC)
Zenodo
Sandy shoresClimate changeHuman population
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
Global Kelp Timeseries from NCEAS/KEEN Working Group
IMAS (University of Tasmania) TemperateReefBase / KEEN
Kelp forests
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group MT1.4 Boulder and cobble shores
Zenodo
Boulder and cobble shores
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
A fine-tuned global distribution dataset of marine forests
figshare
Marine forestsSeagrass meadows
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
A global dataset of seaweed net primary productivity
figshare
Kelp forestsMacroalgae
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
Bleaching database V1.0.xlsx
figshare
Coral reefs
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
Distribution and Drivers of Global Mangrove Forest Change 1996-2010
figshare
Mangrove forests
CC BY 4.0On the mapFree download
Modelled Global Distribution of the Kelp Biome
UNEP-WCMC Ocean Data Viewer (hosting); University of Auckland / Nord University authors
Kelp forests
ODbL 1.0Free download
A Global Lake/Reservoir Surface Extent Dataset (GLRSED)
Zenodo
Lakes
Open Data Commons Open Database LicenseFree download
A world dataset on geographic distributions of Solenidae (data package: Global geographic distributions of Solenidae)
Pensoft (Biodiversity Data Journal)
Shellfish reefs
CC BY 4.0Free download
Datasets and R code for Liu et al. A global meta-analysis on the drivers of salt marsh planting success and implications for ecosystem services
Zenodo
Coastal saltmarshes
CC BY 4.0Free download
Drivers of global mangrove loss and gain - data and code
figshare
Mangrove forests
CC BY 4.0Free download
GCL_FCS30: a global coastline dataset with 30-m resolution and a fine classification system from 2010 to 2020
Zenodo
Coastal wetlandsLand coverMangrove forests
CC BY 4.0Free download
Global Coastal Permeability database (CoPerm)
PANGAEA
Coastal permeabilityConcreted shoreCoral shore
CC BY 4.0Free download
Global coastal transect type classification associated to "Global distribution and dynamics of muddy coasts", Nat. Coms 2023
Zenodo
Muddy, sandy, rocky, etc
CC BY 4.0Free download
Global database of Coastal Characteristics (GCC) [contains saltmarsh/mangrove presence derived from van Zelst et al. 2021]
Coastal saltmarshes
CC BY 4.0Free download
Global database of key seagrass structure, biomass and production variables
PANGAEA
Seagrass meadows
CC BY 4.0Free download
Global distribution of nearshore slopes (Version 1)
4TU.ResearchData (4TU.Centre for Research Data)
Nearshore slopes
CC-BYFree download
Global Distribution of Tidal Flat Ecosystems (Murray et al. 2019)
UNEP-WCMC
Tidal flats
CC0 1.0Free download
Global mangrove forests (HGMF_2020)
Harvard Dataverse
Mangrove forests
CC0 1.0Free download
Global mangrove soil carbon: dataset and spatial maps
Harvard Dataverse
Mangrove forests
CC BY 4.0Free download
Global tidal marshes 2020 dataset
Zenodo
Tidal marsh
CC BY 4.0Free download
HydroATLAS version 1 (BasinATLAS / RiverATLAS / LakeATLAS)
WWF / McGill University (HydroSHEDS), hosted on Figshare
River networks
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group FM1.2 Permanently open riverine estuaries and bays
Zenodo
Permanently open riverine estuaries and bays
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group M1.3 Photic coral reefs
Zenodo
Photic coral reefs
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group M1.4 Shellfish beds and reefs
Zenodo
Shellfish beds and reefs
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group M1.5 Photo-limited marine animal forests
Zenodo
Photo-limited marine animal forests
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group MT1.1 Rocky Shorelines (IUCN GET) — via combined archive
Zenodo
Rocky shorelines
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group MT1.2 Muddy Shorelines
Zenodo
Muddy shorelines
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map M1.1 Seagrass meadows)
Zenodo
Seagrass meadows
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map M1.6 Subtidal rocky reefs)
Zenodo
Subtidal rocky reefs
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map M1.7 Subtidal sand beds)
Zenodo
Subtidal sand beds
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map M1.8 Subtidal mud plains)
Zenodo
Subtidal mud plains
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map MT1.3 Sandy shorelines)
Zenodo
Sandy shores
CC BY 4.0Free download
Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (MFT1.1 Coastal river deltas)
Zenodo
Coastal river deltas
CC BY 4.0Free download
Literature and data for "Global gradients in intertidal species richness and functional groups"
Zenodo
Rocky intertidal habitat
CC0 1.0Free download
Mangrove Species at the Global Level
Harvard Dataverse
Mangrove forests
CC BY 4.0API
Murray Global Intertidal Change Classification (Earth Engine UQ/murray/Intertidal/v1_1/global_intertidal)
Murray/UQ/Google/USGS/NASA
Tidal flats

Biodiversity 11

Driver/Pressure 17

Unclassified 4

The full catalogue, including sources with limited-use licences, is on Map data. A source has a page here when its licence text names an open licence for the data itself, it has a title and a source page, and its check was not left unresolved.

Open marine and coastal datasets

Habitat 41

Global biodiversity patterns of marine forests of brown macroalgae (figshare supporting information incl. predictive spatial layers)

Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology

Global erosion projections dataset (JRC LISCOAST, globalErosionProjections.zip)

Global database of Coastal Characteristics (GCC)

Global Kelp Timeseries from NCEAS/KEEN Working Group

Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group MT1.4 Boulder and cobble shores

A fine-tuned global distribution dataset of marine forests

A global dataset of seaweed net primary productivity

Bleaching database V1.0.xlsx

Distribution and Drivers of Global Mangrove Forest Change 1996-2010

Modelled Global Distribution of the Kelp Biome

A Global Lake/Reservoir Surface Extent Dataset (GLRSED)

A world dataset on geographic distributions of Solenidae (data package: Global geographic distributions of Solenidae)

Datasets and R code for Liu et al. A global meta-analysis on the drivers of salt marsh planting success and implications for ecosystem services

Drivers of global mangrove loss and gain - data and code

GCL_FCS30: a global coastline dataset with 30-m resolution and a fine classification system from 2010 to 2020

Global Coastal Permeability database (CoPerm)

Global coastal transect type classification associated to "Global distribution and dynamics of muddy coasts", Nat. Coms 2023

Global database of Coastal Characteristics (GCC) [contains saltmarsh/mangrove presence derived from van Zelst et al. 2021]

Global database of key seagrass structure, biomass and production variables

Global distribution of nearshore slopes (Version 1)

Global Distribution of Tidal Flat Ecosystems (Murray et al. 2019)

Global mangrove forests (HGMF_2020)

Global mangrove soil carbon: dataset and spatial maps

Global tidal marshes 2020 dataset

HydroATLAS version 1 (BasinATLAS / RiverATLAS / LakeATLAS)

Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group FM1.2 Permanently open riverine estuaries and bays

Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group M1.3 Photic coral reefs

Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group M1.4 Shellfish beds and reefs

Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group M1.5 Photo-limited marine animal forests

Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group MT1.1 Rocky Shorelines (IUCN GET) — via combined archive

Indicative distribution map for Ecosystem Functional Group MT1.2 Muddy Shorelines

Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map M1.1 Seagrass meadows)

Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map M1.6 Subtidal rocky reefs)

Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map M1.7 Subtidal sand beds)

Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map M1.8 Subtidal mud plains)

Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (map MT1.3 Sandy shorelines)

Indicative distribution maps for Ecosystem Functional Groups - Level 3 of IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (MFT1.1 Coastal river deltas)

Literature and data for "Global gradients in intertidal species richness and functional groups"

Mangrove Species at the Global Level

Murray Global Intertidal Change Classification (Earth Engine UQ/murray/Intertidal/v1_1/global_intertidal)

Biodiversity 11

Data and scripts associated with: Benthic composition changes on coral reefs at global scales

PHYTOBASE: A global synthesis of open ocean phytoplankton occurrences

Reef Life Survey: Global reef fish dataset

Coastgons: regional coastal characteristics along a global hexagonal coastline grid

Data from 'Planktivores as trophic drivers of global coral reef fish diversity patterns'

Data from: A global perspective on the trophic geography of sharks

Data from: Projected loss of brown macroalgae and seagrasses with global environmental change

Environmental drivers and distribution of cold-water corals in the global ocean - Habitat Suitability Models

Global distributions of diatoms abundance, biovolume and biomass - Gridded data product (NetCDF) - Contribution to the MAREDAT World Ocean Atlas of Plankton Functional Types

Global distributions of epipelagic macrozooplankton abundance and biomass - Gridded data product (NetCDF) - Contribution to the MAREDAT World Ocean Atlas of Plankton Functional Types

Ocean iron fertilisation may amplify climate change pressures on marine animal biomass for limited climate benefit (model output)

Driver/Pressure 17

Cumulative human impacts: raw stressor data (2008 and 2013)

HadISST1 – Met Office Hadley Centre Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature data set

Supplementary data for: Plastic Pollution in the World's Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea

Global pesticide pollution risk data sets

Global segmentation of the coastal plain and the coastline (current DIVA dataset; successor, not the 2008 database)

WorldPop Constrained Individual Countries 2020 UN-adjusted population counts, 100 m (Bondarenko et al. 2020)

Cumulative human impacts: pressure and cumulative impacts data (2013, all pressures)

Supplementary Data for Dong et al. "Wastewater-influenced estuaries are characterized by disproportionately high nitrous oxide emissions but overestimated IPCC emission factor"

Cumulative human impacts: change in pressures and cumulative impact (2008 to 2013)

Data from Souza et al. - Shipping traffic, salinity and temperature shape non-native fish richness in estuaries worldwide

Data from: Modelling Future Coastal Water Pollution: impacts of point sources, socio-economic developments & multiple pollutants

Dataset of global extent of marine infrastructure as of 2018

ESA Sea Level CCI – Global sea level ECV (merged SLA grids) v2.0

Global Marine Plastic Mass Budget

Global sea level change time series from 1950 to 2050 derived from reanalysis and high resolution CMIP6 climate projections

Submarine groundwater discharge metal contamination to the coastal ocean risk model

Supplementary Data Tables for 'The Global Drivers of Chronic Coastal Flood Hazards under Sea-Level Rise'

Unclassified 4

NOAA Coral Reef Watch, daily global 5 km satellite Degree Heating Week (v3.1), annual maxima 1985–2025

Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD) 2024 – Marine

Global mangrove soil carbon, 0–100 cm (100 m mosaic)

Global soil organic carbon in tidal marshes, version 2 (0–30 and 30–100 cm)