FEOWv1_TNC (FEOW version 1.1 slightly modified for The Nature Conservancy):

FEOW (Freshwater Ecoregions of the World) is the first-ever comprehensive map and database describing the worlds freshwater biodiversity. Covering all of the Earths 426 freshwater ecoregions, the FEOW map and associated species data are a powerful tool for freshwater conservation. A collaborative effort between WWF and The Nature Conservancy, the project brought together 200 leading freshwater scientists to create this extensive and easily searchable resource.

In its May 2008 issue, the scientific journal BioScience published an article that formally introduces FEOW to the conservation and scientific communities.  The article, authored by 28 experts from around the world, culminates 10 years of work mapping patterns of global freshwater biodiversity. 

For more information, visit www.feow.org.


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NOTE:  Proper citation of the FEOW must be provided for use in publications and presentations. 

Robin Abell, Michele L. Thieme, Carmen Revenga, Mark Bryer, Maurice Kottelat, Nina Bogutskaya, Brian Coad, Nick Mandrak, Salvador Contreras Balderas, William Bussing, Melanie L. J. Stiassny, Paul Skelton, Gerald R. Allen, Peter Unmack, Alexander Naseka, Rebecca Ng, Nikolai Sindorf, James Robertson, Eric Armijo, Jonathan V. Higgins, Thomas J. Heibel, Eric Wikramanayake, David Olson, Hugo L. Lpez, Roberto E. Reis, John G. Lundberg, Mark H. Sabaj Prez, and Paulo Petry. 2008. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Biogeographic Units for Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation. BioScience. Vol. 58 No. 5: 403-414.

Major Habitat Types have not been rigorously reviewed or published, but should be cited as: 

TNC and WWF, Inc. 2008. Freshwater Major Habitat Types. Unpublished digital media modified from: Abell et al. 2008. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Biogeographic Units for Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation. BioScience. Vol. 58 No. 5: 403-414.


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MODIFICATIONS:

The attributes table for FEOWv1 is slightly modified from the published version available on www.feow.org to include Major Habitat Types (MHTs).  Note that these MHTs have not undergone a comprehensive examination or rigorous review.  Also, FEOWv1 includes a field named "Old_ID", which may be helpful for joining attributes from draft versions of the FEOW including the work ending in May 2007 by TNC's Habitat Assessment Team for informing TNC's 2015 Goal setting processes.

Fields in the table are:

ECO_ID       : final ecoregion ID for public use
ECOREGION    : final ecoregion name (modified for simple characters and consistency)
MHT_TXT      : final major habitat type name
MHT_NO       : final major habitat type ID
Old_ID       : previous version of ecoregion ID (included for joining older tables)
ECO_ID_U     : final ecoregion ID for TNC use


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Please direct questions:

Carmen Revenga (Senior Freshwater Scientist, TNC): crevenga@tnc.org
  or
James Robertson (Conservation Geographer, TNC): jrobertson@tnc.org



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README DATED: 02 December 2008