Key Biodiversity Areas

Wake Island Marine (30994)
United States Minor Outlying Islands (to USA), Oceania

Site overview


KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2012
National site name: Wake Island Marine
Central coordinates: Latitude: 19.2945, Longitude: 166.6311
System: marine
Area of KBA (km2): 28595.96595
Protected area coverage (%): 100.00
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes

Site details


Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Delineation rationale: The site boundary is based upon a seaward extension of 92.6 km around Wake Island to encompass the foraging range of IBA threshold numbers of waterbirds based upon a 2007 population estimate of 178,280 individuals from Rauzon, M. J., Boyle, D., Everett, W. T. and Gilardi, J. (2008) The Status of the Birds of Wake Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin 561 pp. 41, and to correspond with the boundary of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

Habitats


IUCN HabitatCoverage %Habitat detail
Marine Neritic100

Threats


Threat level 1Threat level 2Threat level 3Timing
PollutionIndustrial & military effluentsOil spillsOngoing
Climate change & severe weatherHabitat shifting & alterationOnly in the future