The Northern Brazilian shelf is dominated by the interface between the world´s largest river and the Atlantic Ocean, which results in a hypossaline/nutrient-rich offshore plume that reaches up to 2.10⁶ km² across the North Atlantic. The Amazonian-Orinoco Influence Zone is considered an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area by the United Nation’s Convention of Biological Diversity, encompassing structurally complex and biologically productive ecosystems with high biodiversity. In the last decades, the growing industrialization, together with the exploitation of coastal and marine resources, intensified across the region while management of natural resources’ exploitation remained weak. Ecological knowledge is steadily accumulating, but the fragmented database challenges the development of a comprehensive environmental management agenda. Here, based on an extensive compilation of primary and secondary data, we assessed the spatial extent of the economic activities that impact biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the region (e.g., fisheries, oil and gas development, mining). The representation of biological diversity in the developing network of Coastal and Marine Protected Areas (CMPAs) was also assessed based on the distribution of benthic habitats, river plume dynamics, and the distribution of endangered, protected and commercially important species. Besides outlining the escalating conflicts and policies that hinder the sustainable use of the Amazon shelf off Brazil, our results provide an initial framework for marine spatial planning.

巴西北部的陆架以世界上最大的河流和大西洋之间的交汇处为主导，这导致了下碱土/营养丰富的近海羽状流达到2.10 ⁶ km ²横跨北大西洋。《联合国生物多样性公约》将亚马逊河-奥里诺科河影响区视为具有生态和生物意义的区域，其中包括具有高生物多样性的结构复杂和具有生物生产能力的生态系统。在过去的几十年中，整个地区日益发展的工业化以及对沿海和海洋资源的开采，而对自然资源开采的管理仍然很薄弱。生态知识正在稳步积累，但零散的数据库对全面环境管理议程的发展提出了挑战。在此，根据对主要和次要数据的广泛汇编，我们评估了影响该地区生物多样性和生态系统功能的经济活动的空间范围（例如，渔业，石油和天然气开发，采矿）。还根据底栖生境的分布，河羽动态以及濒危，受保护和具有商业重要性的物种的分布情况，评估了发展中的沿海和海洋保护区网络中生物多样性的代表性。除了概述不断升级的冲突和政策，这些冲突和政策阻碍了巴西沿海亚马逊地区的可持续利用，我们的结果还为海洋空间规划提供了初步框架。