Abstract
 Mapping Fish Diversity and Abundance Across Shallow Water Marine Landscapes Track: Ocean, Coastal, and Marine Resources Author(s): Ken Buja, Simon Pittman Identifying, prioritizing and delineating marine protected areas (MPAs) are important marine resource management activities that often involve determination of habitats and species that are "representative" or "distinctive" (i.e., diversity hot spots and cold spots). To support such initiatives, ecologists from NOAA's Biogeography Team at the Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment are increasingly called upon to provide accurate, quantitative and spatially explicit information on habitats and species diversity and abundance at relevant spatial scales. Here we present examples of our recent predictive modeling work. We used classical multiple linear regression, regression trees and artificial neural networks to develop fish habitat models that link our fish survey data to benthic structure in the surrounding landscape at multiple spatial scales. We then use GIS to apply the models to mapped sites around Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands by producing predictive maps at spatial scales suitable for resource management applications in the U.S. Caribbean. Ken Buja NOAA 1305 East West Highway Silver Spring , MD 20910-3281 US Phone: 301-713-3028 E-mail: Ken.Buja@noaa.gov Simon Pittman NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA/Biogeography Team 1305 East West Highway, N/SCI1 Rm. 9258 Silver Spring , MD 20910 US Phone: 301-713-3028 E-mail: simon.pittman@noaa.gov |
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