Developing Alternatives for Optimal Representation of Seafloor Habitats and Associated Communities in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781496009586)

Recent studies on the continental shelf of the northeastern United States suggest that substrate and water mass characteristics are highly correlated with the composition of benthic communities and may therefore, serve as proxies for the distribution of biological biodiversity. A detailed geo-referenced interpretative map of major sediment types within Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) has recently been developed, and computer-aided decision support tools have reached new levels of sophistication. We demonstrate the use of simulated annealing, a type of mathematical optimization, to identify suites of potential conservation sites within SBNMS that equally represent 1) all major sediment types and 2) derived habitat types based on both sediment and depth in the smallest amount of space.

Author: Peter J. Auster, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis, Rosamonde R. Cook
ISBN-10: 1496009584
ISBN-13: 9781496009586
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 02/28/2006
Pages: 34
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.23lbs
Size: 11.00h x 8.50w x 0.07d