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Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Modeled Habitat Suitability for Mesophotic Hard Corals in Au'au Channel, Hawai'i from 2004-09-09 to 2010-07-17 (NCEI Accession 0129788)

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Mesophotic hard corals (MHC) are increasingly threatened by a growing number of anthropogenic stressors, including impacts from fishing, land-based sources of pollution, and ocean acidification. However, little is known about their geographic distributions (particularly around the Pacific islands) because it is logistically challenging and expensive to gather data in the 30 to 150 meter depth range where these organisms typically live. The goal of this study was to begin to fill this knowledge gap by modelling and predicting the spatial distribution of three genera of mesophotic hard corals offshore of Maui in the Main Hawaiian Islands. Maximum Entropy modeling software was used to create separate maps of predicted probability of occurrence and uncertainty for: (1) Leptoseris, (2) Montipora, and (3) Porites. Genera prevalence was derived from the in situ presence/absence data, and used to convert relative habitat suitability to probability of occurrence values. Approximately 1,300 georeferenced records of the occurrence of MHC, and 34 environmental predictors were used to train the model ensembles. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Area Under the Curve (AUC) values were between 0.89 and 0.97, indicating excellent overall model performance. Mean uncertainty and mean absolute error for the spatial predictions ranged from 0.006% to 0.05% and 3.73% to 17.6%, respectively. Depth, distance from shore, euphotic depth (mean and standard deviation) and sea surface temperature (mean and standard deviation) were identified as the six most influential predictor variables for partitioning habitats among the three genera. MHC were concentrated between Hanaka‘ō‘ō and Papawai Points offshore of western Maui most likely because this area hosts warmer, clearer and calmer water conditions almost year round. While these predictions helped to fill some knowledge gaps offshore of Maui, many information gaps remain in the Hawaiian Archipelago and Pacific Islands. This approach may be used to identify other potentially suitable areas for MHCs, helping scientists and resource managers prioritize sites, and focus their limited resources on areas that may be of higher scientific or conservation value.
  • Cite as: Costa, Bryan; Kendall, Matthew S.; Parrish, Frank A.; Rooney, John; Boland, Raymond C.; Chow, Malia; Lecky, Joey; Montgomery, Anthony; Spalding, Heather (2015). Modeled Habitat Suitability for Mesophotic Hard Corals in Au'au Channel, Hawai'i from 2004-09-09 to 2010-07-17 (NCEI Accession 0129788). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0129788. Accessed [date].
gov.noaa.nodc:0129788
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Distributor NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
+1-301-713-3277
NCEI.Info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Time Period 2004-09-09 to 2010-07-17
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West: -157.094
East: -156.29
South: 20.548
North: 21.064
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2015-07-09
Data Presentation Form Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
Dataset Progress Status Complete - production of the data has been completed
Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility
Data Update Frequency As needed
Supplemental Information
Submission Package ID: KHU268
Purpose This dataset is available to the public for a wide variety of uses including scientific research and analysis.
Use Limitations
  • accessLevel: Public
  • Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives.
Dataset Citation
  • Cite as: Costa, Bryan; Kendall, Matthew S.; Parrish, Frank A.; Rooney, John; Boland, Raymond C.; Chow, Malia; Lecky, Joey; Montgomery, Anthony; Spalding, Heather (2015). Modeled Habitat Suitability for Mesophotic Hard Corals in Au'au Channel, Hawai'i from 2004-09-09 to 2010-07-17 (NCEI Accession 0129788). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0129788. Accessed [date].
Cited Authors
Resource Providers
Sponsors
Publishers
Acknowledgments
  • US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science; Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (NCCOS/CSCOR)
  • US DOC; NOAA; NOS; Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary
  • US DOC; NOAA; Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO)
Theme keywords NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS WMO_CategoryCode
  • oceanography
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords
Data Center keywords NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
Place keywords NODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
Project keywords NODC PROJECT NAMES THESAURUS
Keywords NCEI ACCESSION NUMBER
Use Constraints
  • Cite as: Costa, Bryan; Kendall, Matthew S.; Parrish, Frank A.; Rooney, John; Boland, Raymond C.; Chow, Malia; Lecky, Joey; Montgomery, Anthony; Spalding, Heather (2015). Modeled Habitat Suitability for Mesophotic Hard Corals in Au'au Channel, Hawai'i from 2004-09-09 to 2010-07-17 (NCEI Accession 0129788). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0129788. Accessed [date].
Access Constraints
  • Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
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Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • 2015-07-09T16:33:02Z - NCEI Accession 0129788 v1.1 was published.
Output Datasets
Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • Data Type: Modeled Habitat Suitability for Mesophotic Hard Corals (calculated); Units: unitless (0-1 scale, where 0 = low habitat suitability); Observation Type: model output; Sampling Instrument: Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt); Sampling and Analyzing Method: MaxEnt is a modeling technique that predicts the distribution of organisms using presence-only data. It makes these predictions by analyzing the distribution of environmental variables associated with the organisms’ presence to find other areas that meet all of these environmental constraints (without making any assumptions about what is not known).
Lineage information for: repository
Processing Steps
  • 2015-04-22T00:00:00 - NOAA created the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) by merging NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), and National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), including the National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC), per the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Public Law 113-235. NCEI launched publicly on April 22, 2015.
Last Modified: 2024-02-21T13:40:57Z
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