NCCOS Assessment: Benthic habitat maps of Saipan Lagoon, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (NCEI Accession 0162517)

The lagoon along the western shore of Saipan encompasses a diverse coral ecosystem that plays a leading role in attracting nearly half a million tourists annually for snorkeling, diving, parasailing, kayaking, and use of personal watercraft. Understanding the present spatial distribution of valuable lagoon habitats is needed to evaluate zoning scenarios, minimize user conflicts, ensure public safety, and prevent environmental degradation inside the Lagoon. The main objective of this project was to support these decisions by producing new, highly detailed maps of benthic habitats within the Lagoon. The performance and accuracy of these predictions and maps were evaluated by local experts and using an independent dataset. The performance of the predictions was considered "good to excellent" since they had little bias (mean = 2% ± 1% SE) and explained over a third of the variation in the data (mean percent deviance explained = 33.0% ± 4.8% SE). The overall thematic accuracy of the composite map was 86% with user's accuracy of individual habitat classes between 80% and 100% correct. These accuracies are similar to the other benthic habitat maps created by NOAA NCCOS in the Pacific Region. Consequently, these products can be used with confidence for a variety of research and management applications, including inform the process to update the Saipan Lagoon Use Management Plan (SLUMP). Products from this assessment may also support coastal and ocean management efforts by other territorial and federal agencies working in Saipan, CNMI. CNMI's Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality (BECQ) and NOAA's Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) partnered with NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) to develop updated habitat maps and assess habitat changes in Saipan Lagoon,CNMI. NCCOS developed these spatially resolved maps using environmental predictors, underwater videos/photos and mathematical modeling techniques. The new maps were designed to inform the Saipan Lagoon Use Management Plan (SLUMP), which is being updated in response to changes in lagoon habitats, user activities, and increases in tourism. Understanding the present spatial distribution of benthic habitats is an important part of the Territorial Government's process to evaluate zoning scenarios, minimize user conflicts, ensure public safety, and prevent environmental degradation inside the lagoon. Products from this assessment may also support coastal and ocean management efforts by other territorial and federal agencies working in Saipan. This work was funded by NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP Project #31100).

Submission Package ID: ML2HRK