Spatial prediction of demersal fish distributions: Enhancing our understanding of species-environment relationships

We used species distribution modelling to identify key environmental variables influencing the spatial distribution of demersal fish and to assess the potential of these species–environment relationships to predict fish distributions accurately. In the past, predictive modelling of fish distribution...

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Main Authors: Moore, Cordelia, Harvey, Euan, Van Niel, K.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Oxford University Press 2009 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/66/9/2068.full.pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21924
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author Moore, Cordelia
Harvey, Euan
Van Niel, K.
author_facet Moore, Cordelia
Harvey, Euan
Van Niel, K.
author_sort Moore, Cordelia
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description We used species distribution modelling to identify key environmental variables influencing the spatial distribution of demersal fish and to assess the potential of these species–environment relationships to predict fish distributions accurately. In the past, predictive modelling of fish distributions has been limited, because detailed habitat maps of deeper water (.10 m) have not been available. However, recent advances in mapping deeper marine environments using hydroacoustic surveys have redressed this limitation. At Cape Howe Marine National Park in southeastern Australia, previously modelled benthic habitats based on hydroacoustic and towed video data were used to investigate the spatial ecology of demersal fish. To establish the influence of environmental variables on the distributions of this important group of marine fish, classification trees (CTs) and generalized additive models (GAMs) were developed for fourdemersal fish species. Contrasting advantages were observed between the two approaches. CTs provided greater explained variation for three of the four species and revealed a better ability to model species distributions with complex environmental interactions. However, the predictive accuracy of the GAMs was greater for three of the four species. Both these modelling techniques provided a detailed understanding of demersal fish distributions and landscape linkages and an accurate method for predicting species distributions across unsampled locations where continuous spatial benthic data are available. Information of this nature will permit more targeted fisheries management and more-effective planning and monitoring of marine protected areas.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2009
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-219242017-01-30T12:28:14Z Spatial prediction of demersal fish distributions: Enhancing our understanding of species-environment relationships Moore, Cordelia Harvey, Euan Van Niel, K. classification trees spatial ecology species distribution models generalized additive models We used species distribution modelling to identify key environmental variables influencing the spatial distribution of demersal fish and to assess the potential of these species–environment relationships to predict fish distributions accurately. In the past, predictive modelling of fish distributions has been limited, because detailed habitat maps of deeper water (.10 m) have not been available. However, recent advances in mapping deeper marine environments using hydroacoustic surveys have redressed this limitation. At Cape Howe Marine National Park in southeastern Australia, previously modelled benthic habitats based on hydroacoustic and towed video data were used to investigate the spatial ecology of demersal fish. To establish the influence of environmental variables on the distributions of this important group of marine fish, classification trees (CTs) and generalized additive models (GAMs) were developed for fourdemersal fish species. Contrasting advantages were observed between the two approaches. CTs provided greater explained variation for three of the four species and revealed a better ability to model species distributions with complex environmental interactions. However, the predictive accuracy of the GAMs was greater for three of the four species. Both these modelling techniques provided a detailed understanding of demersal fish distributions and landscape linkages and an accurate method for predicting species distributions across unsampled locations where continuous spatial benthic data are available. Information of this nature will permit more targeted fisheries management and more-effective planning and monitoring of marine protected areas. 2009 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21924 http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/66/9/2068.full.pdf Oxford University Press 2009 restricted
spellingShingle classification trees
spatial ecology
species distribution models
generalized additive models
Moore, Cordelia
Harvey, Euan
Van Niel, K.
Spatial prediction of demersal fish distributions: Enhancing our understanding of species-environment relationships
title Spatial prediction of demersal fish distributions: Enhancing our understanding of species-environment relationships
title_full Spatial prediction of demersal fish distributions: Enhancing our understanding of species-environment relationships
title_fullStr Spatial prediction of demersal fish distributions: Enhancing our understanding of species-environment relationships
title_full_unstemmed Spatial prediction of demersal fish distributions: Enhancing our understanding of species-environment relationships
title_short Spatial prediction of demersal fish distributions: Enhancing our understanding of species-environment relationships
title_sort spatial prediction of demersal fish distributions: enhancing our understanding of species-environment relationships
topic classification trees
spatial ecology
species distribution models
generalized additive models
url http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/66/9/2068.full.pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21924