SBAs Coral Spong 2016

These polygons define Significant Benthic Areas as regional habitat that contains sponges (Porifera), large and small gorgonians (Alcyonacea, formerly classed as Gorgonacea) and/or sea pens (Pennatulacea) as a dominant and defining feature. These habitats are structurally complex, characterized by higher diversities and/or different benthic communities, and provide a platform for ecosystem functions/processes closely linked to these characteristics. The enclosure of the significant benthic areas was accomplished by kernel density estimation (KDE), Species Distribution Modelling (SDM) using Random Forest (RF) and observations of these taxa. The study area for this analysis is the entirety of Atlantic Canada and portions of the Eastern Arctic, which corresponds to five major Canadian biogeographic units: the Scotian Shelf, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves, and portions of the Eastern Arctic and Hudson Bay Complex (DFO 2009). The species distribution models (SDMs) were performed using DFO Marine Protected Area (MPA) planning regions which are similar but not identical to the DFO Regions. Full details of the approaches employed, are provided in the following CSAS document: Delineation of Coral and Sponge Significant Benthic Areas in Eastern Canada Using Kernel Density Analyses and Species Distribution Models (2016) A summary of the Significant Benthic Areas of cold-water corals and sponges identified in eastern Canada: Maritimes Region (For more details, please refer to page 98 of the report above): Sponges: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Sea pens: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses and RF predicted presence prevalence. Large gorgonian corals: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses and RF predicted presence prevalence. Small gorgonian corals: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from RF predicted presence prevalence. Gulf of St. Lawrence (For more details, please refer to page 105 of the report above) Sponges: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Sea pens: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves (For more details, please refer to page 111 of the report above) Sponges: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Sea pens: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses and RF predicted presence prevalence. Large gorgonian corals: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Small gorgonian corals: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Hudson Strait Complex (For more details, please refer to page 119 of the report above) Sponges: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Eastern Arctic (For more details, please refer to page 120 of the report above). Sponges: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Sea pens: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Large gorgonian corals: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses and RF predicted presence prevalence. Small gorgonian corals: Significant Benthic Areas as determined from KDE analyses. Description Significant Benthic Areas are defined in DFO's Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (ERAF) as “significant areas of cold-water corals and sponge dominated communities”, where significance is determined “through guidance provided by DFO-lead processes based on current knowledge of such species, communities and ecosystems”. Here we provide maps of the location of significant concentrations of corals and sponges on the east coast of Canada produced through quantitative analyses of research vessel trawl survey data, supplemented with other data sources where available. We have conducted those analyses following a bio-regionalization approach to facilitate modeling of similar species, given that many of the multispecies surveys do not record coral and sponge catch at species level resolution. The taxa analyzed are sponges (Porifera), large and small gorgonian corals (Alcyonacea), and sea pens (Pennatulacea). We applied kernel density estimation (KDE) to create a modelled biomass surface for each of those taxa and applied an aerial expansion method to identify significant concentrations, following an approach first applied in 2010 to this region. We compared our results to those obtained previously. KDE uses only geo-referenced biomass data to identify “hot spots”. The borders of the areas so identified can be refined using knowledge of null catches and species distribution models that predict species presence-absence and/or biomass, both incorporating environmental data. We present such predictive models produced using a random forest machine-learning technique, and in one region compare the biomass random forest models for sea pens to those produced by generalized additive models (GAMs). Together, these distribution maps can be used to identify significant concentrations of corals and sponges in eastern Canada; an essential first step in the identification of Sensitive Benthic Areas. Original Data was downloaded from here. Other ArcGIS Online version is available here.