Predicting the distribution of Mesophotic coral ecosystems in the Chagos Archipelago

To support conservation efforts, accurate mapping of marine organism community’ distribution has become more critical than ever before. While previous mapping endeavours have primarily focused on easily accessible shallow-water habitats, there remains limited knowledge about the ecosystems lying beyond SCUBA diving depths, such as mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs, ~30-150 m). MCEs are important habitats from an ecological and conservation perspective, yet little is known about the environmental factors that shape these ecosystems and their distribution, particularly in the Indian Ocean region. The goals of this study are to 1) predict the spatial distribution and extent of distinct benthic communities and MCEs in the Chagos Archipelago, central Indian Ocean, 2) test the effectiveness of a range of environmental and topography derived variables to predict the location of MCEs around Egmont Atoll and the Archipelago, and 3) independently validate the models produced. In addition, we comp..., , , # Data from: Predicting the distribution of Mesophotic coral ecosystems in the Chagos Archipelago ## Description of the data and file structure Dataset “Data_for_modelling” for the Maxent model used in the manuscript entitled “Predicting the distribution of Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems in the central Indian Ocean” ### Files and variables #### File: Data\_for\_modelling.xlsx **Description:** Data for modelling * each sheet is for a cluster ##### Variables Environmental parameters of each cluster identified with a Hierarchical clustering with a similarity profile (SIMPROF) permutational test (1-6) and a mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) cluster. Grid_code: presence (1), absence (0) POINT_X; POINT_Y: latitude and longitude in Good Homolosine Ocean Transect_names: transect code given: e.g. 23110: site 2, transect 3, depth zone 110-120m. Bathy: bathymetry in meters BBPI; FBPI: broad- fine-scale bathymetry position index Chla: chlorophyll a in milligram/m3 PAR: photosyntheticall...,