NOAA NCCOS Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities: Mapping, Ground-truthing, and Predictive Habitat Modeling: Priority areas suggested for restoration and protection of mesophotic and deep benthic communities injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, 2021-10-12 to 2021-11-05

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) developed a spatial framework, process, and online application (Buja and Christensen 2019) to identify information needs in the northern Gulf of Mexico to restore mesophotic and deep benthic communities (MDBC) affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Sixty-four participants from local federal, state, academic, and other institutions entered their priorities in an online participatory Geographic Information System (pGIS) using virtual coins to denote their priorities in 25 x 25 kilometer (km) grid cells overlaid on the study area. Grid cells with more coins were higher priorities than cells with fewer coins. Participants also reported why these locations were important and what data types were needed using a pre-set list of options. Results were compiled, summarized, and mapped to identify high priority areas, reasons for those priorities, and information needs. The largest concentrations of high priority cells were located in two groups, one in the vicinity of the Deepwater Horizon/Macondo wellhead site, and another along the topography associated with the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). Isolated or smaller groups of high priority cells occurred elsewhere in the study region and included South Texas Banks, parts of the Mississippi, DeSoto, and Green Canyons, the northern edges of the Sigsbee and West Florida Escarpments, and also Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps on the West Florida Shelf. Participants consistently selected (1) Protection or management, (2) Exploration to identify new MDBC areas and (3) Selection of monitoring sites as their top reasons (i.e., justifications) for prioritizing locations. They also selected the following three items as their top data or requirement needs (1) Identification of species of corals and their local environments, (2) Delineations of large topographic features, and (3) Documentation of individual corals. This ESRI shapefile summarizes the results from the study. Identifying these high priority areas is among the first steps in planning the 5-year Implementation Phase of the MDBC portfolio. Specific locations for implementing project activities will be identified based on this analysis as well as additional information such as the size and depth of seafloor features, presently available data as determined through gap analysis, requirements for new data acquisitions including model resolution and accuracy, as well as available ship time and survey equipment.美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA）下属的国家海岸海洋科学中心（National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, NCCOS）开发了一套空间框架、流程及在线应用程序（Buja与Christensen, 2019），用于确定墨西哥湾北部受“深水地平线”（Deepwater Horizon）漏油事件影响的中光层与深海底栖生物群落（mesophotic and deep benthic communities, MDBC）修复所需的信息需求。 64名来自地方联邦、州级、学术及其他机构的参与者，通过在线参与式地理信息系统（participatory Geographic Information System, pGIS），以虚拟代币标记其在覆盖研究区域的25×25平方千米网格单元中的优先级。虚拟代币更多的网格单元优先级高于代币较少的单元。参与者还需通过预设选项列表，说明这些区域的重要性成因及所需的数据类型。研究对结果进行了汇总、总结并制图，以识别高优先级区域、优先级成因及信息需求。高优先级网格单元主要集中在两个集群：一处位于“深水地平线”/马孔多（Macondo）井喷点附近，另一处则沿与花丘国家海洋保护区（Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, FGBNMS）相关的地形分布。研究区域内其他区域也存在孤立或规模较小的高优先级网格单元集群，包括南德克萨斯海丘、密西西比峡谷、德索托峡谷及格林峡谷的部分区域、西格比海沟与西佛罗里达海崖的北部边缘，以及西佛罗里达陆架上的麦迪逊-斯旺森海丘与蒸汽船海丘。参与者将（1）保护或管理、（2）勘探以识别新的MDBC区域、（3）监测点位遴选列为确定选址优先级的三大核心理由。 他们还将以下三项列为最优先的数据或需求类别：（1）珊瑚物种及其本地生境的识别、（2）大型地形特征的测绘、（3）单个珊瑚的记录。本ESRI形状文件汇总了本研究的全部成果。确定上述高优先级区域，是MDBC项目组合5年实施阶段规划的首要步骤之一。项目活动的具体实施点位，将基于本次分析结果，结合海底特征的规模与水深、通过缺口分析确定的现有可用数据、包括模型分辨率与精度在内的新数据采集需求，以及可用船时与勘测设备等额外信息予以确定。