Biogeographic assessments of NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries: the integration of ecology and GIS technology

The mission of NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) is to serve as the trustee for a system of marine protected areas, to conserve, protect, and enhance biodiversity. To assist in accomplishing this mission, the NMSP has developed a partnership with NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) to conduct biogeographic assessments of marine resources within and adjacent to the marine waters of all National Marine Sanctuaries over the next five years. NCCOS's Biogeography Program is leading the joint effort to define species distribution patterns and map associated habitats. Biogeography provides a framework to integrate species distributions and life history data with information on the habitats of the region to characterize marine resources in a sanctuary. The biogeographical data are integrated in a GIS to enable visualization of species' spatial and temporal patterns, and to predict changes in abundance that may result from a variety of natural and anthropogenic perturbations or management strategies. For example, the biogeographic assessment of three central/ northern California sanctuaries was used to delineate "hot spots" based on community metrics (e.g., biodiversity). In addition, accurate and highly resolved digital benthic habitat maps have been developed for Gray's Reef NMS to define species habitat utilization patterns to identify areas for special protection. Plans are to conduct assessments in all National Marine Sanctuaries over the next several years through utilization of the biogeographic process.