The purpose of the surveys was to groundtruth mapping data collected in 2011, and to characterize the seafloor biota, particularly corals and sponges, in order to support Essential Fish Habitat designations under Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) and other conservation and management goals under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act ( NMSA). ROV transects of uniform speed and distance (120 meters) were conducted over substrate classes predicted by ruggedness (Sappington et al . 2007) and backscatter intensity from the multibeam echosounder mapping data (Cochrane 2008). The three classes were low/soft, low/hard, and high/hard. The classes are reported here as sediment, mixed, and hard. Transects allowed quantification of organism abundance and density from oblique and down-looking video and still cameras mounted on the ROV. Sessile invertebrates 10 cm or larger were counted.
DATA/REPORT DETAILS
Characterization of deep coral and sponge communities in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary: Rittenburg Bank, Cochrane Bank and the Farallon Escarpment
- Published on:
- Science Area(s): Climate Impacts on Ecosystems, Coastal Change, Habitat Mapping, Marine Spatial Ecology, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment
- Region(s) of Study: California, Pacific Ocean, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies
- Primary Contact(s): peter.etnoyer@noaa.gov
Citation:
Etnoyer, P.J., G. Cochrane, E. Salgado, K. Graiff, J. Roletto, G. Williams, K. Reyna, and J. Hyland
Etnoyer, P.J., G. Cochrane, E. Salgado, K. Graiff, J. Roletto, G. Williams, K. Reyna, and J. Hyland
Data/Report Type:
NOAA Technical Memorandum
NOAA Technical Memorandum
Description
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