Ecological Characterization of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Region

Biogeographic assessments enable scientists and resource managers to evaluate biodiversity across multiple spatial and temporal scales. This scalar understanding empowers administrators to make informed decisions in support of science-based ecosystem management. The Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s Biogeography Team, in collaboration with the National Marine Sanctuary Program, conducted an ecological characterization of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) and the surrounding marine region. The purpose of this project was to enhance the understanding of key ecological patterns and processes in the Gulf of Maine to assist the SBNMS management plan review process.

To identify these patterns and processes, an interdisciplinary team of scientists collected, integrated, and analyzed a wide range of in situ and remotely sensed physical, chemical, and biological oceanography data in ArcGIS. Statistical and spatial analytical techniques were used to describe spatiotemporal patterns in the distribution of contaminants, pelagic invertebrates, fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Predictive models offered promising opportunities to extrapolate discrete regional information to broad biogeographic scales where spatial gaps in the data exist.

Courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.