Abstract
Many countries have classification standards for their environmental resources including criteria for classifying coastal and marine ecosystems. Until 2012, the United States just had a nationwide protocol for classifying terrestrial and aquatic habitats with no national standard for marine and most coastal habitats. In 2012 the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) was implemented to address this need. In the past, coastal and marine classifications were developed at the regional or local level. Since its inception, the CMECS has not been applied in many geographic areas. My study was one of the first to apply the CMECS to the benthic habitats in the nearshore Northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Sidescan sonar mapping and dive surveys were completed at 33 sites at depths 10–23 m. Hardbottom and sand habitats characterized the study area, and the underwater surveys revealed hard corals, sponges, and macroalgae as the dominant taxa on the hardbottom. The CMECS was applied to the overall study area rather than each individual site or groups of similar sites because habitat and environmental characteristics, primarily outside the context of the CMECS, appeared to influence the distribution of taxa across sites more than the CMECS geoform, substrate, and water column components. The CMECS worked well for classifying the entire study area, but was not adequate for classifying the complex fine-scale habitats and temporal variations observed; modifications to the CMECS could help resolve these issues.
Highlights
Climate change, overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution, including oil spills, are affecting marine resources
In order to understand how humans are impacting marine ecosystems and what management strategies should be put in place, it is important to know the composition of the ecosystem and where habitats exist
All of the water column layers that exist in the study area are listed in Table 3, but only the lower water column was included in the overall classification (Table 2) as this was the layer with direct interaction with the benthic communities
Summary
Climate change, overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution, including oil spills, are affecting marine resources. The potentially adverse effects of these human activities on marine organisms and their habitats are critical issues that need to be addressed. It is important that we conserve and manage our marine resources appropriately. In order to understand how humans are impacting marine ecosystems and what management strategies should be put in place, it is important to know the composition of the ecosystem and where habitats exist. The acquisition of detailed habitat classification maps should be the foundation for any environmental or ecological research program or management scheme. The significant geologic, biologic, and environmental components of habitats in the region of interest should be identified and measured
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
