Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/2440/67121
Citations | ||
Scopus | Web of Science® | Altmetric |
---|---|---|
?
|
?
|
Type: | Journal article |
Title: | A novel method for mapping reefs and subtidal rocky habitats using artificial neural networks |
Author: | Watts, M. Li, Y. Russell, B. Mellin, C. Connell, S. Fordham, D. |
Citation: | Ecological Modelling, 2011; 222(15):2606-2614 |
Publisher: | Elsevier Science BV |
Issue Date: | 2011 |
ISSN: | 0304-3800 1872-7026 |
Statement of Responsibility: | Michael J. Watts, Yuxiao Li, Bayden D. Russell, Camille Mellin, Sean D. Connell, Damien A. Fordham |
Abstract: | Reefs and subtidal rocky habitats are sites of high biodiversity and productivity which harbour commercially important species of fish and invertebrates. Although the conservation management of reef associated species has been informed using species distribution models (SDM) and community based approaches, to date their use has been constrained to specific regions where the locality and spatial extent of reefs is well known. Much of the world's subtidal habitats remain either undiscovered or unmapped, including coasts of intense human use. Consequently, to facilitate a stronger understanding of species-environmental relationships there is an urgent need for a cost and time effective standard method to map reefs at fine spatial resolutions across broad geographical extents. We used bathymetric data (∼250. m resolution) to calculate the local slope and curvature of the seabed. We then constructed artificial neural networks (ANNs) to forecast the probability of reef occurrence within grid cells as a function of bathymetric and slope variables. Testing over an independent data set not used in training showed that ANNs were able to accurately predict the location of reefs for 86% of all grid cells (Kappa = 0.63) without over fitting. The ANN with greatest support, combining bathymetric values of the target grid cell with the slope of adjacent grid cells, was used to map inshore reef locations around the Southern Australian coastline (∼250. m resolution). Broadly, our results show that reefs are identifiable from coarse-scale bathymetry data of the seabed. We anticipate that our research technique will strengthen systematic conservation planning tools in many regions of the world, by enabling the identification of rocky substratum and mapping in localities that remain poorly surveyed due to logistics or monetary constraints. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. |
Keywords: | Subtidal rocky habitat Reefs Artificial neural networks Bathymetry |
Rights: | Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.04.024 |
Grant ID: | ARC |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.04.024 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest 5 Earth and Environmental Sciences publications Environment Institute Leaders publications Environment Institute publications |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
hdl_67121.pdf | Accepted version | 643.83 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.