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Center for Habitat Studies |
What it is...
The Center for Habitat Studies (Habitat Center) was established as a geophysical
institute of MLML in 1994 to focus on the research of characterizing marine
benthic habitats and marine and coastal geohazards. Since that time, it has
grown into a geological and biological research facility that now leads in the
field of deep-water marine benthic habitat mapping.
What it does…
The main purposes of the Center are two-fold: 1) to characterize marine deep-water
habitats for the purpose of managing commercially important fish stocks and
sustaining demersal fisheries, and 2) characterizing seafloor morphology and
geology. Scientists at the Center have a broad experience in mapping the seafloor
using a variety of marine geophysical tools and in the collection and analysis
of data necessary for habitat studies of fishes and invertebrates.
The Center for Habitat Studies has recently expanded its capabilities to facilitate
the determination of habitat associations for commercially important marine
fishes. As mandated by the 1996 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, “Essential Fish Habitat (EFH)” must be identified for commercially
targeted fish species in order to designate Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for
effective management. The Center for Habitat Studies is uniquely qualified to
undertake EFH studes due to an extensive history of work in the field of fisheries-related
habitat mapping. Under the direction of Dr. H. Gary Greene, the Center for Habitat
Studies at MLML has produced habitat maps and GIS products for a wide variety
of state and federal fisheries management and geologic agencies (e.g., Alaska
Department of Fish and Game, California Department of Fish and Game, California
Geological Survey, and several regional laboratories of the National Marine
Fisheries Service), the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, academic
institutions (e.g., California State University at Monterey Bay and University
of California at Santa Barbara), and private organizations, including MCI-WorldCom.
Capabilities include: spatial analysis of habitat data, video analysis of habitat
types and fishes (including identification and enumeration and determination
of distribution, relative abundance, and density), statistical analysis, and
production of figures, tables, and completed reports or manuscripts. Projects
incorporating both habitat mapping and subsequent evaluation of fish-habitat
associations are now possible. Two such projects have recently been undertaken
with funding from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation. Another collaborative project has recently been initiated
with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's SIMoN (Sanctuary Integrated
Monitoring Network) program.
The Center is an interpretive institute that uses digital multibeam bathymetric
data (bathymetry xyz and backscatter data), analog and digital side-scan sonographs,
seismic reflection profiles, and other geophysical data to construct various
thematic maps. These include bathymetric artificial sun-shaded relief, geologic,
geomorphic, geologic structure and hazards, habitat, slope inclination, roughness
derivative and other specialty maps. The Center's facility is well appointed
for mapping projects. It is located in the MLML Norte building on the spit at
Moss Landing and contains multiple computers, scanners, plotters and printers
capable of producing publication quality maps in large sizes. GIS software such
as ArcGIS©, TNT Mips©, Surfer©, and CARIS©, ERDAS Imagine©
are used in data compilation, georeferencing, digitizing, display, area analysis,
and the creation of “fly throughs” from digital data. The Habitat
Center also has a modern video lab stocked with the latest video editing equipment
and has been actively working on in-house projects and contracts from federal
and state fishery management agencies to study the habitat associations of commercially
important fishes using this technology. In addition, a digital side-scan system
(100 kHz Klein system), corers and sediment samplers are available for data
collection.
All equipment necessary for processing side-scan sonar and multibeam bathymetry,
construction of geologic, bathymetric, and habitat maps, and production of professional
map and GIS products is contained at the Center for Habitat Studies, allowing
for completion of multi-stage projects without the need for outside contractors.
Once seafloor imagery is processed, geology, and thereby habitat types, are
interpreted by Dr. Greene, who has over 15 years of experience in construction
of habitat maps and has co-authored “A Classification Scheme for Deep
Seafloor Habitats” published in Oceanologica Acta (1999). Dr. Greene’s
scheme, a well-cited standard for habitat characterization among fisheries biologists,
has been recently expanded to include nearshore and tropical habitats and has
been modified to facilitate incorporation into GIS products. Dr. Greene has
established long-standing collaborations with fisheries biologists throughout
the US Pacific and is therefore uniquely qualified to construct map products
that cater to these interests. In addition, the Center for Habitat Studies has
close links to several California based private companies which work in the
field of seafloor mapping (Industrial Associates). In Spring 2003 an Industrial
Associates Day was organized in which graduate students were encouraged to present
their research to visiting scientists from these companies.
Dr. H. Gary Greene
Joseph J. Bizzarro
Charlie Endris
Mercedes Erdey
Isabelle Herbert
Matt Levey
Holly Lopez
Norman Maher
Ray McClain
Lee Murai
Janet Tilden
Steve Watt
For further information please contact H. Gary Greene greene@mlml.calstate.edu or Joseph J. Bizzarro jbizzarro@mlml.calstate.edu.
Created
by:Jeremiah Brower.
Comments: jbrower@mlml.calstate.edu
Last revision: 11.14.2007
URL, this page: http://www.mlml.calstate.edu/