The implementation of rare events logistic regression to predict the distribution of mesophotic hard corals across the main Hawaiian Islands.

ABSTRACT: Predictive habitat suitability models are powerful tools for cost-effective, statistically robust assessment of the environmental drivers of species distributions. The aim of this study was to develop predictive habitat suitability models for two genera of scleractinian corals (Leptoserisand Montipora) found within the mesophotic zone across the main Hawaiian Islands. The mesophotic zone (30-180 m) is challenging to reach, and therefore historically understudied, because it falls between the maximum limit of SCUBA divers and the minimum typical working depth of submersible vehicles. Here, we implement a logistic regression with rare events corrections to account for the scarcity of presence observations within the dataset. These corrections reduced the coefficient error and improved overal

SUBMITTER: Veazey LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4941748 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature