Monitoring program design for data-limited marine biogenic habitats: A structured approach.

ABSTRACT: Marine biogenic habitats-habitats created by living organisms-provide essential ecosystem functions and services, such as physical structuring, nutrient cycling, biodiversity support, and increases in primary, secondary, and tertiary production. With the growing trend toward ecosystem approaches to marine conservation and fisheries management, there is greater emphasis on rigorously designed habitat monitoring programs. However, such programs are challenging to design for data-limited habitats for which underlying ecosystem processes are poorly understood. To provide guidance in this area, we reviewed approaches to benthic assessments across well-studied marine biogenic habitats and identified common themes related to indicator selection, sampling methods, and survey design. Biogenic habit

SUBMITTER: Loh TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6662303 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature