Benthic Habitats of Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands, 2004-02-18 to 2011-08-30 (NCEI Accession 0285904)
This data package contains information about the geology and biology of the seafloor from approximately 0 to 1,830 meters in Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM) St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). It was created by delineating habitats visible in aerial photographs, lidar and multibeam echosounder imagery using ENVI's Feature Extraction (Fx) Module. The minimum polygon size for these habitat maps ranged from 100 square meters (in shallow <30 m depths) to 1000 square meters (in moderate 30 to 150 m depths) to 5,000 square meters (in deep >150 m depths). Additional habitat polygons were manually digitized if they were excluded during the feature extraction workflow. Polygon boundaries were smoothed in ArcGIS to reduce their pixelated appearance. A Classification and Regression Tree (CART) algorithm was used to classify each habitat polygon using georeferenced underwater video & photos collected using SCUBA divers, drop-cameras and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Major and detailed geomorphological structure, percent hardbottom, major and detailed biological cover and live coral cover were identified for each polygon. The moderate and deep maps mark the first time that habitats deeper than approximately 30 meters have been mapped in the Monument. These habitat maps will provide a baseline for future biological monitoring studies in BIRNM.
Dataset Citation
- Cite as: Costa, Bryan; Tormey, Sam; Battista, Timothy A. (2023). Benthic Habitats of Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands, 2004-02-18 to 2011-08-30 (NCEI Accession 0285904). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/vz7r-kc55. Accessed [date].
Dataset Identifiers
ISO 19115-2 Metadata
gov.noaa.nodc:0285904
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Ordering Instructions | Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions. |
Distributor |
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information +1-301-713-3277 NCEI.Info@noaa.gov |
Dataset Point of Contact |
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.info@noaa.gov |
Time Period | 2004-02-18 to 2011-08-30 |
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates |
West: -64.6880095
East: -64.5562588
South: 17.7698818
North: 17.8470072
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Data Presentation Form | Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns |
Dataset Progress Status | Complete - production of the data has been completed Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility |
Data Update Frequency | As needed |
Supplemental Information | Submission Package ID: 64KUE6 Not all data used in the analysis process to create the final products in this archival package were submitted. The raw data used to generate the images found in directory 'GIS-Data_A_Imagery', and the imagery that was analyzed as part of the map validation referenced in the directory 'GIS-Data_B_Training_and_Validation-Data', were not included as part of the archival package. |
Purpose | This benthic habitat map was created by NOAA to support the management of Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM) by the National Park Service (NPS). The mosaic of coral reef, seagrass and sand habitats in BIRNM are home to a diversity of marine organisms, including Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) and Staghorn Coral (Acropora cervicornis), all of which are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act (NOAA OPR, 2011). In addition to providing habitat for a variety of species, these marine resources also provide valuable ecosystem services to the local community, including shoreline protection, fisheries replenishment, recreation, and tourism. However, coral reef ecosystems in St. Croix and throughout the U.S. Caribbean are under increasing pressure from environmental and anthropogenic stressors that threaten these important marine communities. In order to better evaluate and address these threats, a baseline understanding and periodic evaluation of the benthic communities and associated living marine resources is needed by scientists and resource managers. Habitat maps, in particular, are an integral component to this process, as they support an effective ecosystem-based approach to management. Habitat maps provide a spatially explicit representation of benthic structure and biological cover. The spatial products developed for this project will: (1) inform local NPS managers as to the existing distribution of resources, (2) provide a baseline for future comparative efforts, (3) help locate sensitive marine communities, and (4) guide monitoring efforts and prioritize management actions. |
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Last Modified: 2024-06-10T13:30:37Z
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov