USGS: Coastal and Marine Geosciences Data System: Biodiversity

Biodiversity

A measure of the variety of organisms within a level of biological organization at any scale in a defined place. Types of biodiversity include genetic diversity; species diversity; guild, feeding group, or functional group diversity; habitat or biotope diversity; and any other measure of biological variety at a location. Biodiversity can be evaluated at levels of biological organization including taxonomic groups (for example, fishes), communities (for example, megafauna), habitats (for example, soft substrate, coral reef), or ecological systems (for example, number of habitats or biotopes in a managed embayment) and at spatial scales ranging from submeter to global. Biodiversity is widely viewed as critical to ecological functions, services, and economic benefits; changes in biodiversity have been closely linked to changes in the ways ecosystems function. Biodiversity is usually considered as an inherent ecosystem service. For purposes of marine planning, biodiversity measures that can be compared across the planning area are most valuable in decision-making. Distributions include quantifications of numbers of species, genetic types, taxonomic groups (for example, fishes), communities, or habitats at a place; diversity indices that can include rarity or relative abundance of types; measurements of proxies (for example, habitat types with known high or low numbers of species); or models. Assessments can estimate, value, monetize, or model the ecological function or service values and impacts of various aspects of biodiversity; identify biodiversity hotspots; or evaluate the effects of pollution, development, climate change, or other stressors on biodiversity. Predictions are the results of models or projections of future distributions, values, or impacts to biodiversity, including future changes produced by natural and human processes. Predictive models can also evaluate the ecosystem effects and ecological function or service impacts of altered biodiversity; scenario-testing models can compare ecological function or service outcomes of different management actions that affect biodiversity.

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8 results listed by similarity [list alphabetically]

Coastal Marine Geology Program Video and Photograph Portal Access to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program’s (CMGP) vast collection of unique and valuable seafloor and coastal imagery is made available in the CMGP Video and Photograph Portal. The portal provides a single location for data discovery and viewing. The CMGP and our research partners invest immense resources collecting, processing, and archiving seafloor and oblique coastal video and photographs. Until the publication of the CMGP Video and Photograph Portal in 2015, only ...	Info
CMECS geoform, CMECS substrate, and surficial geology offshore of Point Estero This part of USGS Data Series 781 presents substrate, geomorphic, and geologic attributed polygons in the Offshore of Point Estero, California, map area, one of 83 map areas of the California State Waters Map Series. The polygons are derived from multibeam echosounder (MBES) data and derivatives of that data using video-supervised and unsupervised classification. Attributes and attribute values are named following the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS; Federal Geographic Data ...	Info
CMECS substrate, geoform, and biotic component polygons derived from multibeam echosounder data and underwater video observations collected offshore of south-central California in support of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Cal DIG I, offshore alternative energy project These metadata describe Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS; Federal Geographic Data Committee, 2012) attributed polygons derived from multibeam echosounder acoustic bathymetry and backscatter intensity data, and from underwater video collected offshore of Morro Bay, California from 2016 to 2020. The polygons have CMECS substrate, geoform and biotic component attributes. Most of the data were collected in support of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)/Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ...	Info
CMECS geoform, CMECS substrate, and surficial geology offshore of Morro Bay This part of USGS Data Series 781 presents substrate, geomorphic, and geologic attributed polygons in the Offshore of Morro Bay, California, map area, one of 83 map areas of the California State Waters Map Series. The polygons are derived from multibeam echosounder (MBES) data and derivatives of that data using video-supervised and unsupervised classification. Attributes and attribute values are named following the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS; Federal Geographic Data ...	Info
CMECS geoform, substrate, and biotopes offshore of Tacoma, Washington This part of USGS Data Series 935 (Cochrane, 2014) presents substrate, geomorphic, and biotope data in the Offshore of Tacoma, Washington, map area, a part of the Southern Salish Sea Habitat Map Series. Given the variable bathymetric resolution, the complex geologic history of the region, and the lack of acoustic backscatter data, automated and semi-automated classification schemes of classifying seafloor substrate and geoform were deemed to have very low accuracy. Instead, classification of these ...	Info
CMECS geoform, substrate, and biotopes offshore of Seattle, Washington This part of USGS Data Series 935 (Cochrane, 2014) presents substrate, geomorphic, and biotope data in the Offshore of Seattle, California, map area, a part of the Southern Salish Sea Habitat Map Series. Given the variable bathymetric resolution, the complex geologic history of the region, and the lack of acoustic backscatter data, automated and semi-automated classification schemes of classifying seafloor substrate and geoform were deemed to have very low accuracy. Instead, classification of these ...	Info
CMECS geoform, substrate, and biotopes offshore of Burien, Washington This part of USGS Data Series 935 (Cochrane, 2014) presents substrate, geomorphic, and biotope data in the Offshore of Burien, Washington, map area, a part of the Southern Salish Sea Habitat Map Series. Given the variable bathymetric resolution, the complex geologic history of the region, and the lack of acoustic backscatter data, automated and semi-automated classification schemes of classifying seafloor substrate and geoform were deemed to have very low accuracy. Instead, classification of these ...	Info
CMECS geoform, CMECS substrate, and surficial geology offshore of Point Buchon This part of USGS Data Series 781 presents substrate, geomorphic, and geologic attributed polygons in the Offshore of Point Buchon, California, map area, one of 83 map areas of the California State Waters Map Series. The polygons are derived from multibeam echosounder (MBES) data and derivatives of that data using video-supervised and unsupervised classification. Attributes and attribute values are named following the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS; Federal Geographic Data ...	Info