NEPR Geographic Zone Map 2015

This geographic zone map was created by interpreting satellite and aerial imagery, seafloor topography (bathymetry model), and the new NEPR Benthic Habitat Map (2015). The area of interest includes the nearshore shallow waters (0-35m) of Fajardo and Luqillo to the Former Roosevelt Roads Navy Base, the Vieques Sound, La Cordillera Reserve, the Luis Pena Reserve, and the waters around Culebra Island. A zone refers to each benthic community's geographic location and geomorphological structure. The geographic zone map was manually digitized the shoreline and the zone features for the entire area of interest in ArcGIS at the 1:6000 scale. The map was classified into 12 geographic zones based on the schema that has been developed by the Biogeography Branch, and which also match the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS).

A zone map is important to understand the biogeography of a region. Zones show the broader picture of how habitats are created and interconnected geospatially. A zone is not classified by the biological cover or hard/soft bottom ratio, but instead is based on the structure of the reef system and their connections to the land. The interplay of the complex geology of the Caribbean, the changes in sea level, and the proliferation/degradation of coral reef systems of Puerto Rico affect the distribution of the plant and animal life and their habitats in the region.

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Each benthic habitat polygon is characterized by a habitat schema based on semi-automated imagery and analysis and observational data collected from the underwater video developed by the Biogeography Team. Each habitat polygon contains information and attributes on the Major Geomorphological Structure, Detailed Geomorphological Structure, Percent Hardbottom, Topographic Complexity, Dominant Biological Cover, Percent Biological Cover, Percent Coral Cover and Dominant Coral Type (hard/mixed/soft). An additional category Habitat Overview was included to simplify the habitat schema into one attribute table. Additional observations of Acropora coral presence, selected fauna presence, biological cover (co-occurring) and water visibility are linked to photos and underwater videos in a geodatabase.

For more details on the entity and attribute information on the NEPR Benthic Habitat Map and the benthic habitat classification scheme, see Chapter 2 of the NCOSS technical memorandum Benthic Habitats of Northeast Puerto Rico and Culebra Island.

These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.

Please cite any use of this data.

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION. These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.

Microsoft Windows 7; ESRI ArcCatalog 10.1

point data represents the approximate centroid (+ - 20m) of each drop-camera or snorkel transit of a ground validation site.

Ground validation work was completed after two field missions. Extra GV sites that were determined to be useful habitat information were added to the shapefile. All GV points are linked to the site video and photos that are served in the Biomapper data portal.

All users should independently analyze the dataset according to their own needs and standards to determine data usability.