GIS derived spatial analysis as a tool to predict nearshore coral reef fish species presence in American Samoa
Brown DP and Allen GR. 2008. GIS derived spatial analysis as a tool to predict nearshore coral reef fish species presence in American Samoa. Pages 1-3. In Unknown: Proceedings of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 7-11 July 2008. Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Session number 17
The U.S. National Park Service has undertaken a monumental task of inventorying species found within park boundaries. This is part of the Inventory & Monitoring program aimed to increase our management efforts in all the U.S. National Parks. In the National Park of American Samoa, the inventory of reef fish has helped to discover 47 new species records for the territory of American Samoa. This was done using both GIS polygons derived from known geographic distributions of marine fish as well as in-water surveys using SCUBA and technical diving procedures. Using ArcInfo GIS software, a distribution map was created for all known coral reef fish species from the central South Pacific. GIS benthic habitat maps were then used to locate suitable and likely locations for a given species. In-water surveys were then conducted to look for the predicted species. Using this technique 138 additional species were presumed to be located in Am. Samoa. To date the in-water surveys have found 47 new records, of these, 37 were assumed present from the GIS modeling but had never previously been found. Many of the remaining species are small and cryptic and are unlikely to be encountered without the use of icthyocides.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Brown, D.; Allen, G.
- Units
- NPSA
- Keywords
- American Samoa, coral reef fish species, Fish, GIS, IKONOS, Observations, Presence (Biodiversity), Quickbird, spatial analysis, U.S. National Park Service