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Geosciences
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Marine Habitat Mapping: Selected Papers from "GeoHab 2021"
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Marine Habitat Mapping: Selected Papers from "GeoHab 2021"

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 34910

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Fantina Madricardo

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Institute of Marine Science ISMAR, Italian National Research Council, 30122 Venice, Italy
Interests: seafloor geomorphology; benthic habitat mapping; human impacts on the seafloor in coastal areas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Federica Foglini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CNR- ISMAR, Bologna, Italy
Interests: geodatabase design and implementation; seafloor mapping; marine cartography; habitat mapping technologies; multibeam swath bathymetry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Vincent Lecours

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32653, USA
Interests: geomorphometry; GIS; marine habitat mapping; remote sensing; spatial analysis; terrain analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The GeoHab (Marine Geological and Biological Habitat Mapping) community forms an international association of marine scientists studying biophysical (i.e., geologic and oceanographic) indicators of seafloor habitats and ecosystems as proxies for biological communities and species diversity. For 20 years, this community has contributed to the evolution of seafloor mapping technologies and analytical methods.

The aim of this Special Issue of Geosciences is to showcase the work of the GeoHab community in research and investigation of the seafloor, in parallel with the GeoHab 2021 Conference that will be held online in May. The themes of the conference include shelf and deep-sea habitats, coastal and shallow water habitats, new approaches from coast to deep water habitat mapping, the Anthropocene and the effect of human footprint on marine habitats, the role of oceanography in habitat mapping, habitat mapping and climate change, habitat mapping for maritime spatial planning within an ecosystem-based approach, and submerged landscapes and cultural heritage.

Relevant topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, new methods for seafloor mapping, new approaches for characterization and classification of seafloor data, the links between seafloor geomorphology and processes occurring in the surrounding marine environment (water column, sub-surface), marine habitat mapping applications, and any that are relevant to the conference themes listed above. We note, however, that authors do not have to be presenting at the conference to submit manuscripts to this special issue, as long as their manuscript is related to marine habitat mapping. As per the Geosciences guidelines, original research manuscripts, short communications of preliminary but significant results, technical review articles, and submissions reviewing the challenges faced by this thriving field of research are welcomed.

Dr. Fantina Madricardo
Dr. Federica Foglini
Dr. Vincent Lecours
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • GIS
  • habitat mapping
  • benthic habitats
  • seabed mapping
  • marine geology
  • spatial analysis
  • marine processes
  • spatial scale
  • submarine topography
  • seafloor remote sensing
  • marine geomorphology
  • geomorphometry
  • terrain analysis
  • bathymetry
  • structure-from-motion
  • multibeam echosounder
  • bathymetric lidar

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 7840 KiB  
Article
Landscape Mapping, Ichnological and Benthic Foraminifera Trends in a Deep-Water Gateway, Discovery Gap, NE Atlantic
by Evgenia V. Dorokhova, Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar, Dmitry V. Dorokhov, Liubov A. Kuleshova, Anxo Mena, Tatiana Glazkova and Viktor A. Krechik
Geosciences 2021, 11(11), 474; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11110474 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2481
Abstract
Multidisciplinary studies have allowed us to describe the abiotic landscapes and, thus, reveal the ichnological and benthic foraminifera trends in a deep-water gateway. Mesoscale landscape mapping is presented based on the bathymetric position index, substrate types and near-bottom water temperature. Four sediment cores, [...] Read more.
Multidisciplinary studies have allowed us to describe the abiotic landscapes and, thus, reveal the ichnological and benthic foraminifera trends in a deep-water gateway. Mesoscale landscape mapping is presented based on the bathymetric position index, substrate types and near-bottom water temperature. Four sediment cores, retrieved from the entrance, centre and exit of the gap, were subject to computed tomography, ichnological and benthic foraminifera studies. A high diversity of abiotic landscapes in the relatively small area of Discovery Gap is detected and its landscape is characterized by 23 landscape types. The most heterogeneous abiotic factor is a topography that is associated with sediment patchiness and substrate variability. The ichnological and tomographical studies of the sediment cores demonstrate lateral and temporal differences in the macrobenthic tracemaker behaviour. The ichnofossils assemblage of the sediment core can be assigned to the Zoophycos ichnofacies with a higher presence of Zoophycos in the entrance site of the gap and during glacial intervals. Higher benthic foraminifera diversity and species richness during the Holocene are also registered in the southern part of the gap compared to the northern part. The spatial and temporal differences in macro-benthos behavior and benthic foraminifera distribution in the deep-water gateway are proposed to relate to the topographical variations of the Antarctic Bottom Water and its influence on the hydrodynamic regime, nutrient transport, etc. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Habitat Mapping: Selected Papers from "GeoHab 2021")
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40 pages, 25889 KiB  
Article
Integrating Towed Underwater Video and Multibeam Acoustics for Marine Benthic Habitat Mapping and Fish Population Estimation
by Alexander R. Ilich, Jennifer L. Brizzolara, Sarah E. Grasty, John W. Gray, Matthew Hommeyer, Chad Lembke, Stanley D. Locker, Alex Silverman, Theodore S. Switzer, Abigail Vivlamore and Steven A. Murawski
Geosciences 2021, 11(4), 176; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11040176 - 13 Apr 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5449
Abstract
The west Florida shelf (WFS; Gulf of Mexico, USA) is an important area for commercial and recreational fishing, yet much of it remains unmapped and unexplored, hindering effective monitoring of fish stocks. The goals of this study were to map the habitat at [...] Read more.
The west Florida shelf (WFS; Gulf of Mexico, USA) is an important area for commercial and recreational fishing, yet much of it remains unmapped and unexplored, hindering effective monitoring of fish stocks. The goals of this study were to map the habitat at an intensively fished area on the WFS known as “The Elbow”, assess the differences in fish communities among different habitat types, and estimate the abundance of each fish taxa within the study area. High-resolution multibeam bathymetric and backscatter data were combined with high-definition (HD) video data collected from a near-bottom towed vehicle to characterize benthic habitat as well as identify and enumerate fishes. Two semi-automated statistical classifiers were implemented for obtaining substrate maps. The supervised classification (random forest) performed significantly better (p = 0.001; α = 0.05) than the unsupervised classification (k-means clustering). Additionally, we found it was important to include predictors at a range of spatial scales. Significant differences were found in the fish community composition among the different habitat types, with both substrate and vertical relief found to be important with rock substrate and higher relief areas generally associated with greater fish density. Our results are consistent with the idea that offshore hard-bottom habitats, particularly those of higher vertical relief, serve as “essential fish habitat”, as these rocky habitats account for just 4% of the study area but 65% of the estimated total fish abundance. However, sand contributes 35% to total fish abundance despite comparably low densities due to its large area, indicating the importance of including these habitats in estimates of abundance as well. This work demonstrates the utility of combining towed underwater video sampling and multibeam echosounder maps for habitat mapping and estimation of fish abundance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Habitat Mapping: Selected Papers from "GeoHab 2021")
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15 pages, 5846 KiB  
Article
Feasibility of Objective Seabed Mapping Techniques in a Coastal Tidal Environment (Wadden Sea, Germany)
by Francesco Mascioli, Valerio Piattelli, Francesco Cerrone, Davide Gasprino, Tina Kunde and Enrico Miccadei
Geosciences 2021, 11(2), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11020049 - 26 Jan 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2982
Abstract
The growing interest in monitoring the marine environment has strongly encouraged governmental agencies and research institutes to undertake seabed mapping programs and stimulated scientific interest in innovative mapping methods and tools. In this study, object-based image analysis was used to map a very [...] Read more.
The growing interest in monitoring the marine environment has strongly encouraged governmental agencies and research institutes to undertake seabed mapping programs and stimulated scientific interest in innovative mapping methods and tools. In this study, object-based image analysis was used to map a very shallow tidal inlet, characterized by high sediment variability and intense morphodynamic processes. The aim was to test the feasibility of reproducible mapping approaches within extended mapping programs of complex coastal areas. The study is based on full-coverage, high-resolution bathymetry and reflectivity, calibrated by means of sediment samples. Seafloor segmentation and classification were based on a cluster analysis performed on reflectivity, slope, and ruggedness. Statistics of clusters were extracted and analysed to identify the optimal number of clusters and evaluate the suitability of the clustering process to differentiate different seabed types. Clusters and samples data were joined to create a training and validation dataset for characterizing the seabed and carrying out an accuracy assessment. Misclassifications were explored and referred to three main reasons: (i) The not-perfect correspondence between sediment boundaries of classification systems and boundaries derived from the clustering process; (ii) the geomorphological features of the seabed; and (iii) the position accuracy of samples. The study contributes to testing of the feasibility of objective methods and highlights the importance of joining acoustic, lithological, and geomorphological analysis. It highlights issues and the need to critically analyse the mapping results and improve the accuracy of collected data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Habitat Mapping: Selected Papers from "GeoHab 2021")
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38 pages, 54970 KiB  
Article
Using Spatial Validity and Uncertainty Metrics to Determine the Relative Suitability of Alternative Suites of Oceanographic Data for Seabed Biotope Prediction. A Case Study from the Barents Sea, Norway
by Margaret F.J. Dolan, Rebecca E. Ross, Jon Albretsen, Jofrid Skarðhamar, Genoveva Gonzalez-Mirelis, Valérie K. Bellec, Pål Buhl-Mortensen and Lilja R. Bjarnadóttir
Geosciences 2021, 11(2), 48; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11020048 - 26 Jan 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3455
Abstract
The use of habitat distribution models (HDMs) has become common in benthic habitat mapping for combining limited seabed observations with full-coverage environmental data to produce classified maps showing predicted habitat distribution for an entire study area. However, relatively few HDMs include oceanographic predictors, [...] Read more.
The use of habitat distribution models (HDMs) has become common in benthic habitat mapping for combining limited seabed observations with full-coverage environmental data to produce classified maps showing predicted habitat distribution for an entire study area. However, relatively few HDMs include oceanographic predictors, or present spatial validity or uncertainty analyses to support the classified predictions. Without reference studies it can be challenging to assess which type of oceanographic model data should be used, or developed, for this purpose. In this study, we compare biotope maps built using predictor variable suites from three different oceanographic models with differing levels of detail on near-bottom conditions. These results are compared with a baseline model without oceanographic predictors. We use associated spatial validity and uncertainty analyses to assess which oceanographic data may be best suited to biotope mapping. Our results show how spatial validity and uncertainty metrics capture differences between HDM outputs which are otherwise not apparent from standard non-spatial accuracy assessments or the classified maps themselves. We conclude that biotope HDMs incorporating high-resolution, preferably bottom-optimised, oceanography data can best minimise spatial uncertainty and maximise spatial validity. Furthermore, our results suggest that incorporating coarser oceanographic data may lead to more uncertainty than omitting such data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Habitat Mapping: Selected Papers from "GeoHab 2021")
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15 pages, 8296 KiB  
Article
Using Remote Sensing Data to Identify Large Bottom Objects: The Case of World War II Shipwreck of General von Steuben
by Artur Grządziel
Geosciences 2020, 10(6), 240; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10060240 - 19 Jun 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5753
Abstract
The seabed of the Baltic Sea is not yet fully searched for and investigated. In 2004 the crew of the Polish Navy hydrographic ship Arctowski discovered a new shipwreck that was not listed in the official underwater objects database nor was it marked [...] Read more.
The seabed of the Baltic Sea is not yet fully searched for and investigated. In 2004 the crew of the Polish Navy hydrographic ship Arctowski discovered a new shipwreck that was not listed in the official underwater objects database nor was it marked on a chart. The identity of a new wreck is most frequently established based on artefacts found in the object by divers as a part of archaeological research, or through underwater inspection with remotely operated vehicle. The aim of this paper is to show how acoustic remote sensing data is used to identify large bottom object without having to go underwater. Bathymetric survey and sonar investigation were conducted over the study area. An appropriate methodology allowed for obtaining high-resolution imagery of the wreck. A review of literature concerning the end of World War II in the Baltic Sea was carried out. Moreover, the author presents a comparative analysis and evaluation of remote sensing data with archival photos, silhouette, and ship characteristics. The proposed approach led to the identification of a new Baltic Sea wreck as the General von Steuben, which was torpedoed in 1945 by soviet submarine. The author’s findings show that state of preservation of the shipwreck, quality data as well as historical records play a key role in establishing the wreck’s identity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Habitat Mapping: Selected Papers from "GeoHab 2021")
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Review

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17 pages, 3977 KiB  
Review
Seabed Mapping: A Brief History from Meaningful Words
by Pedro Smith Menandro and Alex Cardoso Bastos
Geosciences 2020, 10(7), 273; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10070273 - 16 Jul 2020
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 7588
Abstract
Over the last few centuries, mapping the ocean seabed has been a major challenge for marine geoscientists. Knowledge of seabed bathymetry and morphology has significantly impacted our understanding of our planet dynamics. The history and scientific trends of seabed mapping can be assessed [...] Read more.
Over the last few centuries, mapping the ocean seabed has been a major challenge for marine geoscientists. Knowledge of seabed bathymetry and morphology has significantly impacted our understanding of our planet dynamics. The history and scientific trends of seabed mapping can be assessed by data mining prior studies. Here, we have mined the scientific literature using the keyword “seabed mapping” to investigate and provide the evolution of mapping methods and emphasize the main trends and challenges over the last 90 years. An increase in related scientific production was observed in the beginning of the 1970s, together with an increased interest in new mapping technologies. The last two decades have revealed major shift in ocean mapping. Besides the range of applications for seabed mapping, terms like habitat mapping and concepts of seabed classification and backscatter began to appear. This follows the trend of investments in research, science, and technology but is mainly related to national and international demands regarding defining that country’s exclusive economic zone, the interest in marine mineral and renewable energy resources, the need for spatial planning, and the scientific challenge of understanding climate variability. The future of seabed mapping brings high expectations, considering that this is one of the main research and development themes for the United Nations Decade of the Oceans. We may expect a new higher resolution ocean seafloor map that might be as influential as The Floor of the Oceans map. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Habitat Mapping: Selected Papers from "GeoHab 2021")
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16 pages, 2986 KiB  
Review
Hydroacoustic Mapping of Geogenic Hard Substrates: Challenges and Review of German Approaches
by Svenja Papenmeier, Alexander Darr, Peter Feldens and Rune Michaelis
Geosciences 2020, 10(3), 100; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10030100 - 9 Mar 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5129
Abstract
Subtidal hard substrate habitats are unique habitats in the marine environment. They provide crucial ecosystem services that are socially relevant, such as water clearance or as nursery space for fishes. With increasing marine usage and changing environmental conditions, pressure on reefs is increasing. [...] Read more.
Subtidal hard substrate habitats are unique habitats in the marine environment. They provide crucial ecosystem services that are socially relevant, such as water clearance or as nursery space for fishes. With increasing marine usage and changing environmental conditions, pressure on reefs is increasing. All relevant directives and conventions around Europe include sublittoral hard substrate habitats in any manner. However, detailed specifications and specific advices about acquisition or delineation of these habitats are internationally rare although the demand for single object detection for e.g., ensuring safe navigation or to understand ecosystem functioning is increasing. To figure out the needs for area wide hard substrate mapping supported by automatic detection routines this paper reviews existing delineation rules and definitions relevant for hard substrate mapping. We focus on progress reached in German approval process resulting in first hydroacoustic mapping advices. In detail, we summarize present knowledge of hard substrate occurrence in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea, describes the development of hard substrate investigations and state of the art mapping techniques as well as automated analysis routines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Habitat Mapping: Selected Papers from "GeoHab 2021")
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