Hence WG 32 reviewed modeling approaches to predict the potential distributions of species and habitat suitability for corals and sponges and identified environmental and ecological predictors of patterns in the distribution and biodiversity of corals, sponges, and associated taxa. [...] A Working Group on Ecology of Seamounts would build on the contributions of WG 32 by mapping the distribution of seamount biodiversity and expanding research in some of the unique and abundant ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean. [...] Historically, the majority of empirical knowledge on the distribution of habitat-forming CWCS in the NEPC has focused on the samples collected on the continental shelf and slope with only a sparse number of records coming from the offshore deep waters in the NEPC. [...] In this 2D current layer, values of 0° indicate current flow is in the same direction as the direction of the steepest slope and values of 180° indicate current flows in the opposite direction of the steepest slope (sensu Rooper et al., 2014). [...] The direction of the water current was then defined at the seafloor based on the velocities relative to the east-flowing (x), north-flowing (y), and vertical-flowing (z) directions, and the angle between the two vectors was calculated.
- Pages
- 169
- Published in
- Canada
