| Summary: | This dataset was created for potential use as an environmental predictor in spatial predictive models of deep-sea coral habitat suitability. Deep-sea corals are of particular conservation concern due to their slow growth rates and vulnerability to disturbance. This is a derived product. Modeling can lend insights into the environmental factors driving the distribution of deep-sea corals, helping to build understanding of how these unique ecosystems function. This dataset depicts predicted likelihood of suitable habitat for the deep-sea corals: Alcyonacea (order), the suborders Calcaxonia, Holaxonia, Scleraxonia, Alcyoniina, Stolonifera: of order Alcyonacea; Pennatulacea (order), the suborders Sessiliflorae, Subsessiliflorae: of order Pennatulacea; Scleractinia (order), genera Dasmosmilia and Desmophyllum: of order Scleractinia, family Caryophylliidae; and the family Flabellidae: of order Scleractinia. The dataset also depicts categorical seafloor aspect (slope direction) in the U.S. Northeast Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic derived from a bathymetry dataset. The likelihood of suitable habitat for deep-sea corals of the above order, suborders, genera, and families are depicted by threshold levels created for the dataset.
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