Marine Biodiversity Hotspots in Northern Shelf Bioregion

Hotspot maps identify areas of high nearshore habitat richness, fish/invertebrate diversity, and biomass in Canada's Northern Shelf Bioregion. Data were derived from eight habitat features and DFO trawl and longline survey catch records, analyzed using the Getis-Ord G* tool in ArcGIS. The dataset was peer-reviewed by the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat in 2017.

Use Cases

• Identify habitat richness hotspots using Gi_Bin values from eight features including eelgrass, canopy-forming kelp, and substrate types.
• Analyze spatial patterns of fish biomass (kg/hour) from synoptic trawl surveys to map productivity proxies.
• Compare invertebrate diversity (Shannon diversity) hotspots from trawl surveys with fish diversity from longline surveys.
• Use convex hull polygons buffered by 1 km around hotspot points for marine spatial planning.

Strengths

• Peer-reviewed data from a Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) regional process in November 2017.
• Analyses integrate multiple data sources: eight habitat features and two complementary DFO surveys (trawl and longline).
• Hotspot identification uses a statistically robust method (Getis-Ord G* tool with confidence levels ≥90%).

Limitations

• Data is a proxy for species diversity, as no systematic surveys span the entire Northern Shelf coastline.
• Spatial analyses are constrained to 1 km x 1 km planning units, which may not capture finer-scale ecological patterns.
• The underlying survey data (trawl and longline) have different depth coverages (20–260 m vs 50–1300 m), complicating direct comparisons.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Geospatial analysis of habitat features and DFO survey catch records using Getis-Ord G* tool and Minimum Bounding Geometry in ArcGIS.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Northern Shelf Bioregion, Canada