Predicted Seahorse Habitat Distributions and Environmental Layers for UK Shelf Seas

Two seahorse species' predicted habitat distributions are modeled using maximum entropy (MAXENT) algorithms. Environmental predictor layers include bathymetry, sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a concentration, and distance to seagrass and coastline, all at a 0.0042-degree resolution covering UK shelf seas. The work was funded by Natural England and conducted in collaboration with The Seahorse Trust.

Use Cases

• Modeling habitat suitability for seahorse conservation based on predicted distribution rasters.
• Analyzing the influence of environmental variables like bathymetry and SST on species presence.
• Supporting marine spatial planning decisions to mitigate anthropogenic impacts based on habitat maps.
• Validating species distribution models (SDMs) using the provided MAXENT output rasters.

Strengths

• Includes predicted habitat suitability for two specific species (*Hippocampus hippocampus* and *H. guttulatus*) and the genus combined.
• Provides seven distinct environmental predictor layers, including seasonal sea surface temperature and chlorophyll a.
• All raster layers share a consistent spatial reference system (WGS84) and grid resolution (0.0042 x 0.0042 degrees).
• Geographic coverage is explicitly defined, including the English Channel, Celtic Seas, North Sea, and coastal estuaries.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Natural England's Seahorse Working Group and The Seahorse Trust.

Collection Method

Species distribution modeling using MAXENT algorithm with occurrence data from The Seahorse Trust.

Time Range

null

Freshness

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Geography

Shelf seas surrounding the UK, including the English Channel, Celtic Seas, North Sea, and shallow coastal/estuarine habitats.