Presentation Abstract
Habitat suitability models are useful to forecast how environmental change may affect the abundance or distribution of species of interest. In the case of harvested bivalves, those models may be used to estimate the vulnerability of this valued ecosystem good to stressors. Using literature-derived natural history information, rule-based habitat suitability models were constructed in a GIS for several bivalve species (Clinocardium nuttallii, Mya arenaria, and Tresus capax) that are recreationally and commercially harvested in NE Pacific estuaries, including in the Salish Sea. Spatially-explicit habitat maps were produced for two Oregon estuaries using environmental data (salinity, depth, sediment grain size, and burrowing shrimp density) from multiple studies (1960-2012). Habitat suitability values ranged from 1-4 (lowest to highest) depending on the number of environmental variables that fell within a bivalve’s tolerance limits. The models were tested by comparing the observed distribution of bivalves reported in benthic community studies (1996-2012) to the range of each suitability class. Results primarily showed that habitats of highest predicted suitability contained the greatest proportion of bivalve observations and highest population densities. Our model was further supported by logistic regression analyses that showed correspondence between predicted habitat suitability values and logistic model probabilities. We demonstrate how these models can be used as tools to forecast changes in the availability of suitable habitat for these species using projected changes in salinity and depth associated with environmental change scenarios. The advantage of this approach is that disparate, independent sets of existing data are sufficient to parameterize the models, and to produce and validate maps of habitat suitability. We believe that these models are transferable across estuaries (such as in the Salish Sea) and bivalve species, and thus can be applied to data-poor systems with only modest investment.
Session Title
Integrated Coastal Climate Change Modeling for Salish Sea Planning: Part II
Keywords
Bivalves, Habitat suitability
Conference Track
SSE5: Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation, and Research
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE5-604
Start Date
6-4-2018 2:45 PM
End Date
6-4-2018 3:00 PM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Bivalves--Habitat suitability index models--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Bivalves--Effect of climatic changes on--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Understanding the implications of a changing environment on harvested bivalve populations using habitat suitability models
Habitat suitability models are useful to forecast how environmental change may affect the abundance or distribution of species of interest. In the case of harvested bivalves, those models may be used to estimate the vulnerability of this valued ecosystem good to stressors. Using literature-derived natural history information, rule-based habitat suitability models were constructed in a GIS for several bivalve species (Clinocardium nuttallii, Mya arenaria, and Tresus capax) that are recreationally and commercially harvested in NE Pacific estuaries, including in the Salish Sea. Spatially-explicit habitat maps were produced for two Oregon estuaries using environmental data (salinity, depth, sediment grain size, and burrowing shrimp density) from multiple studies (1960-2012). Habitat suitability values ranged from 1-4 (lowest to highest) depending on the number of environmental variables that fell within a bivalve’s tolerance limits. The models were tested by comparing the observed distribution of bivalves reported in benthic community studies (1996-2012) to the range of each suitability class. Results primarily showed that habitats of highest predicted suitability contained the greatest proportion of bivalve observations and highest population densities. Our model was further supported by logistic regression analyses that showed correspondence between predicted habitat suitability values and logistic model probabilities. We demonstrate how these models can be used as tools to forecast changes in the availability of suitable habitat for these species using projected changes in salinity and depth associated with environmental change scenarios. The advantage of this approach is that disparate, independent sets of existing data are sufficient to parameterize the models, and to produce and validate maps of habitat suitability. We believe that these models are transferable across estuaries (such as in the Salish Sea) and bivalve species, and thus can be applied to data-poor systems with only modest investment.
