PREHAB
AquaBiota participates in the research project PREHAB (Spatial
PREdiction of benthic HABitats in the Baltic Sea). PREHAB will develop
methods for ecological mapping and economic valuation of benthic
habitats in Baltic coastal habitats. The aim is to deliver a
scientifically sound and user-friendly framework for regional planning.
In PREHAB existing data will be incorporated into empirical models to
predict the spatial distribution of benthic habitats and species in a
set of case-study areas. Existing data involves environmental factors
such as bathymetry e.g. depth and slope, wave-exposure and biological
variables such as vegetation cover, species composition of rocky and
sediment assemblages and recruitment of fish.
There is a wide array of statistical techniques available for
construction of such predictive models. In PREHAB the performance of
techniques will be compared in order to arrive at recommendations for
cost-efficient and precise modelling practices.
PREHAB started in January 2009 and will run for three years.
Participants come from Finland, Lithuania and Sweden. The project is
coordinated by the Department of Marine Ecology at the University of
Gothenburg.
More information can be found at PREHAB’s home page
Contact: Göran Sundblad, Karl Florén and Nicklas Wijkmark
