Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) FGDC Standards Working Group July 7,...
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Transcript of Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) FGDC Standards Working Group July 7,...
Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS)
FGDC Standards Working Group
July 7, 2010
Develop a national standard for consistent descriptions of coastal and marine ecological features
Allow local and regional users to report to a single national standard
Articulate with existing FGDC standards
What are the intended applications for CMECS?
Resource inventory Conservation and restoration
planning Individual habitat queries Conservation status assessment
and monitoring Ecosystem services management Regional and national resource
assessment Data sharing facilitation EFH delineation
FeaturesProvides framework to organize ecological relationships
and define unitsPresents geology, chemistry, physics, biology under a
single structureProvides approach for consistently naming units
as a basis for mappingto support development of condition assessment tools
CMECS Domain
CMECS domain covers all waters, substrates, benthos and sub-benthos of the coastal marine realm extending:
Landward to the tidal splash zone of the coasts, intertidal euhaline and brackish wetlands, and deep waters of the Great Lakes;
Up river / estuary to the head of tides where tide is equal to or greater than 0.2 ft (0.06 m) for at least part of the month;
Seaward to the deep ocean, including all continental and ocean waters and bottom.
System
Marine
Subsystem
CMECS System and Subsystem
Shallow Water
Deep Water
Tidal Riverine
Nearshore
Neritic
Oceanic
Limnetic
Littoral
Estuarine
Lacustrine
CMECS Components
Character of sediments and soils below substrate surface
Water Column Component
(WCC)
Benthic Biotic Component
(BBC)
Surface Geology Component
(SGC)
Sub-Benthic Component
(SBC)
Geoform Component
(GFC) Major geomorphic character or
structural character of coast or seafloor
Structure, characteristics, and processes of water column and associated biota
Composition of biota on sea floor surface
Geological composition of surface and near-surface substrates; surface features, including biogenic structures
Benthic Biotic Component
Class Biotic Group
Faunal Reef
Coral Reef
Faunal Bed
Aquatic Bed
Emergent Wetland
Scrub-shrub Wetland
Forested Wetland
Subclass
e.g., Macrocystis Community
Biotope
e.g., Kelp Foreste.g. Macroalgae
No Known Cover
CMECS AppliedClassification: System and Subsystem: Marine Nearshore
Subtidal Surface Geology Component
Class: Coral Reef Subclass: Back Reef Reef Morphology: Live Hardbottom
Benthic Biotic Component
Class: Faunal Bed Subclass: Epifauna Modifier: Sessile Biotic Group: Coral Garden Biotope: Mixed Soft Coral Community
Relationship to other FGDC standardsNational Wetland Standard (FGDC-STD-004)
National Vegetation Classification (FGDC-STD-005-2008)
Soils Geographic Data Standard (FGDC-STD-006)
Shoreline Metadata Standard (FGDC-STD-001.2-2001)
Integration with Existing Classification Approaches
NOAA Corals (Coral ecosystems)NOAA NERR System (Nearshore aquatic and coastal terrestrial
areas)Greene et al. (Pacific deepwater marine geoforms)MapCoast (Shallow subaqueous soil areas)System for Classifying Habitats in Estuarine and Marine
Environments [SCHEME] (Florida state waters)Shorezone (Alaska coast)
• National Park Service
• Gulf of Mexico Alliance
• IABIN
• OBIS
• Other international usage
Current Implementation
Stakeholder OutreachCoastal States OrganizationAssociation of State Wetland Managers State natural resource agencies NatureServe state networkLong Term Ecological Research program (LTER) EBM Tools network webinarsRegional governance entities
Responding to Review CommentsDatabase of commentsReview by the development teamSort by informative/normativeWorking group review of normative commentsDevelopment team evaluates and proposes revisions
to working groupRespond to all comments