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Geographic Information Systems Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Habitat Restoration Suitability Model
Long Island Sound, USA - A ‘Sound-Wide’ Model
By
Justin Eddings
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE
(GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)
December 2012
Copyright 2012 Justin Eddings
Object Description
| Title | Geographic information systems eelgrass (Zostera marina) habitat restoration suitability model, Long Island Sound, USA - a ‘sound-wide’ model |
| Author | Eddings, Justin |
| Author email | eddings@usc.edu;justin.eddings@gmail.com |
| Degree | Master of Science |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Geographic Information Science and Technology |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2012-06-11 |
| Date submitted | 2012-09-12 |
| Date approved | 2012-09-12 |
| Restricted until | 2012-09-12 |
| Date published | 2012-09-12 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Kemp, Karen K. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Vaudrey, Jamie P. Longcore, Travis R. |
| Abstract | Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is an important benthic flowering plant used by many marine species as a nursery and food source; it also sequesters carbon, and the beds provide some protection for shorelines from coastal erosion by slowing water movement. In the past century, approximately 90% of eelgrass beds have been lost from natural and anthropogenic causes. Eelgrass was once a major component of the shorelines of Long Island Sound, USA, which has experienced many of these effects, including rain runoff carrying pesticide and fertilizer residues. Knowledge and analysis of the water quality parameters in Long Island Sound influencing eelgrass distribution will enhance restoration efforts in the future. A GIS model was created that estimates the habitat suitability for all areas in Long Island Sound with respect to key environmental variables. The habitat model has two parts. First, the study area was limited to regions where eelgrass growth is possible based solely on water depth, assuming that other conditions are suitable. Second, this suitable area was ranked by weighting each of 11 environmental parameters: percent light reaching bottom (0–30), sediment grain size (0–15), Chlorophyll a (0–10), Total Suspended Solids (0–10), Total Dissolved Nitrogen (0–5), Total Dissolved Phosphorous (0–5), surface temperature (0–10), salinity (0–5), pH (0–5), dissolved oxygen (0–5), and sediment percent organics (0–5). The resulting sum indicates the suitability of areas with a weighted sum of 100 being most suitable and 0 being least suitable. The model produced weighted sum scores ranging from 43 to 93.5. Areas that are scored higher than 75 within the suitable band should be locally tested to decide if the area is ready for habitat restoration to proceed. Regions below this threshold should be further tested to identify which parameter scores reduced the overall score. This identification of the parameter contributing to the low score could help prioritize policies to reduce these influences in the future. |
| Keyword | geographic information systems; Long Island Sound; eelgrass; spatial analysis; Inverse Distance Weighted; interpolation; restoration; marine; suitability model; estuary; bathymetry; tide |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Rights | Eddings, Justin |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume4/etd-EddingsJus-1193.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | Geographic Information Systems Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Habitat Restoration Suitability Model Long Island Sound, USA - A ‘Sound-Wide’ Model By Justin Eddings A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE (GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) December 2012 Copyright 2012 Justin Eddings |
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