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Capabilities of NOAA's Biogeography Branch

Staff of the Biogeography Branch have a variety of scientific capabilities and a wealth of experience. The Branch’s expertise is in the synthesis, assessment and modeling of distributions, habitat, movement and life histories of estuarine and marine species; see below. If you are interested in specific capabilities or partnering with us, please contact mark.monaco@noaa.gov, And visit our Projects and Products for more information on our work.

Mapping–Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing
  • Spatial/temporal assessment of saltwater species (corals to whales) and their habitats
  • Assessment of benthic habitats, through remote-sensing and SCUBA diving
  • Spatial modeling, analyses and 3-D visualization
  • Technical map production
Marine Biogeography, Integrated Ecosystem Assessments and Research
  • Assessment of species habitat, life history attributes, management and protection information
  • Developing ecological/community metrics
  • Predictive and habitat suitability modeling
  • Estuarine and marine ecosystem assessment
  • Development of survey protocols, sampling designs and monitoring programs
  • SCUBA diving, ship surveys, image analysis
  • Watershed modeling and characterization of land-based sources of pollution
Assessments of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
  • Efficacy assessments of MPA designs
  • Assessment and comparison of resources within and outside of MPAs
  • Evaluation of MPA boundary alternatives
  • Applied research to support/inform management
Software Tool Development
  • Habitat Digitizer Extension (GIS)
  • EcoGIS Fishery Mapper: a mapping tool for display and analysis of fishery data (GIS)
  • Maptite – an estuarine restoration tool (GIS)
  • Sampling Design Analysis Tool (GIS)
  • Relational Databases for storing, analyzing and distributing benthic data and imagery
  • Web applications for quickly distributing data and images publicly (e.g., Benthic Habitat Viewer or Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Database)
Collaboration, Communication and Leveraging Resources
  • Collaboration with regional partners is an essential part of our assessment process: our work could not be done without our numerous partners in over 100 study areas in estuarine and coastal ocean waters of the Atlantic, Pacific & Gulf of Mexico.
  • Communication through publications, workshops, presentations at conferences, website and other digital media – DVDs, videos, database and image servers
  • Cooperative agreements with local partners provides substantial involvement of NOAA with partner scientists, while leveraging local, regional and national resources.
  • Technical support for resource managers using specialized data, databases & analytical tools