@article{0bc221bb0a8c4deea9de809a523e0548,
title = "Regional high-resolution benthic habitat data from planet dove imagery for conservation decision-making and marine planning",
abstract = "High-resolution benthic habitat data fill an important knowledge gap for many areas of the world and are essential for strategic marine conservation planning and implementing effective resource management. Many countries lack the resources and capacity to create these products, which has hindered the development of accurate ecological baselines for assessing protection needs for coastal and marine habitats and monitoring change to guide adaptive management actions. The PlanetScope (PS) Dove Classic SmallSat constellation delivers high-resolution imagery (4 m) and near-daily global coverage that facilitates the compilation of a cloud-free and optimal water column image composite of the Caribbean{\textquoteright}s nearshore environment. These data were used to develop a first-of-its-kind regional thirteen-class benthic habitat map to 30 m water depth using an object-based image analysis (OBIA) approach. A total of 203,676 km2 of shallow benthic habitat across the Insular Caribbean was mapped, representing 5% coral reef, 43% seagrass, 15% hardbottom, and 37% other habitats. Results from a combined major class accuracy assessment yielded an overall accuracy of 80% with a standard error of less than 1% yielding a confidence interval of 78%–82%. Of the total area mapped, 15% of these habitats (31,311.7 km2) are within a marine protected or managed area. This information provides a baseline of ecological data for developing and executing more strategic conservation actions, including implementing more effective marine spatial plans, prioritizing and improving marine protected area design, monitoring condition and change for post-storm damage assessments, and providing more accurate habitat data for ecosystem service models.",
keywords = "Benthic habitat, Coral reef, Ecosystem services, Marine spatial planning, SIDS, Seagrass",
author = "Schill, {Steven R.} and McNulty, {Valerie Pietsch} and Pollock, {F. Joseph} and Fritjof L{\"u}thje and Jiwei Li and Knapp, {David E.} and Kington, {Joe D.} and Trevor McDonald and Raber, {George T.} and Ximena Escovar-Fadul and Asner, {Gregory P.}",
note = "Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by Daniel C. Chung, The Kowalski Family Foundation, The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, The J.A. Woollam Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Funding Information: Acknowledgments: We would like to acknowledge the support of Judy Lang, Patricia Kramer, Helen Fox; Elizabeth McLeod, Luis Sol{\'o}rzano, Lisa Price, Robyn McGuinness, Zach Horton, Giselle Hall, Montserrat Acosta-Morel, Aldo Croquer, and Robert Brumbaugh from The Nature Conservancy; Nick Vaughn and Paulina Gerstner from Arizona State University; Chris Roelfsema and Stuart Phinn from the University of Queensland; Kirk Larsen, Kyle Rice, and Charlie Whiton from Vulcan; and the mapping services of Deven Lilani and Ajay Parker from Toyo Computers, Ltd. Funding Information: This research was funded by Daniel C. Chung, The Kowalski Family Foundation, The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, The J.A. Woollam Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Acknowledgments: We would like to acknowledge the support of Judy Lang, Patricia Kramer, Helen Fox; Elizabeth McLeod, Luis Sol{\'o}rzano, Lisa Price, Robyn McGuinness, Zach Horton, Giselle Hall, Montserrat Acosta-Morel, Aldo Croquer, and Robert Brumbaugh from The Nature Conserv-ancy; Nick Vaughn and Paulina Gerstner from Arizona State University; Chris Roelfsema and Stuart Phinn from the University of Queensland; Kirk Larsen, Kyle Rice, and Charlie Whiton from Vulcan; and the mapping services of Deven Lilani and Ajay Parker from Toyo Computers, Ltd. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",
year = "2021",
month = nov,
day = "1",
doi = "10.3390/rs13214215",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "13",
journal = "Remote Sensing",
issn = "2072-4292",
publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)",
number = "21",
}