Mapping large, shallow inlets and bays: modelling a Natura 2000 habitat with digital terrain and wave-exposure models

Bekkby, T., and Isæus, M. 2008. Mapping large, shallow inlets and bays: modelling a Natura 2000 habitat with digital terrain and wave-exposure models. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 238–241. EU member countries are obliged to protect a certain share of Natura 2000 habitats. Hence, these habitats must be mapped. This paper is an attempt to provide a tool for modelling one of the Natura 2000 habitat, the “large shallow inlets and bays” (Natura 2000 habitat 1160), using a Norwegian archipelagic area as a case study. The Natura 2000 definition of the habitat is interpreted into criteria used for modelling, and a spatial prediction is presented on a map. The effect of scale, regarding both spatial resolution of data and methodology, is also tested. This is the first publicly accessible attempt to model the Natura 2000 habitat. It shows that the result of the modelling depends on the spatial resolution of the data and the methods used in the modelling process. Using data at a 10-m and a 25-m resolution provides good results, and even the model based on the 50-m data provided an acceptable overall picture.