Appendix B. Artificial stabilization treatments showing maerl tied to plastic mesh.

Artificial stabilization treatments showing maerl tied to plastic mesh

Appendix A. Location of field sites in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland.

Location of field sites in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland

Partial GAM plots for the best Gaussian models for each fished area.

<p>Each plot represents the variable’s response shape, independent of the other variables, in relation to the predicted <i>Nephrops</i> burrow density in the model. Slope (expressed in degrees) describes the rate of change in elevation over distance, the maximum possible range is from 0 (flat terrain) to 90 (steeper terrain) degrees; vrm: terrain rugosity (captures variability in slope and aspect into a single measure, it ranges from 0 (no terrain variation) to 1 (complete terrain variation). The ranges of environmental variables are represented on the x-axis and the related change in <i>Nephrops</i> density is represented on the y-axis (logit scale). The degree of smoothing is indicated in the y-axis label. The dotted lines represent the 95% confidence intervals around the response curve. For the Scotland Inshore and Fladen ground models the effects of each sediment class are shown as a boxplot. Sediments are divided into 6 classes (based on EUNIS classification level 4): Fine mud (M), muddy sand (MS), sand (S), coarse sand (CS), mixed sediments (MXS) and rocks (R). For more details see the main text.</p

Competing habitat suitability models for <i>Nephrops</i> in fished areas.

<p>Competing habitat suitability models for <i>Nephrops</i> in fished areas.</p

Simplified design of model construction, evaluation and analysis of transferability between two areas.

<p>Simplified design of model construction, evaluation and analysis of transferability between two areas.</p

The spatial patterns of the environmental variables used to map the habitat suitability models for each fished area including: depth (m), seabed sediment type (percentage of silt plus clay) for Aran Grounds (AG), Celtic Sea (CS) and Irish Sea (IS); sediment classes (fine mud (M), muddy sand (MS), sand (S), coarse sand (CS), mixed sediments (MXS) and rocks (R) for Scottish Inshore (SI) and Fladen ground (FG) (see the main text for details).

<p>Slope (degrees) the maximum possible range is from 0 to 90 degrees, with low values corresponding to flat ocean bottom (or areas of sediment deposition) while higher values indicate potential rocky ledges. Terrain ruggedness or rugosity values range from 0 (no terrain variation) to 1 (complete terrain variation).</p

Selected models for <i>Nephrops</i> habitat suitability.

<p>Selected models for <i>Nephrops</i> habitat suitability.</p

Case studies where spatial transferability has been tested in habitat suitability models.

<p>Case studies where spatial transferability has been tested in habitat suitability models.</p

Study area and video tow locations for <i>Nephrops</i> fished areas in the Northeast Atlantic.

<p>The sampling stations for are indicated as follows: (AG) Aran ground (in blue); (CS) Celtic Sea (in red); (IS) Irish Sea (in black); (SI) Scotland inshore waters (in green) and (FG) Fladen ground (in orange).</p

Model transferability between different fished areas.

<p>Model transferability between different fished areas.</p