| Abstract | Including ecology in biodiversity data management systems requires classifications of
habitat terms that provide standard definitions and indicate their relationships. In addition to databases,
a wide range of intergovernmental, conservation and fishery organizations require classifications
of habitats and ecosystems to enable comparisons between areas and organize information in
maps and reports. However, all of the terms used to describe habitats are concepts whose definition
is context-dependent. This paper reviews the key concepts and ecological perspectives involved in
classifying marine ‘habitats’ and ‘biotopes’ (habitat plus its associated species) so as to advise how
they may be used in data management systems. Classifications of biotopes provide practical measures
of biodiversity at the ecosystem level. As an example the habitat of a benthic invertebrate is
very different in spatial scale to that of a parasite, plankton, tuna or whale. Habitats can be geophysical
and/or biogenic, and may operate at different spatial scales. For example, aggregations of deepsea
coral colonies sponges). An ecosystem can be physiographically defined as a lagoon, seamount, estuary,
abyssal plain or entire ocean. Different sampling methods will define different regions, such as satellite
images of ocean colour, acoustic maps of the seabed, in situ sampling of water or sediment cores
and maps derived from analyses of species distributions that may define biogeographic regions.
Because they are sampled (and thus defined) by different methods and can operate at different spatial
scales, separate classifications are recommended for (1) nekton, plankton and benthos and (2)
regions (defined to suit political, geographic or management areas), seascapes (defined by topography
or water mass), biotopes and guilds (e.g. based on body size, diet or sampling method). Furthermore,
it is recommended to record the measurable features used to describe biotopes (e.g. depth,
dominant species, substratum) and to avoid imposing a classification hierarchy where the concepts
and methods of defining them are different. Indeed, one can let users create the most parsimonious
classification for their purposes.
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