gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:63298 eng UTF8 dataset NMFS Office of Science and Technology 301-427-8100 1315 East West Highway Silver Spring MD 20910 USA https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/ WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Website Website for this organization information 0700 - 1800 EST/EDT resourceProvider Haverland, Timothy J 301-427-8137 301-713-4137 1315 East West Hwy Silver Spring MD 20910-3282 USA tim.haverland@noaa.gov pointOfContact 2026-03-29T23:00:34 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata Part 2 Extensions for imagery and gridded data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) EPSG::4326 Predictive Models of Cetacean Densities in the California Current Ecosystem, 2020 2020-05-11 publication NOAA/NMFS/EDM 63298 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/63298 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Full Metadata Record View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. information mapDigital Species distribution models (SDMs) are important management tools for highly mobile marine species because they provide spatially and temporally explicit information on animal distribution. Two prevalent modeling frameworks used to develop SDMs for marine species are Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) and Boosted Regression Trees (BRTs), but comparative studies have rarely been conducted; most rely on presence-only data; and few have explored how features such as species distribution characteristics affect model performance. Since the majority of marine species BRTs have been used to predict habitat suitability, we first compared BRTs to GAMs that used presence/absence as the response variable. We then compared results from these habitat suitability models to GAMs that predict species density (animals km-2) because density models built with a subset of the data used here have previously received extensive validation. We compared both the explanatory power (i.e., model goodness-of-fit) and predictive power (i.e., performance on a novel dataset) of the GAMs and BRTs for a taxonomically diverse suite of cetacean species using a robust set of systematic survey data (1991-2014) within the California Current Ecosystem. Both BRTs and GAMs were successful at describing overall distribution patterns throughout the study area for the majority of species considered, but when predicting on novel data, the density GAMs exhibited substantially greater predictive power than both the presence/absence GAMs and BRTs, likely due to both the different response variables and fitting algorithms. Our results provide an improved understanding of some of the strengths and limitations of models developed using these two methods. These results can be used by modelers developing SDMs and resource managers tasked with the spatial management of marine species to determine the best modeling technique for their question of interest. These models have been used by the Navy and others to assess potential impacts on cetaceans in compliance with U.S. regulations such as the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, which require species specific assessments of the number of animals potentially affected by their activities. CREDIT: Becker, E.A., J.V. Carretta, K.A. Forney, J. Barlow, S. Brodie, R. Hoopes, M.G. Jacox, S.M. Maxwell, J.V. Redfern, N.B. Sisson, H. Welch, E.L. Hazen. 2020. Performance evaluation of cetacean species distribution models developed using generalized additive models and boosted regression trees. Ecology and Evolution, 10, 5759-5784. For Blue_whale_winter_spring: Hazen, E. L., Palacios, D. M., Forney, K. A., Howell, E. A., Becker, E., Hoover, A. L., … Bailey, H. (2017). WhaleWatch: A dynamic management tool for predicting blue whale density in the California Current. Journal of Applied Ecology, 54(5), 1415–1428. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365‐2664.12820 For Humpback_whale_winter_spring and Fin_whale_winter_spring: U.S. Department of the Navy. (2019). U.S. Navy Marine Species Density Database Phase III for the Northwest Training and Testing Study Area. NAVFAC Pacific Technical Report. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, Pearl Harbor, HI. 262 pp. ORIGINATORS: Southwest Fisheries Science Center; completed Forney, Karin A 831-771-4155 (858) 546-7003 7544 Sandholdt Rd Moss Landing CA 95039 USA karin.forney@noaa.gov M-F 8:00 - 16:30 pointOfContact Haverland, Timothy J 301-427-8137 301-713-4137 1315 East West Hwy Silver Spring MD 20910-3282 USA tim.haverland@noaa.gov custodian Gedamke, Jason 301-427-8133 1315 East West Highway Silver Spring MD 20910 jason.gedamke@noaa.gov custodian irregular Balaenoptera musculus Balaenoptera physalus Berardius bairdii California Current Ecosystem Delphinus delphis bairdii Delphinus delphis delphis Grampus griseus Lagenorhynchus obliquidens Lissodelphis borealis Megaptera novaeangliae Phocoenoides dalli Physeter macrocephalus Stenella coeruleoalba Tursiops truncatus cetacean density distribution small beaked whales theme California Eastern Pacific Ocean Oregon Washington place DOC/NOAA/NMFS/OST > Office of Science & Technology, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce dataCentre Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords 2017-04-24 publication 8.5 Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords GCMD Keyword Forum Page Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords information custodian NOAA Cetaceans and Sound Project (CetSound) project InPort otherRestrictions Cite As: NMFS Office of Science and Technology, [Date of Access]: Predictive Models of Cetacean Densities in the California Current Ecosystem, 2020 [Data Date Range], https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/63298. NOAA provides no warranty, nor accepts any liability occurring from any incomplete, incorrect, or misleading data, or from any incorrect, incomplete, or misleading use of the data. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether or not the data is suitable for the intended purpose. otherRestrictions Use Constraints: *** No Warranty*** The user assumes the entire risk related to its use of these data. NMFS is providing these data "as is," and NMFS disclaims any and all warranties, whether express or implied, including (without limitation) any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the accuracy or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. It is strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with these data to evaluate dataset limitations, restrictions or intended use. In no event will NMFS be liable to you or to any third party for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special or exemplary damages or lost profit resulting from any use or misuse of these data. unclassified NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP) NOAA/NMFS/EDM 63298 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/ost/dmp/pdf/63298.pdf WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP) NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. information crossReference eng; US biota oceans Microsoft Windows 10 Version 10.0 (Build 18363) ; Esri ArcGIS 12.6.3.24783 California, Oregon, Washington, Eastern Pacific Ocean -131 -117.097556 30.05 48.5061 | Currentness: Publication Date 1991-07-01T00:00:00Z 1991-11-30T00:00:00Z | Currentness: Publication Date 1993-07-01T00:00:00Z 1993-11-30T00:00:00Z | Currentness: Publication Date 1996-07-01T00:00:00Z 1996-11-30T00:00:00Z | Currentness: Publication Date 2001-07-01T00:00:00Z 2001-11-30T00:00:00Z | Currentness: Publication Date 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z 2005-11-30T00:00:00Z | Currentness: Publication Date 2008-07-01T00:00:00Z 2008-11-30T00:00:00Z | Currentness: Publication Date 2009-07-01T00:00:00Z 2009-11-30T00:00:00Z | Currentness: Publication Date 2014-07-01T00:00:00Z 2014-11-30T00:00:00Z false eng false GIS File Attributes for all species 2020-12-22 publication ESRI File Geodatabase NMFS Office of Science and Technology 301-427-8100 1315 East West Highway Silver Spring MD 20910 USA https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/office-science-and-technology WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology Website listed for NMFS Office of Science and Technology information 0700 - 1800 EST/EDT distributor https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=96ae05c033a540bf83e0f6c00a25cf5a WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=96ae05c033a540bf83e0f6c00a25cf5a Data access URL download dataset Completeness Report The entire study area was divided into approximately 7x10km cells (around 0.1° unprojected), and density, area, and abundance calculated for each. Conceptual Consistency No measure of horizontal quality was performed. Outputs from models were assigned to cells in the study area. 2020-05-11T00:00:00 Southwest Fisheries Science Center (858)546-7000 processor Source Contribution: Model outputs Model outputs