Predictive modeling of suitable habitats for threatened marine invertebrates and implications for conservation assessment in Brazil

摘要: Spatial analysis and modeling tools were employed to predict suitable habitat distribution for threatened marine invertebrates estimate the overlap between highly areas these species Brazilian protected (MPAs). Records of occurrence obtained from collections included in Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS-Brazil), with additional records culled literature. The data 16 out 33 species, at least ten occurrences available records, selected by Maxent algorithm (Maximum Entropy Modeling) based on environmental variables (temperature, salinity, bathymetry their derivatives). resulting maps filtered a fixed threshold 0.5 (to distinguish only areas) superimposed MPA digital maps. produced reasonable predictions species' potential distributions, showing that patterns predicted model are largely consistent current knowledge species. showed little overlapping MPAs. This study how suitability can be assessed using GIS applications tools.