Your NOAA supervisor has been pushing maps as an important tool for marine management. Because of the interconnected nature of ocean systems, any local activity must be approached with a regional and even global lens. If you read the instructions for the last section of your Course Project application report, you will see it is necessary to review the large scale implications of your proposed project facility. In preparation for this, your supervisor recommends you explore some spatial patterns in diversity. They have specifically asked you to study two different maps:

1. one at a global scale to think of latitudinal patterns
2. a regional map of the California coastline to determine if your project could at all be affected by recent state-specific legislation.

Based on these maps and your learning materials from this week, demonstrate your knowledge on marine diversity by drafting a professional email (of approximately one page of written text) to your supervisor split into two sections based on the maps below. For advice on writing clean communicative messages to colleagues, check out the following website. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-professional-email

Instructions:

• Map 1 (Global patterns): Open and explore the following Marine Biodiversity Map: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Viewer/index.html?appid=71d4ea1108164f53b08e64731a01681e
• Also explore the "wave" layer on the following website: https://www.windy.com/-Waves-waves?waves,41.687,-81.340,5
  • Use the map to answer several questions: First, identify the global patterns in marine biodiversity. What trends do you see in diversity? Is there any pattern based on latitude? What regions seem the most diverse? What regions seem the least diverse? Can you think of specific drivers that explain the diversity hotspots? Most importantly, link these hotspots to your project application. How might your local project affect species on a global scale? The video "How do Ocean Currents Work?" in your learning materials may help with your analysis. (This work can directly contribute to Section 5 of your course project).
• Map 2: Coastal California Benthic Habitats Explore the following StoryMap: Healthy Habitat, Healthy Oceans: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=d3a2b983248f4818a30c4d07b076e9b0
  • This map documents new state legislation in California protecting specific benthic hotspots. After working through the StoryMap, report back to your supervisor in your email answering the following questions: What is bottom-trawling and how is this legislation aiming to regulate it? What work have NOAA and Oceana completed to identify where the most important benthic hotspots off California exist? Based on the primary papers read this week (Connell 1961 and Zaneveld 1969), what processes do you think contribute to benthic diversity? Which of the newly designated protection areas are closest in location to your project application site? Might you need to consider these hotspots in your report? How might your project ecosystem connect to the benthic communities of California?