Using the Seafloor Disturbance Model to understand the dynamics of seafloor disturbance and recovery

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This model is used to create exploratory scenarios, parameterised using local data on seafloor sediments and fisheries catch, to understand implications of individual stressors of land-based sediment inputs and of intensity of bottom impacts from trawl fisheries on benthic communities.

• The seafloor model can be used to increase understanding of spatial variation in location of two major stressors (bottom fishing impact and sediments from land).
• The seafloor model can explore the magnitude of interventions required to enable recovery of the seafloor ecosystem, particularly benthic structure.
• The model uses a simplified structure to explore the complexities of ecosystem-based management where multiple overlapping uses and stressors must be managed within a complex and dynamic system. 

The spatially-explicit cumulative effects tools project worked with NIWA to design tools to assist in visualising the spatial extent and patterns of multiple stressors from both land and sea to better understand how stressors overlap with each other and with the distributions of marine organisms, habitats and ecosystems. Find out more.