Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS)

FGDC Standards Working Group

July 7, 2010

Develop a national standard for consistent descriptions of coastal and marine ecological features

Allow local and regional users to report to a single national standard

Articulate with existing FGDC standards

What are the intended applications for CMECS?

Resource inventory Conservation and restoration

planning Individual habitat queries Conservation status assessment

and monitoring Ecosystem services management Regional and national resource

assessment Data sharing facilitation EFH delineation

FeaturesProvides framework to organize ecological relationships

and define unitsPresents geology, chemistry, physics, biology under a

single structureProvides approach for consistently naming units

as a basis for mappingto support development of condition assessment tools

CMECS Domain

CMECS domain covers all waters, substrates, benthos and sub-benthos of the coastal marine realm extending:

Landward to the tidal splash zone of the coasts, intertidal euhaline and brackish wetlands, and deep waters of the Great Lakes;

Up river / estuary to the head of tides where tide is equal to or greater than 0.2 ft (0.06 m) for at least part of the month;

Seaward to the deep ocean, including all continental and ocean waters and bottom.

System

Marine

Subsystem

CMECS System and Subsystem

Shallow Water

Deep Water

Tidal Riverine

Nearshore

Neritic

Oceanic

Limnetic

Littoral

Estuarine

Lacustrine

CMECS Components

Character of sediments and soils below substrate surface

Water Column Component

(WCC)

Benthic Biotic Component

(BBC)

Surface Geology Component

(SGC)

Sub-Benthic Component

(SBC)

Geoform Component

(GFC) Major geomorphic character or

structural character of coast or seafloor

Structure, characteristics, and processes of water column and associated biota

Composition of biota on sea floor surface

Geological composition of surface and near-surface substrates; surface features, including biogenic structures

Benthic Biotic Component

Class Biotic Group

Faunal Reef

Coral Reef

Faunal Bed

Aquatic Bed

Emergent Wetland

Scrub-shrub Wetland

Forested Wetland

Subclass

e.g., Macrocystis Community

Biotope

e.g., Kelp Foreste.g. Macroalgae

No Known Cover

CMECS AppliedClassification: System and Subsystem: Marine Nearshore

Subtidal Surface Geology Component

Class: Coral Reef Subclass: Back Reef Reef Morphology: Live Hardbottom

Benthic Biotic Component

Class: Faunal Bed Subclass: Epifauna Modifier: Sessile Biotic Group: Coral Garden Biotope: Mixed Soft Coral Community

Relationship to other FGDC standardsNational Wetland Standard (FGDC-STD-004)

National Vegetation Classification (FGDC-STD-005-2008)

Soils Geographic Data Standard (FGDC-STD-006)

Shoreline Metadata Standard (FGDC-STD-001.2-2001)

Integration with Existing Classification Approaches

NOAA Corals (Coral ecosystems)NOAA NERR System (Nearshore aquatic and coastal terrestrial

areas)Greene et al. (Pacific deepwater marine geoforms)MapCoast (Shallow subaqueous soil areas)System for Classifying Habitats in Estuarine and Marine

Environments [SCHEME] (Florida state waters)Shorezone (Alaska coast)

• National Park Service

• Gulf of Mexico Alliance

• IABIN

• OBIS

• Other international usage

Current Implementation

Stakeholder OutreachCoastal States OrganizationAssociation of State Wetland Managers State natural resource agencies NatureServe state networkLong Term Ecological Research program (LTER) EBM Tools network webinarsRegional governance entities

Responding to Review CommentsDatabase of commentsReview by the development teamSort by informative/normativeWorking group review of normative commentsDevelopment team evaluates and proposes revisions

to working groupRespond to all comments

THE END