MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands' SAERI project on Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems of the Southwest Atlantic

Dr Tabitha Pearman chairing the session ‘Habitat mapping for maritime spatial planning within an ecosystem based approached’.

Research from the Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VME) project has been showcased at the GeoHab Conference held at The Venice International University in Italy during the month of May 2022.

GeoHab is an international conference that brings together geological and biological mapping specialists to present the latest mapping methodological developments and findings from shallow coasts to deep-sea settings.

SAERI scientist, Dr Tabitha Pearman presented her research focused on creating predictive distribution maps of VMEs in the Falkland Islands Conservations Zones. Predictive distribution maps use mathematics to capture the relationship between where species occur and the environment, which is then used to extrapolate species distributions beyond where they have been sampled but the environment is known. The talk generated a lot of interest because so little is known of southern Patagonian deep-sea environments and scientist were keen to hear how government fisheries, fishermen and scientists can work together to achieve common goals.

Due to her expertise, Dr Pearman was also asked to chair the session ‘Habitat mapping for maritime spatial planning within an ecosystem based approach’. This area of research looks at how habitat maps can be used by government, fishermen and other marine users to manage their marine resources.

In recognition of the important work that SAERI is doing via the VME project Dr Pearman received sponsorship to attend the conference from the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI) deep-sea experts travel grant.

An award supported by the Ocean Foundation and High Seas Alliance.