Coastal Services Center

July 7th:
Steering Committee Meeting

Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard

A National Standard to Support Ecosystem-Based Resource Management

Coastal planners and resource managers routinely face challenges in ensuring data availability, quality, and consistency. This lack of suitable data has prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coastal Services Center, in partnership with NatureServe, to develop the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard Version III(CMECS), a standard ecological classification system that is universally applicable for coastal and marine systems and complementary to existing wetland and upland systems.

Why CMECS?

The CMECS framework accommodates the required physical, biological, and chemical information that collectively determine a marine habitat type. This aids managers in better understanding the processes impacting these habitats.

How Will It Be Used?

The CMECS structure is designed to support status and trend monitoring, policy development, restoration planning, ecological assessments, and fisheries management at the local and national levels.

Potential applications of CMECS include:

• Development of coastal marine biodiversity
• Delineation of regions for Marine Protected Areas
• Guideline development for protected area management
• Identification of important habitats and critical hotspots for conservation
• Identification of Essential Fish Habitat
• Scientific grounding for the development, implementation and monitoring of ecosystem-based management strategies for coastal systems

CMECS Components

CMECS Version III has three distinct components each describing a different aspect of the coastal and marine environment. Taken together, these components provide a structured way to organize information about coastal and marine habitats and a standard terminology for describing them. The fundamental component is the
Benthic Cover Component (BCC)
example Benthic Cover Unit, Coral Garden. This hierarchical system describes the geomorphologic, physico-chemical and biological composition of the coastal and marine substrate. The
Water Column Component (WCC)
example Water Column Component classifier-major ocean current, gulf stream, Northwest Atlantic describes the structure, patterns, processes and biology of the overlying water column. The Geoform Component (GFC)
mesogeoform atoll, Nikomaroro, Republic of Kiribati describes the major geomorphic or structural characteristics of the coast and seafloor at various scales. The flexibility of the CMECS classification standard will support a variety of local and regional applications.

Intended Audience

Mappers and data developers
Ecologists
Modelers
Resource Managers

Guidance for Users

The standard will be accompanied by guidance and protocols for mapping and a dichotomous key. Case studies and demonstration data sets will also be available.

For more information on CMECS, please contact Becky.Allee@noaa.gov.