Marine habitats (modelled areas) In the Møre area on the West coast of Norway

The project had the aim to map intertidal and subtidal habitats at the Søre Sunnmøre area on the West coast of Norway. We collected data points in the intertidal and in the seaweed, kelp and red algae bed in the subtidal. These data were used to model the distribution of different habitats. Habitat data was analysed (using the R package mlogit for Multinomial Logit Models, CRAN - Package mlogit (r-project.org)) against modelled depth, seabed light, salinity, temperature and wave exposure. 30 habitats were modelled, which again was transformed into composite maps, identifying the most dominant habitat/species. The project was funded by the Norwegian Environment Agency, the Directorate of Fisheries, Møre and Romsdal County Municipality, the County Council of Møre and Romsdal and a selection of municipalities. The project was led by Trine Bekkby (Norwegian Institute for Water Research, NIVA) and the habitats were mapped in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) and the Institute for Marine Research (IMR). The maps presented here are based on the model developed by NIVA. The data are shape files, projection WGS84, UTS zone 33N