The goal of the Decision Support Tool (DST) from B-USEFUL is to maximize the uptake and harmonization of available European data for monitoring and assessing marine biodiversity.
Building on the
B-USEFUL project’s work in developing a standardized approach for modelling fish and demersal communities across European waters, the tool provides an interface to examine marine biodiversity. Users can use the tool to get an overview of species distributions and biodiversity in the North East Atlantic as a whole, or to explore details at a finer scale. The tool provides functionality to identify areas of e.g. high or low biodiversity value with filtering of taxonomic and functional diversity indices. By consolidating B-USEFUL results in a publicly accessible and interactive web application, the DST aims to improve ocean governance by enhancing uptake of biodiversity data into ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning.
When you use the DST, you can view the results for biodiversity of fish or demersal communities from various ICES and Mediterranean ecoregions, or the broader patters of the North East Atlantic. Results are organised under tabs for Species Distributions, Biodiversity Development and Interactive Tool - where users can apply custom filters to view summary statistics on biodiversity indices.
Usage and citation
The code and data in the B-USEFUL DST are available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Data downloaded through B-USEFUL DST are sourced from other ICES data portals, please check the disclaimer or readme in the download for specific information about the data, and guidance on citation. A suggested minimum citation is given below, please refer to ICES Data Policy for full conditions and guidance on citation.
Decision Support Tool (B-USEFUL) [date accessed]. ICES, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://ices-taf.shinyapps.io/buseful/
