Abstract:
Habitat suitability modeling (HSM) is a tool for predicting the suitability of habitat for a given species based on known affinities with environmental parameters. This technique was chosen for this project to provide a synoptic view of habitat suitability for specific species as well as assess habitat suitability for species assemblages. One HSM technique is termed "habitat suitability index
... (HSI) modeling". HSI models are simple mathematical expressions for calculating a unitless index of habitat quality as a function of one or more environmental variables. Using GIS, these index values can be mapped and analyzed to portray areas of potential distribution for a species (Brown et al., 2000). High-quality habitat may provide high carrying capacity and support higher rates of growth, survival, or reproduction for a given species, whereas low-quality or unsuitable habitat may have little or no carrying capacity (Brown et al., 2000). The HSI methods were adapted from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Habitat Evaluation Procedures program (USFWS, 1980a, 1980b, 1981) to provide spatially explicit estimates of suitability across the entire study area. It is important to note that the model results depict potentially suitable habitat for a given species and not actual distribution. This section provides the methodology, results, validation, and interpretation of HSI models developed for selected adult and juvenile stages of commercially and recreationally important groundfish and invertebrate species. The models are based on species' affinities to substrate types and bathymetric ranges (Monaco et al., 1998). 
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