GIS-based modeling of marine zoobenthos habitat and mapping application in Bohai Bay Ecoregion

The inherent complexity and variability of marine environments make predicting biodiversity patterns particularly challenging. In this study, we present an integrated GIS based model for mapping the habitat suitability of marine zoobenthos. The framework combines a species distribution suitability index with 15 environmental variables—including ecological zoning, physical habitat, geoform and substate types, sediment and water quality—to generate multi-species, rapid, iterative predictions in ArcGIS. We applied the model in Bohai Bay Ecoregion to four benthic taxa: the rare and endangered Saccoglossus huangtauensis and Upogebia major, together with the commercially important shrimp Palaemon graviera and clam Meretrix meretrix. Habitat suitability maps were produced for each species, and model outputs corresponded closely with field survey data on species distributions. By explicitly incorporating both ecological zoning and physical habitat parameters, the model captures benthic habitat characteristics across three dimensions—geoform, substrate, and water column—and can simultaneously output suitability layers for multiple species. The findings fill a critical gap in benthic habitat modelling for Bohai Bay, offer a technical reference for rapid, multi species suitability assessments in other marine regions, and hold broad promise for application in marine ecological conservation and resource management.