To support ongoing marine spatial planning in New Zealand, a numerical environmental classification using Gradient Forest models was developed using a broad suite of biotic and high-resolution environmental predictor variables. Gradient Forest modeling uses species distribution data to control the selection, weighting and transformation of environmental predictors to maximise their correlation with species compositional turnover. A total of 630,997 records (39,766 unique locations) of 1,716 taxa living on or near the seafloor were used to inform the transformation of 20 gridded environmental variables to represent spatial patterns of compositional turnover in four biotic groups and the overall seafloor community. Compositional turnover of the overall community was classified using a hierarchical procedure to define groups at different levels of classification detail. The 75-group level classification was assessed as representing the highest number of groups that captured the majority of the variation across the New Zealand marine environment. We refer to this classification as the New Zealand “Seafloor Community Classification” (SCC). Associated uncertainty estimates of compositional turnover for each of the biotic groups and overall community were also produced, and an added measure of uncertainty – coverage of the environmental space – was developed to further highlight geographic areas where predictions may be less certain owing to low sampling effort. Environmental differences among the deep-water New Zealand SCC groups were relatively muted, but greater environmental differences were evident among groups at intermediate depths in line with well-defined oceanographic patterns observed in New Zealand’s oceans. Environmental differences became even more pronounced at shallow depths, where variation in more localised environmental conditions such as productivity, seafloor topography, seabed disturbance and tidal currents were important differentiating factors. Environmental similarities in New Zealand SCC groups were mirrored by their biological compositions. The New Zealand SCC is a significant advance on previous numerical classifications and includes a substantially wider range of biological and environmental data than has been attempted previously. The classification is critically appraised and considerations for use in spatial management are discussed.

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Executive SummaryThe February 2017 "Road Mapping Workshop on Overcoming Barriers to Adoption of Composites in Sustainable Infrastructure" brought together designers, engineers, manufacturers, researchers, owners and end-users to identify barriers and potential solutions. Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite products produced in the US offer durable, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions in a variety of infrastructure applications as diverse as dams, bridges, highways, railroads, harbors and waterfront structures, utility poles, and buildings. The overall goal of the workshop was to identify the cross-cutting barriers that must be overcome to enable the adoption of world-leading US FRP composite technology, thereby saving construction costs, and creating a durable 21 st century infrastructure that supports economic growth. The workshop was a seminal event; it was the first time that such a complete cross section of interests was assembled to address the specific issue of enabling adoption of FRP composites in infrastructure. The meeting identified three activities (Durability Testing, Design Data Clearinghouse, and Training and Education) that, if enacted, will facilitate wider adoption of FRP composites technology that is potentially more reliable, durable, and costeffective than current solutions. The workshop resulted in a roadmap for addressing barriers to the adoption of FRP composites in infrastructure.Durability Testing: While FRP composites are highly durable and have been used in many applications for over 50 years, other materials, such as steel, wood, and aluminum, have been in widespread use for much longer. The FRP composite products last longer in corrosive environments than these other materials. For example, many of the FRP composite utility poles installed in the 1960s are still in use today, as compared to wood poles that may, in certain harsh environments, require repair or replacement every 25 years to 40 years due to rot, pest damage, and other degradation mechanisms.1 Over the last 50 years there have been many improvements in FRP composite resin, reinforcements, and processing. Consequently, for these new, advanced materials there is limited real-time aging data. Therefore, to reduce excessive design safety factors and maximize weight-savings, accelerated testing is necessary for the adoption of FRP composites used in long-term structural applications.The workshop participants recommended the development of durability standards, as well as predictive models and data to support those standards. Specifically, a five-year program is recommended to establish testbeds, gather data, and develop models that would result in reliable design tools. The resulting tools would then become widely available to the FRP composites industry, end-users, engineers, architects, and designers through an on-line dataportal. The workshop participants emphasized that industry involvement was vitally important to ensure that the durability standards be commercially relevant.Design Data Clearinghouse: Many FR...

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