Spatio-temporal variations in invertebrate−cod−environment relationships on the Newfoundland–Labrador Shelf, 1995−2009

We examined spatial and temporal relationships between snow crab Chionocetes opilio, shrimp Pandalus spp., Atlantic cod Gadus morhua and the environment (depth, tempera- ture and salinity) on the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelf from 1995 to 2009 using autumn multi- species trawl survey data. First, the core habitat of snow crab and shrimp was determined based on cumulative distribution functions of species abundance over depth and bottom temperature. On average, this method predicted the presence of crab and shrimp at 95 and 99% of trawl loca- tions, respectively, and indicated 90% of crab and shrimp inhabited temperature ranges of �1 to 4 and 0 to 4°C and depths of 100 to 500 and 150 to 450 m, respectively. Then geographically weighted regressions, based on trawl stations where species presence was predicted, indicated spatial non-stationarity between invertebrates and explanatory variables at scales