Master's thesis of Research: Habitat suitability modelling to predict the distribution of biological assemblages around hydrothermal vents from geological exploration data

The project's main objectives were to analyse the data obtained during geological exploration and use it to model and predict biological patterns in order to answer the main research questions: 1) Is there a statistical relationship between the environmental parameters and the benthic community composition and morphospecies observed? 2) Can predictive models be developed from this relationship? In achieving these main objectives, the project also developed recommendations for methods that could be applied during geological exploration voyages to maximise the potential use of data collected.