Habitat Mapping and Monitoring

Habitat classifications are useful tools to help monitor and evaluate habitat and species restoration, conservation, and management efforts.  For several years, NOAA and NatureServe have collaborated on a national marine, estuary, and coastal habitat classification system that would facilitate the coordinated management of ocean ecosystem services. UI FERL field research technicians and GIS analysts combined to test a proposed national habitat classification in the Columbia River Estuary, and recommended improvements to the classification design for applied use by scientists and resource managers. A focal species for the test was upriver migrant Chinook salmon and their use of tide for migration advantage. Several products resulted from the estuary study:

·         GIS data layers for scaled formations, zones, macrohabitats and habitats within the Columbia River Estuary;

·         A database of standardized terminology for benthic and pelagic estuarine macrohabitats;

·         The design and application of multiple electronic research tools on a small jetboat, suitable for estuary and coastal research;

·         Peer-reviewed publications and reports.