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A GUIDE TO MAPPING INTERTIDAL EELGRASS AND NONVEGETATED HABITATS IN ESTUARIES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST USA
Citation:
CLINTON, P. J., D. R. YOUNG, D. T. SPECHT, AND H. LEE. A GUIDE TO MAPPING INTERTIDAL EELGRASS AND NONVEGETATED HABITATS IN ESTUARIES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST USA. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-07/062, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
To provide guidance for planning and implementing the production of aerial photomaps of intertidal vegetative habitats in coastal estuaries of the Pacific Northwest
Description:
This document provides technical guidance for planning and implementing the production of aerial photomaps of intertidal vegetative habitats in coastal estuaries of the Pacific Northwest USA (PNW). The focus is on methods of documenting the intertidal distribution of the seagrass Zostera marina L. (eelgrass), which is known to be an important habitat and/or food source for numerous estuarine and marine species. Emphasis is placed on utilizing the large tidal range in the PNW to photograph the exposed and floating components of eelgrass distributions via color infrared film, which has been found to provide good contrast between vegetated and nonvegetated substrates not covered by water. A detailed classification procedure is described that has yielded good agreement between the intertidal and near-subtidal distributions of eelgrass obtained from the aerial photomaps and ground surveys. Example Statements of Work for the procurement of aerial photography and digital photogrammetry through outside contractors also are provided. The procedures described should be of use to government and non-government organizations in the mapping of estuarine intertidal vegetative habits both in the PNW and in other coastal regions with large tidal ranges.