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biota, BIOLOGY, coastal, environment, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), Zostera marina, eelgrass, oceans, habitat
Eelgrass beds along the Maine coast have been mapped in order to better understand their importance as habitat, to record the present day distribution, and to aid in the identification of this sensitive.
Maine's eelgrass meadows form an important marine and estuarine coastal aquatic habitat for the state. Along with other plants, eelgrass forms the base of food production in the sea. Eelgrass provides shelter for juvenile fish, and invertebrates, is a site for primary settlement of the larvae of some bivalve mollusks, and in certain locations helps to stabilize unconsolidated sediments and shorelines. In August 2013, Casco Bay was flown and photographed. Photography was timed near low tides with low wind velocity, good water clarity, and maximum biomass of eelgrass. These factors aid in the detection of the subtidal portion a bed. Polygons delineating stands of eelgrass were screen digitized and coded using a four category scale of percent cover. Verification was carried out by boat, on foot, and by plane. Though dense patches of eelgrass approximately 6 meters in diameter and less can be identified under good conditions and in some cases were mapped, a conservative estimate of the minimum mapping unit is 150 square meters. This represents a stand of approximately 14 meters in diameter.
Maine Department of Environmental Protection with project support and contract administration by Casco Bay Estuary Partnership
Users must assume responsibility in determining the usability of this data for their purposes. Digital maps retain the accuracy of their source materials. The best use of data mapped at scales of 1:500,000 and 1:250,000 is in statewide planning and studies; at 1:100,000 in regional planning and studies; at 1:62,500 and 1:24,000 in detailed studies and local planning; and at 1:12,000 and 1:5,000 or larger scales in parcel level studies and detailed local planning. In the use of Maine GIS data, please check sources, scale, accuracy, currentness and other available information. Please confirm that you are using the correct copy of both data and metadata from the Maine GIS Data Catalog. Updates, corrections, and feedback, incorporated in the Maine GIS database are made in accordance with "Data Standards for Maine Geographic Information Systems", 2002, and coordinated by MEGIS.
Extent
There is no extent for this item.
Maximum (zoomed in) | 1:5,000 |
Minimum (zoomed out) | 1:150,000,000 |
Maine Department of Environmental Protection with project support and contract administration by Casco Bay Estuary Partnership
Users must assume responsibility in determining the usability of this data for their purposes. Digital maps retain the accuracy of their source materials. The best use of data mapped at scales of 1:500,000 and 1:250,000 is in statewide planning and studies; at 1:100,000 in regional planning and studies; at 1:62,500 and 1:24,000 in detailed studies and local planning; and at 1:12,000 and 1:5,000 or larger scales in parcel level studies and detailed local planning. In the use of Maine GIS data, please check sources, scale, accuracy, currentness and other available information. Please confirm that you are using the correct copy of both data and metadata from the Maine GIS Data Catalog. Updates, corrections, and feedback, incorporated in the Maine GIS database are made in accordance with "Data Standards for Maine Geographic Information Systems", 2002, and coordinated by MEGIS.
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polygon attribute table
QGIS
Internal feature number.
ESRI
Eelgrass percent cover based on crown cover categories as adapted by Orth et al and described in Orth, R.J., J.F. Nowak, D.J. Wilcox, J.R. Whiting, and L.S. Nagey. 1998. Distribution of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay and Tributaries and the Coastal Bays –1997. VIMS Special Scientific Report Number 138. 351 pp.
user defined
Area of polygon in hectares
user calculated
Recalculated prior to publication. ID = FID + 1
QGIS
Calendar year that photography was aquired.
Date of photography
Area of polygon in acres
user calculated
Feature geometry.
ESRI
CascoBayEelgrass2013 POLYGONS are attributed with percent of eelgrass COVER.
CascoBayEelgrass2013 POLYGONS are attributed with percent of eelgrass COVER.