Historic and Current Vegetation of Select Great Lakes Wetlands from 1938 to 2018
Citation
Strassman, AC. 2021. Historic and Current Vegetation of Select Great Lakes Wetlands from 1938 to 2018: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9NWCGLZ.
Summary
Coastal and estuarian wetlands in the Great Lakes Basin are increasingly impacted by habitat degradation, invasive species, and most recently (late 2010's), increased water levels. These wetlands act as an important buffer between the open lake and the near-shore areas, as key areas for nutrient cycling, as critical nurseries for many species of lake fish, and as habitat for numerous species of concern. Understanding how the cover and composition of these wetlands has changed over time is critical to making informed management decisions. By using both historical documents and imagery, multiple historic maps of wetland coverage were created in GIS to compare over time and to current maps and imagery of these critical wetlands.
Summary
Coastal and estuarian wetlands in the Great Lakes Basin are increasingly impacted by habitat degradation, invasive species, and most recently (late 2010's), increased water levels. These wetlands act as an important buffer between the open lake and the near-shore areas, as key areas for nutrient cycling, as critical nurseries for many species of lake fish, and as habitat for numerous species of concern. Understanding how the cover and composition of these wetlands has changed over time is critical to making informed management decisions. By using both historical documents and imagery, multiple historic maps of wetland coverage were created in GIS to compare over time and to current maps and imagery of these critical wetlands.
Click on title to download individual files attached to this item.
Purpose
The objectives of this project were to: (1) create rectified, GIS-ready data layers of the historic wetland maps found in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publication Fish and Wildlife Resources of the Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands within the United States (Herdendorf et al., 1981) and (2) create rectified, GIS-ready data layers of the current wetland habitat at sites with maps in the noted publication.
