The Florida Marine Blueprint V. 2 depicts marine and estuarine priorities based on combined natural resource priorities, providing guidance for efficient and effective conservation planning and implementation.
The FLMB Version 2 used six natural resource datasets to prioritize area of natural habitats in Florida’s EEZ extent. The datasets comprised 19 separate spatial feature layers acquired through a variety of monitoring and management organizations. Spatial layers represent vital conservation and/or management data, such as endangered and threatened species (i.e., critical habitat), overall species richness in estuarine habitats, commercially and recreationally important species (i.e., essential fish habitat), habitat quality (i.e., seagrass beds), coral and coral reef habitats, Net Primary Productivity, etc.
Priorities were developed using Zonation, a conservation planning software that combines feature layers into a weighted model that emphasizes the areas of highest conservation value and ranks every pixel against all others by value. Ranked values were then classified into 5 categories from highest to lowest priority. Methods are similar to thosed used in the Southeast Conservation Blueprint (formerly the South Atlantic Conservation Blueprint).
The FLMB is meant for large scale conservation planning and prioritization. It enables planners to view overall priorities for maximizing conservation values. The data represent the best available data for a many crucial Additional data and expert knowledge may contribute to planning on a more local scale.
As with all planning tools, the data are subject to limitations. Please see the technical report for specific limitations but in general:
• some fish distributions and critical habitat may overestimate or underestimate species ranges in some areas
• Some feature layers were down-sampled from coarser resolutions for analyses
• Richness layers reflect abundant species only, and so do not reflect a true richness measure
• Sampling methods vary is species sizes, life stages, etc. and may potentially exclude some individuals.
* Some features may not be represented in available data and so may underrepresented in Blueprint priorities (but will be included in future versions as they become available).
The Blueprint does provide a valuable overview of relative priorities for important marine and estuarine resources. When used for conservation planning at an appropriate scale, it provides a useful tool for data-informed decision making. Additional tools, expert knowledge, and consideration of limitations together with the Blueprint priorities provides the best scientific platform for shared knowledge and collaborative management decisions.
