Caminada Headland restoration area – 2019 habitat map, Louisiana Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring Program
Dates
Publication Date
2022-04-20
Time Period
2019-08-30
Citation
Thurman, H.R., Enwright, N.M., Dugas, J.L., Lee, D.M., and Cheney, W.C. 2022, Caminada Headland restoration area – 2019 habitat map, Louisiana Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring Program: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9Z1NT81.
Summary
This package includes a detailed habitat map, general habitat map, and georeferenced imagery from 2019 for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Caminada Headland Beach and Dune Restoration Incr2 project area (BA-0143). The project restored 489 acres of beach and dune habitat along more than seven miles of Caminada Headland in Jefferson and Lafourche Parishes through the direct placement of about 5.4 million cubic yards of sandy substrate from Ship Shoal. The habitat maps are part of a suite of Caminada Headland habitat maps for the years 2012, 2015, and 2017–19, which span the time period before, during, and after the restoration project was conducted. For more information on this restoration project, see the project page [...]
Summary
This package includes a detailed habitat map, general habitat map, and georeferenced imagery from 2019 for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Caminada Headland Beach and Dune Restoration Incr2 project area (BA-0143). The project restored 489 acres of beach and dune habitat along more than seven miles of Caminada Headland in Jefferson and Lafourche Parishes through the direct placement of about 5.4 million cubic yards of sandy substrate from Ship Shoal. The habitat maps are part of a suite of Caminada Headland habitat maps for the years 2012, 2015, and 2017–19, which span the time period before, during, and after the restoration project was conducted. For more information on this restoration project, see the project page on Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s (CPRA) Coastal Information Management System (https://cims.coastal.la.gov/outreach/projects/ProjectView?projID=BA-0143). The habitat maps developed for this effort were utilized together with ecological data in an avian analysis of habitat occupancy and use/function for several focal species pre- and post- restoration activity. The results of this analysis will help land managers evaluate how restoration and subsequent natural ecological processes impact bird species of conservation concern, and target restoration activities that enhance island sustainability and preserve avian habitat availability. The maps in this package use a detailed 15-class habitat scheme and a general eight-class habitat scheme developed by the CPRA’s Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) Program. The BICM Program uses both historical data and contemporary data collections to assess and monitor changes to barrier islands. Habitat map products developed using aerial imagery and lidar elevation data are one type of BICM dataset. For more information about the BICM Program, see Kindinger and others (2013); for more information about recent BICM habitat mapping, see Enwright and others (2020). The detailed habitat scheme builds off the general scheme used in previous BICM habitat mapping efforts (Fearnley and others, 2009). The additional classes developed in the detailed scheme are primarily used to further delineate various dune habitats, separate marsh and mangrove, and distinguish between beach and unvegetated barrier flat habitats. To ensure comparability between this effort and previous BICM map products, we have crosswalked the detailed classes to general habitat classes previously used by Fearnley and others (2009). This package includes recommended symbology for BICM detailed habitat classes and BICM general habitat classes with and without outlines.
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197.06 MB
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Caminada_Headland_2019_Habitat_Classification.xml Original FGDC Metadata
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19.37 KB
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Purpose
Barrier islands provide numerous invaluable ecosystem services including storm protection and erosion control for the mainland, habitat for fish and wildlife, salinity regulation in estuaries, carbon sequestration in marshes, recreation, and tourism (Barbier and others, 2011). Since the resources they provide are integral to economic and environmental interests, it is imperative that they are managed in a way that ensures resiliency and the continued provision of ecosystem goods and services over time. These islands are very dynamic environments due to their position at the land-sea interface. Storms, wave energy, tides, currents, and relative sea-level rise are powerful forces that shape barrier island geomorphology and habitats. The habitat products developed through this effort were used in an analysis of avian habitat availability and patterns of distribution, abundance, and behavior before and after restoration activity, which can help land managers target restoration activities that produce the best outcome for multiple stakeholders, including preserving habitat needed by species of conservation concern. Additionally, the maps will provide a powerful tool for tracking changes to barrier island habitats over time. Please consult the accompanying readME.txt file for information and recommendations on the contents of this dataset (i.e., dataset and recommended symbology).
