Identification and Characterization of Gulf Habitats
Whooping crane pair. Photo credit: Texas Parks Wildlife Division
Long-term Alliance Partnership Goal
Identify, inventory, and assess the current state of and trends in priority coastal, estuarine, nearshore, and offshore Gulf of Mexico habitats to inform resource management decisions.
The Governors’ Action Plan identifies one associated action:
ID-1: Create and provide access to interactive habitat maps for priority Gulf of Mexico habitats
Action: Identify and assess the location, extent, variation, and condition of priority coastal, estuarine, nearshore, and offshore Gulf habitats, and establish a baseline information and mapping system. The system will provide comprehensive access to uniform, quality assured coastal habitat observations in the Gulf region by developing an Internet-accessible, geospatial database of local, state, and federal data sources.
36-Month Outcome:
- Produce a prototype Web portal to provide public access to and delivery of current and historic local, state, and federal Gulf of Mexico habitat data with the initial focus on sea grass beds. Users will be able to search a digital library for habitat information by keyword or geographic location, preview geospatial data, and download selected data products. The portal will also demonstrate the feasibility of building a distributed system that will enable users to request and retrieve data directly from the agencies holding the original data.
Roseate in flight. Photo credit: Texas Parks Wildlife Division
Highlights of Governors’ Action Plan Accomplishments
Priority Habitat Information System (PHINS) Digital Library and Spatial Data Viewer evaluation Web site
Ecosystem Data Assembly Center
portal Web site
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