Abstract

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Using GIS to Map Resource Injuries in Biscayne National Park
Track: Parks and Natural Reserves
Author(s): Rebecca Cassotis, Amanda Bourque, Chris Tilghman

Biscayne National Park (BISC) in Homestead, Florida, is among the largest marine parks in the National Park System. Sensitive natural resources within BISC include sea grass beds, coral reefs, mangrove forests, and hardwood hammocks. BISC's Damage Recovery Program is responsible for assessing and restoring resource injuries, primarily resulting from vessel groundings in sea rass and coral reef habitats. Survey-grade global positioning system equipment, a fathometer, and ArcGIS are used to assess vessel grounding injuries in sea grass habitats. Compared with manual methods, this efficient approach provides accurate data used to develop litigation-quality maps and measurements, calculate lost ecological services, and design restoration projects. Site-specific GPS data and hyperlinks to aerial imagery are overlain onto digital orthoquads. This data enables interpretation of historic grounding reports and sketches and identification of extensively injured areas for future resource protection measures. GIS enables BISC to manage ecological resources by applying resource injury data at multiple spatial scales.

Rebecca Cassotis
National Park Service
Biscayne National Park
9700 328th Street
Homestead , FL 33033
US
Phone: 305-230-1144
Fax: 305-230-1190
E-mail: rebecca_cassotis@nps.gov

Amanda Bourque
National Park Service
Biscayne National Park
9700 SW 328 Street
Homestead , FL 33033
US
Phone: 305-230-1144
E-mail: amanda_bourque@nps.gov

Chris Tilghman
National Park Service
Biscayne National Park
9700 SW 328 Street
Homestead , FL 33033
US
Phone: 305-230-1144
E-mail: george_tilghman@nps.gov