Abstract
Characterizing Nursery Habitats in Selected Texas Estuaries Track: Ecology and Conservation Author(s): Lynne Hamlin Estuarine habitats, such as marshes, submerged aquatic vegetation and oyster reefs, are considered nursery habitats since they provide food and refuge for diverse populations of fish and shellfish during their early life stages. A habitat's value as a nursery may also change spatially and temporally, and few GIS-based analyses have been performed to assess their relative importance as nursery habitats. This study examines 28 years of Texas Parks and Wildlife coastal fishery monitoring data to evaluate the habitat use patterns of fishery species in terms of their diversity and abundance of juvenile fish and shellfish. GIS is used to categorize geographic features, create abundance/diversity profiles, and subgroup data for use in multivariate analyses. Regression models are finally developed to describe species abundance/community changes among habitats and responses to environmental factors such as water temperature, freshwater inflow and changes in salinity. Lynne Hamlin Texas Parks and Wildlife Coastal Studies Team 3000 South IH35 Suite 320 Austin , TX 78704 US Phone: 512.912.7090 E-mail: lynne.hamlin@tpwd.state.tx.us |
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