Abstract
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 |
|||||
