Data Management Plan

This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for wading birds, shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors, diving birds, seabirds, passerine birds, and gulls and terns in Maine and New Hampshire. Vector polygons in this data set represent bird nesting, migratory staging, and wintering sites. Species-specific abundance, seasonality, status, life history, and source information are stored in associated data tables (described below) designed to be used in conjunction with this spatial data layer. This data set is a portion of the ESI data for Maine and New Hampshire. As a whole, the ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil, and include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources. See also the BIRDSPT (Bird Points) data layer for additional bird information.

This reflects the extent of all land and water features included in the overall Maine and New Hampshire ESI study region. The bounding box for this particular feature class may vary depending on occurrences identified and mapped.

Process Steps:

• 2016-01-01 00:00:00 - All of the digital polygon source data received from New Hampshire (NH) and Maine for birds were edited as needed to match the NOAA ESI Shoreline layer included in this atlas. Major sources for bird concentration areas and seasonality depicted in this data include the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) and New Hampshire Audubon. Pamela Hunt, Senior Biologist with New Hampshire Audubon, and NH Important Bird Area (IBA) Coordinator, provided specific locations of nesting sites, concentration areas, and general distribution notes for 96 species of birds. NH Important Bird Areas within this atlas include Great Bay, Hampton/Seabrook Estuary, Isles of Shoals, and Pease Grasslands. Dr. Adrienne Kovach, UNH, provided additional nesting information on the Salt Marsh Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Nelson's Sparrow (Ammodramus nelsoni). Dr. James Coyer, UNH provided additional information on bird concentrations on the Isles of Shoals. Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) and Least Tern (Sterna antillarum) nesting, feeding, and brood-rearing areas, as well as Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) nesting areas, are identified and mapped as Essential Habitat by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW). These data are provided by the MDIFW solely for individual use or the use of a company or agency for the purpose stated. Boundaries may change as additional survey data become available. The designation of essential habitats is an ongoing process, where sites may be added, deleted and/or revised following public rulemaking. As a result, information and maps will be periodically updated. To be certain the most current essential habitat maps and documents are consulted, users are advised to carefully monitor update notices and version dates. Landowners, project planners, municipalities or state agencies considering a project in or near an Essential Habitat should immediately contact an MDIFW Regional Wildlife. (Citation: BIRD LOCATIONS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE)
• 2016-01-01 00:00:00 - This data includes "High Value Habitat Areas for Harlequin Ducks in Maine" from MDIFW's "Endangered, Threatened, & Special Concern" (ETSC) observations database. Because this is a state listed Threatened Species and there are less than 2,000 Harlequins wintering in Maine, the Harlequin Dataset includes all sites where Harlequins were documented during the coast wide survey conducted in 2008 and the most recent survey of the core wintering area (outer Penobscot and Jericho Bays) conducted in March 2012. Intended use is to protect these habitats from degradation from oil spill, development projects and impacts from associated human activities. (Citation: HARLEQUINDUCKS2015 (HIGH VALUE HABITAT AREAS FOR HARLEQUIN DUCKS IN MAINE))
• 2016-01-01 00:00:00 - This data also includes the "NRPA-Protected Inland Waterfowl/Wading Bird Habitats" layer representing Inland Waterfowl/Wading bird Habitat (IWWH), a Significant Wildlife Habitat defined under Maine's Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA; http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/docstand/nrpapage.htm). IWWHs with a high or moderate rating meet the Significant Wildlife Habitat definition and are protected under NRPA. Low-rated IWWHs are NOT included in this layer because they do not meet the definition and are not protected under NRPA. Boundaries and attributes of polygons in organized townships were updated in 2008 by MDIFW staff using recent (2001-2007), high-resolution (<=1 m), color orthoimagery. For most polygons, multiple images from different years and seasons were used. Polygons in unorganized townships were mapped by MDIFW regional staff in the 1990s from lower-resolution orthoimagery, various wetland data sets, and field visits or via an automated process developed by Heather Rustigian and William Krohn (USGS Biological Resources Division) using statewide digital NWI (National Wetlands Inventory) data, aerial imagery, and hydrology data. Each IWWH boundary includes a 250-foot upland zone around the wetland perimeter. Upland zones were edited to exclude areas of intensive development, slivers crossing major roads into non-wetland habitat, and shorelines >250 feet from a vegetated, non-forested wetland on Great Pond. Changes to polygon boundaries and IWWH ratings are occasionally made based on a field visit by an MDIFW regional biologist. The last such modification was made 2012-08-22. (Citation: IWWH (NRPA-PROTECTED INLAND WATERFOWL / WADING BIRD HABITATS))
• 2016-01-01 00:00:00 - Also included are MDIFW's "High Value Habitat Areas for Purple Sandpipers in Maine" data which is based on a subset of habitat areas for Purple Sandpipers (Calidris maritima) from MDIFW's "Endangered, Threatened, & Special Concern" (ETSC) data. This dataset represents a subset of Purple Sandpiper wintering areas documented during a coast wide systematic survey effort conducted between 2001 and 2007. Areas selected for this dataset represents all sites with documented use by flocks of 100 or more Purple Sandpipers. This dataset does not include areas with documented use of less than 100 Purple Sandpipers. This subset represents 124 Purple Sandpiper areas out of a total of 380 areas with documented use by Purple Sandpipers. (Citation: PURPLESANDPIPERS2015 (HIGH VALUE HABITAT AREAS FOR PURPLE SANDPIPERS IN MAINE))
• 2016-01-01 00:00:00 - Also included are MDIFW's "NPRA - Significant Shorebird Wildlife Habitat" data which includes surveyed species for mapping Significant Wildlife Habitat under the Maine Natural Resources Protection Act. Polygons have been modified by MDIFW to better align habitat boundaries with natural features based on high resolution, low tide imagery from Maine DMR. (Citation: SHOREBIRD_2015 (NPRA - SIGNIFICANT SHOREBIRD WILDLIFE HABITAT))
• 2016-01-01 00:00:00 - Also included is the MDIFW's 2015 "NPRA - Significant Wading Bird Colony Habitat" data which represent wading bird colonies that have been active in recent years (2009-2013). These wading bird colonies contain nesting pairs of one or more of the following species: great blue heron (Ardea Herodias), black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), snowy egret (Egretta thula), great egret (Ardea alba), little blue heron (Egretta caerulea), and glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus). The layer was created from aerial survey or ground survey data. The polygons primarily include the island on which the birds are nesting. The one exception is Seven-hundred Acre Island in Islesboro, which was created by only capturing the colony and the two nearby coves and corresponding shoreline. (Citation: WADINGBIRDCOLONIES2015 (NRPA - SIGNIFICANT WADING BIRD COLONY HABITAT))
• 2016-01-01 00:00:00 - Also included is the MDIFW's 2015 "High Concentration Areas of Winter Waterfowl" layer which is based on annual mid-winter waterfowl inventory data from 2003-2013 to determine areas along the Maine coast that support high concentrations of wintering waterfowl. Mid-winter survey sub-sections (minus land area) were used as area units. Point data from the mid-winter inventory was spatially joined to the survey sub-section polygons (minus the land area) and the number of ducks per unit area was calculated. The resulting polygons were converted to a raster format, using the "DucksPerSquareMile" attribute as the raster value. A separate raster layer was completed for each year from 2003-2013. The "Raster Calculator" tool in ArcGIS was then used to get the average ducks per unit area for the 10 year period. The raster was then classified using "natural breaks" and the two highest categories were subsequently reclassified into a new raster layer. This final layer represents areas that had an average of between 149-421 ducks per square mile from 2003-2013. (Citation: WINTERWATERFOWL2015 (HIGH CONCENTRATION AREAS OF WINTER WATERFOWL))
• 2016-01-01 00:00:00 - Also included is the MDIFW's "Rafting Bird Concentration Areas" data which are based on data collected by MDIFW staff in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The data are from aerial surveys of coastal waterbirds conducted over several seasons from 2000 through 2004. Winter data were obtained from coastal mid-winter waterfowl surveys of 2004. Bird counts were combined with vulnerability rankings to calculate a density number in order to pinpoint the most important rafting bird habitat areas. Density contours were plotted, and areas with numbers indicating concentrations of 200 or more individuals are shown on the maps. (Citation: RAFTINGBIRDS (RAFTING BIRD CONCENTRATION AREAS))
• 2016-01-01 00:00:00 - Also included are MDIFW's Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Maine Species of Special Concern) nest sites in Maine which are mapped as Essential Habitat by the MDIFW. The 2005 data set consists of polygons representing quarter mile circular buffer around bald eagle nests. (Citation: ETSC (ENDANGERED, THREATENED, OR SPECIES OF CONCERN))

Data can be accessed by downloading the zipped ArcGIS geodatabase from the Download URL (see Distribution Information). Questions can be directed to the ESI Program Manager (Point Of Contact).