Data Management Plan

This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for rare, threatened, and endangered plants in Chesapeake Bay and the Outer Coasts of Maryland and Virginia. Vector polygons in this data set represent general distributions for these species. Species specific abundance, seasonality, status, life history, and source information are stored in relational data tables (described below) designed to be used in conjunction with this spatial data layer. This data set comprises a portion of the ESI data for Chesapeake Bay and the Outer Coasts of Maryland and Virginia. ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil. The ESI data include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources.

This reflects the extent of all land and water features included in the overall Chesapeake Bay and Outer Coasts of Maryland and Virginia 2016 ESI study region. The bounding box for this particular feature class may vary depending on occurrences identified and mapped.

Lineage Statement:
This atlas supersedes two separate first edition atlases, Virginia (2005, #25) and Maryland (2007, #47).

Process Steps:

• 2016-09-01 00:00:00 - The Maryland Department of Natural Resources provided the majority of data for rare, threatened, and endangered plant species from their Ecologically Significant Areas (ESAs) of Maryland database. Data from the ESAs came in the form of generalized polygons within which multiple threatened or endangered species can often be found. Species include two federally listed species: seabeach amaranth (FT, VA ST, MD SE) and sensitive joint-vetch (FT, VA ST, MD SE) as well as numerous Maryland state listed species. To simplify display of this data, species names were generalized to reflect the Maryland state status, either "threatened plant" or "endangered plant". When more than one state threatened, or endangered species is found in the same polygon, this is recorded in the concentration field of the attribute table. For example, if two endangered plant species occur in the same polygon, this would result in a single record attributed with "species present" in the concentration field. If there is no attribute in the concentration field, than only a single species is present. Lists of plant genera mapped from ESA data for the ESI can be found in the introductory pages. Data for sensitive joint-vetch and seabeach amaranth in National Wildlife Refuges was provided as personal communication by USFWS staff and as NWR reports. Occurrences of seabeach amaranth within the Assateague Island National Seashore were provided by NPS staff. Additional occurrences of rare plant species within Chincoteague and Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuges were provided by USFWS staff via personal communication. The above digital and/or hardcopy sources were compiled by the project biologist to create the HABITATS data layer. Depending on the type of source data, three general approaches are used for compiling the data layer: 1) information gathered during initial interviews and from hardcopy sources are compiled onto U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 topographic quadrangles and digitized; 2) hardcopy maps are digitized at their source scale; 3) digital data layers are evaluated and used "as is" or integrated with the hardcopy data sources. See the Lineage section for additional information on the type of source data for this data layer. The ESI, biology, and human-use data are compiled into the standard ESI digital data format. A second set of interviews with participating resource experts are conducted to review the compiled data. If necessary, edits to the HABITATS data layer are made based on the recommendations of the resource experts, and final hardcopy maps and digital data are created.

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).