Data Management Plan (Deprecated)

This feature class resides within the BIOLOGY Feature Data Set of the Georgia - 2015 ESI Geodatabase. It contains sensitive biological resource data for marine, and estuarine invertebrate species in Georgia. Vector polygons in this data set represent invertebrate distribution, spawning areas, and concentration areas. 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 Georgia. 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 Georgia ESI study region. The bounding box for this particular feature class may vary depending on occurrences identified and mapped.

Lineage Statement:
Four main sources of data were used to depict invertebrate distribution and seasonality for this data layer: 1) personal interviews with resource experts from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GADNR); 2) fishery-independent sampling data provided by GADNR; 3) fishery-independent sampling data provided by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC) Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP); and 4) vector digital data on oyster reef locations provided by GADNR.

Process Steps:

• 2015-06-01 00:00:00 - Nearshore marine and estuarine distributions of brown, white, and pink shrimp, as well as Atlantic brief squid, blue crab, cannonball jellyfish, and horseshoe crab were mapped primarily using data provided by GADNR and the SEAMAP. Distribution and life history information from Estuarine Living Marine Resources (ELMR) program (Nelson et al. 1991) was used exclusively for blue crab, and brown, white, and pink shrimp species in the Altamaha and Savannah estuary systems. Presence and absence by month calculated from GADNR and ASMFC data used the exact same methods as were used for fish species. The fishery-independent Ecological Monitoring Trawl Survey was summarized by GADNR staff for the sampling years 2004-2013 and by sampling region. Summary statistics included the frequency of each species caught during each month for each sampling region, as well as the abundance of each species by month and sampling region. Sampling regions were provided as a shapefile by GADNR staff. Species that were found to occur with a 10% frequency or higher in a given month for a given sampling region were marked as present for that month and sampling region. Additional life history seasonalities, such as larvae, eggs, and spawning months, were typically gathered from interviews with resource experts at GADNR, USFWS Species Profiles, or ELMR Program data (Nelson et al. 1991). For the nearshore area out to 10m depth, invertebrate species distribution and seasonalities were supplemented with data from the SEAMAP program of the ASMFC. Fishery-independent sampling for the SEAMAP program is conducted in roughly three months out of the year, April, July, and October, however sampling in practice strays into many of the preceding and following months. Data used for the ESI included the years 2004-2013, and the frequencies of species caught were used to determine monthly presence/absence. Presence within a month was determined by the same 10% frequency cut-off as was used with GADNR fishery independent sampling data. Sampling months were used a proxies for the season within which sampling occurred. Thus, if a species was found to be present in April, it was assumed to be present in March and May; likewise this was done for June and August (July), and September and November (October). Horseshoe crab spawning areas were mapped based on known red knot foraging areas, per direction of GADNR staff. Timing of beach spawning was provided by Tim Keyes with GADNR. Oyster reefs were mapped using digital data provided by GADNR. The minimum mapping unit of the Georgia Oyster Reef data set was 5 square meters, and the extent of mapping was restricted to recreational harvest areas. In order to minimize the number of polygons, ensure inclusion of smaller reefs not captured with the mapping methods, and create a more generalized distribution, polygons in the data set were buffered by 50 meters and merged together. Oyster reefs mapped in the ESI are not the only reefs that could occur in coastal areas. GADNR mapping was restricted to recreational harvest areas, and while these areas contain some of the larger and more productive reefs, oyster presence can be assumed in most tidal creeks and sounds.
• 2015-06-01 00:00:00 - The above digital and/or hardcopy sources were compiled by the project biologist to create the INVERT 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 INVERT 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).