Data Management Plan (Deprecated)

This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for coastal invertebrate species in coastal Louisiana and the lower Mississippi River. Vector polygons in this data set represent invertebrate distribution 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 Louisiana. 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 geographic extent includes the entire coastal Louisiana and Lower Mississippi River ESI study area. The spatial extent of individual layers or feature classes may vary.

Process Steps:

• 2013-12-01 00:00:00 - This process step refers to the ESI Invertebrate data for coastal Louisiana. The mapping extent was dependent upon information availability and location of mapped coastal habitats and shorelines. The main sources of data were used to depict invertebrate distribution and seasonality for this data layer include: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) fishery independent monitoring data, published information, digital datasets provided by LDWF and personal interviews with resource experts from LDWF. Eastern oysters were mapped to productive oyster areas and leases provided by LDWF. All other invertebrates were mapped to sub-basin boundaries, which were were provided by LDWF and altered to create areas of appropriate size for the ESI. Information on shrimp, crab and squid was based on fishery independent monitoring datasets provided by LDWF. For these resources, monthly catch per unit effort (CPUE) was calculated for each sub-basin and used to derive concentration values. Seasonality was created by considering a species present in all months with higher than 10 percent occurrence in an area. Life history information was added based on expert knowledge and published literature. All information was reviewed by LDWF staff and adjusted as needed. Atlantic rangia, crawfish species, and fiddler crabs were mapped by adding them to sub-basins in which their habitat occurred based on published literature. Sub-basins were provided by LDWF and clipped to ESI water and wetlands. This was done to reduce the complexity of the resulting dataset.
• 2014-05-01 00:00:00 - This process step refers to ESI Invertebrate data for the lower Mississippi River. Sources of data used to depict invert distribution and seasonality for this data layer include Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) fishery independent monitoring data, published information, and anecdotal information from resource experts from LDWF. Data for Lake Pontchartrain species was derived from LDWF's marine fisheries sampling data. River shrimp distributions were digitized based on published literature describing their movement in the Atchafalaya and Mississippi River. All other invertebrates mapped were based on expert knowledge.
• 2014-05-01 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).