These protected areas were estimated by the Conservation Biology
Institute as being secondarily threatened by the corresponding Deepwater
Horizon oil spill trajectory forecast in the Gulf of Mexico. This
dataset is extracted from PAD-US 1.1 (CBI Edition), and the original
metadata has been included here, below.
First, protected areas within 1 mile of the entire study area coastline
(TX to NJ), or that intersect hydrological feature polygons from the
NHDPlus National Hydrography Dataset within the 1-mile coastline buffer,
were extracted from PAD-US 1.1 (CBI Edition). Then, protected areas were
identified as being under primary, secondary, or tertiary threat from
the oil spill. The probability of being affected was determined using
the University of South Florida's Deepwater Horizon oil spill trajectory
forecast from the WFS ROMS numerical model, as projected for 06/27/2010
at 00h UTC (
http://ocg6.marine.usf.edu/~liu/oil_spill_ensemble_forecast.html
), and a 75,000 m2 grid over the study area (see Projected Deepwater
Horizon oil spill distribution, updated for 06/27/10 at
http://app.databasin.org/app/pages/datasetPage.jsp?id=8da8126c750d4f9c973a7ef9f8231ea2
).
For more information, please see the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
page at Data Basin (
http://www.databasin.org/aquatic-center/features/oil-spill
or
http://www.databasin.org
).
Original Metadata abstract:
Protected areas are cornerstones of national and international
conservation strategies. By way of these designations, lands and waters
are set-aside in-perpetuity to preserve functioning natural ecosystems,
act as refuges for species, and maintain ecological processes.
Complementary conservation strategies preserve land for the sustainable
use of natural resources, or for the protection of significant geologic
and cultural features or open space. PAD-US 1.1 (CBI Edition) attempts
to include all available spatial data on these places. It is our goal to
publish the most comprehensive geospatial data set of U. S. protected
areas to date.
PAD-US 1.1 (CBI Edition) is limited to the continental U.S., Alaska,
and Hawaii. It does not include protected areas data for U.S.
territories at this time.
The PAD-US 1.1 (CBI Edition) data set portrays the nation's protected
areas with a standardized spatial geometry and numerous valuable
attributes on land ownership, management designations, and conservation
status (using national GAP and international IUCN coding systems). The
PAD-US 1.1 (CBI Edition) defines protected area to include all lands
dedicated to the preservation of biology diversity and to other natural,
recreation and cultural uses, and managed for these purposes through
legal or other effective means (adapted from IUCN definition). The
database represents the full range of conservation designations that
preserve these natural resources in the United States. Our database does
not distinguish a protection threshold above which biodiversity is
considered secure. Instead, a complete suite of protected area
attributes are provided for each polygon with the purpose of giving
users the information they need to define the most relevant conservation
thresholds for their own objectives and requirements. Collaborating
with the nation's leading data providers, the goal is to provide an
annual update.