Estuarine Tidal Marsh Landscape Enpoint Ecological Assessment Map [DRAFT]

The estuarine tidal marsh priority system in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks LCC (GCPO LCC)  Integrated Science Agenda (ISA) includes general ecological systems of brackish/saltwater marsh and seagrass beds and was adopted as one of two initial ecological systems of focus for the Gulf Coast subgeography of the GCPO LCC (the other being beaches and dunes).  The desired ecological state for Gulf Coast estuarine tidal marsh is a “stable marsh systems comprised of native vegetation and limited open water conditions occurring in large blocks with natural hydrology present” and was derived from the breadth of available expertise and resources in the GCPO LCC Adaptation Science Management Team Gulf Coast multi-taxa working group.  As in the other ISA priority systems, desired ecological states are defined within general categories of landscape attributes (i.e., endpoints) related to habitat amount, configuration, and condition. 


In this rapid ecological assessment GCPO LCC geospatial science staff used the most current, comprehensive and consistent large-scale geospatial data available to assess a series of landscape endpoints (i.e., ecological indicators) that reflect the desired ecological state of the estuarine tidal marsh system.  Landscape endpoints include targets of large blocks of unbroken marsh (>250 ac), connectivity (interdigitation) of marsh types, moderate amounts of edge within large marsh blocks, presence of barrier islands in riverine dominated systems, >70% emergent vegetative cover, <20% open water, 15-30% submergent vegetative cover, native marsh plant dominance, a natural salinity gradient, and adequate freshwater flow and tidal influence.