Coastal Services Center

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Southeast Region: Florida Bay, Florida Composite Benthic Habitat Data Set 1991-1995

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This project was initiated by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI), and the National Ocean Service.

The geographic extent of the study area corresponds to the southern boundary of Everglades National Park. It abuts the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary on the south and mainland Florida on the north. The result is a comprehensive baseline digital data set of benthic habitats in Florida Bay which serves as a management tool for Florida Department of Environmental Protection. This data set integrates seamlessly with corresponding data for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Future changes and threats to seagrasses, hard bottoms, and corals can be considered against this baseline. In addition, researchers concerned with managing the coral resources of the Sanctuary can now evaluate their data in the context of the upstream waters, geographic setting, and habitat distribution.

This Center's role in this project included in-house data conversion and field validation. More information on this initiative is available on the Benthic Habitat Data: Florida Bay, Florida CD-ROM. To request a copy of this CD-ROM, please complete an on-line request form.

Download data: fl_fb95.zip

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