Using GIS to Analyze Habitat Change in the Barnegat Bay

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Using GIS to Analyze Habitat Change in the
Barnegat Bay

• By Ken Burkhardt

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Motivation and Importance

• It is my home
• I like to fish use the bay for other
  recreational uses
• There has been a great deal of modification and
  development in the watershed over the last few
  decades causing pollution as well as direct
  destruction of habitats

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Ongoing Projects

• Barnegat Bay National Estuary Program (BBNEP) -
  has been developing a long range Comprehensive
  Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP)
• Coastal Change Analysis program (C-CAP) - the
  classification and analysis of a time series of
  Landsat satellite imagery conducted by the
  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  (NOAA) and the CRSSA
• The C-Cap has been modified to meet the needs of
  the BBNEP

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Methods

• Numerous operations were performed such as
  clipping and dissolving to formulate maps.
• Tables were created from calculations based on
  data recorded from attribute tables

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Land Cover 1995 and Known Contaminated sites 2001
Location of Barnegat Bay Watershed
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Submerged aquatic vegetation is an important
component of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem, serving
as important habitat aquatic animals living on or
within the bottom of the bay. Some organisms
graze on SAV (e.g., gastropods, fish, duck,
muskrats) and eelgrass also serves as valuable
spawning, nursery and feeding grounds for finfish
populations. These sea grasses are insightful
indicators of the bays overall health.
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Statistics on acres of land use during 1986 and
1995
Percentage of watershed each land use type takes
up during the years 1995 and 1986
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Conclusions

• The development of urban lands and the subsequent
  loss of upland forests advances quickly and at a
  harmful rate, directly and indirectly harmful to
  all ecosystems of the watershed including
  submerged aquatic vegetation.
• The need for more environmental protection for
  all land uses in the watershed is critical and
  will control the inevitable outcome of the bay
  and its health.