About the Project

In collaboration with local reserve staff, technical advisors, and local and national partners, this project brought together local and historical knowledge to comprehensively map past and present estuarine habitat across all 30 NERRs. Project findings revealed regional differences in how estuaries have changed over time and suggest that multiple mapping methods complement each other and should be integrated to provide a more accurate understanding of estuaries—past, present and future. This project has strengthened strategic planning for estuarine habitat conservation and restoration at both national and local scales in the face of sea level rise and lake-level change.

About this Resource

In this online workshop intended for GIS users, geospatial and historical ecology experts demonstrate ArcGIS Pro methods used to develop data layers for analyses of the reach of tides and long-term wetland habitat change within tidal estuaries across the United States.

The historical component focuses on acquiring, georectifying, interpreting, and digitizing historical Coast Survey maps from the 19th century, and comparing those data layers with more contemporary habitat maps from the National Wetland Inventory (NWI).

The elevation-based component demonstrates how geospatial researchers can use digital elevation models (DEMs) and existing tidal datum stations to estimate the potential reach of tides in estuaries. This estuary extent can then be compared to that from historical and NWI habitat maps.