Abstract
In 2019, a GIS analysis was performed to produce a status and trends report to measure habitat loss or gain from previous studies. In 2016, the MBNEP produced habitat maps of Mobile and Baldwin counties at one-meter resolution. Due to the higher resolution of the 2016 imagery and a new methodology for classifying habitats, the habitat map product produced several inconsistencies, and as a result, these maps were not useful for conduct of a full analysis of habitat change. Because of the different applications of Cowardin and Anderson habitat classification codes (Anderson et al., 1976; Cowardin et al., 1979) by different contractors classifying habitats in 2001/2002 and 2015/2016, initial analyses revealed some large and unexpected changes across the 10 common habitats used in this schema. The differing methodologies used for classifying habitat data made it very difficult to analyze any changes in habitat types over the time period from 2001 to 2016. Due to the inconsistency between mapping products, the MBNEP attempted to translate the 2016 mapping products to match the 2010 identified priority habitat types: pine savanna, longleaf pine, freshwater wetlands, maritime forest, intertidal marshes and flats, and beaches and dunes. This attempt produced overlapping Cowardin/Anderson systems, sub-systems, classes, sub-classes, and modifiers across several habitat types, resulting in a duplication of acreage for several habitat types. The MBNEP successfully resolved the errors by using a recently completed soil survey for Mobile County, an existing soil survey for Baldwin County, and additional data and guidance from Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil experts. To address the “double counting” of acreage, selected criteria were employed to identify locations of certain habitat types. The selected criteria are NRCS soil survey data and Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s (ADEM) continuous 10-foot contour line.
