Gulf coast ecological inventory: user's guide and information base

Abstract

This study provides an inventory of important ecological resources along the Gulf coast, an area of some 475,000 square kilometers (183,400 square miles). This inventory is intended to provide government and industry decisionmakers with valuable ecological information which will assist in the regional siting of oil and gas processing and manufacturing facilities and their respective transportation systems. The preparation of this ecological inventory involved four major tasks: the collection, review, and analysis of available data on coastal fish and wildlife species and their habitats and special land use areas; the synthesis and compilation of these data into a format which is compatible with the requirements of 1:250,000-scale mapping; the preparation of a series of 22 resource inventory graphics for the Gulf coast; and the preparation of a report narrative keyed to the inventory graphics. The report is organized in accordance with the heirarchical classification scheme for coastal ecosystems devised by Terrell (1979). Ecological resources are summarized by their appropriate geographic zone, and descriptions and locations of species with special status and aquatic and terrestrial species of high commercial, recreational, and aesthetic value are included. The designation of more than 270 special land use areas along the Gulf coast also is provided.