Choptank ecological assessment: digital atlas – baseline status report

The Choptank watershed was selected by NOAA as a Habitat Focus Area (HFA) for the Habitat Blueprint Program. As such, NOAA plans an integrated set of activities combining resources from multiple programs to leverage the full weight of its eff orts (Figure 1.2). The HFA Implementation Plan includes programs for: Oyster Restoration, Wetlands, Living Shorelines, Fish Passage, Ecological Assessment, Water Column Habitat, Ecosystem, Community Services, Climate Resiliency, Collective Impact, K-12 Education, Communication, Outreach. As one component of the Ecological Assessment, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) has developed a Digital Atlas. The Digital Atlas integrates information from the full spectrum of research and monitoring within the watershed, compiles it as a single resource, and serves that information via an internet mapping portal. This report is intended to introduce information contained in the Digital Atlas. It highlights seven topics of ecological significance within the Choptank HFA. However, this report does not encompass the full suite of spatial information available from all of the monitoring and research programs in the area. The topics emphasized through this report are: Land Cover, Shoreline Composition, Water Quality , Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity, Submerged Aquatic Vegetation, Fish, Oysters.