Brian Walker June 30, 2009 1 vector digital data \\DUSKY2\F$\DadeCountyGIS\DadeCountyMapping\DadeHabitatMapping\DadeHabitat_draft.shp DadeHabitats_final_v1.2 Mapping activities in Southeast Florida have progressed substantially in the last few years (Banks et al., 2008; Collier et al., 2008; Walker et al., 2008). High resolution laser bathymetry has been acquired for the nearshore seafloor (<30 m depth) from Fowey Rocks in south Miami-Dade county to Jupiter Inlet in north Palm Beach county. In addition to bathymetry, the benthic habitats have been mapped for all of Broward and Palm Beach counties. The benthic habitat mapping efforts employed a combined-technique approach incorporating laser bathymetry, aerial photography, acoustic ground discrimination (AGD), video groundtruthing, limited subbottom profiling, and expert knowledge (Walker et al., 2008). Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center (NSUOC) and the National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI) led this effort with interagency funding by NOAA, Florida DEP, and FWRI. The maps were produced by outlining the features in the high resolution bathymetric data and classifying the features based on their geomorphology and benthic fauna. In situ data, video camera groundtruthing, and acoustic ground discrimination were used to help substantiate the classification of the habitats using aerial photography and geomorphology. Accuracy assessment of the maps have shown high levels of accuracy comparable to that of using aerial photographs in clear water (Walker et al., 2008). The Broward and Palm Beach mapping efforts were accomplished using a two phased approach. The first phase was an expert driven visual interpretation of high resolution bathymetry to outline the geomorphological features at a 1:6000 scale with a one acre minimum mapping unit (mmu). The second phase was the analyses of an acoustic ground discrimination survey which was used to further discriminate the sea floor based on the density of organisms. The AGD provided an additional map layer of relative estimated benthic cover density, including benthic cover density of specific groups- gorgonians and macroalgae. These data supplemented the geomorphology-based layer to include not only mapping between features, but also the variability of habitat within features. These data are the result of the phase one mapping of the benthic habitats of Miami-Dade County using similar methodologies as the previous benthic habitat maps in Palm Beach and Broward. To delineate coral reef and other benthic habitats from Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS) bathymetric surveys and aerial photography for Dade county, FL. enThis version was edited on August 11, 2009 to remove an "artificial" polygon from the shoal off Bakers Haulover inlet that was identified by Miami-DERM as a "natural" shoal. December 19, 2007 June 30, 2009 publication date Complete Unknown -80.161769 -80.078284 25.957465 25.564518 932496.053290959022.706961448464.862442591118.725221 benthic habitat mapping coral reef LIDAR Miami-Dade County Southeast Florida It is understood that NCRI/NSU retains the right to continue independent work on similar projects and also retains the right to publish all mapping products. The maps are subject to change based upon further data collection and evaluation. Brian Walker Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center Research Scientist mailing and physical address

8000 North Ocean Drive

Dania Beach Florida 33004 USA 954-262-3675 walkerb@nova.edu Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.3000 Shapefile The Miami-Dade accuracy assessment yielded a high level of accuracy. Total map accuracy was 93.0%, surpassing the total map accuracy for the Broward (Walker et al., 2008) and Palm Beach maps (Riegl et al., 2005). These results were consistent with other regional accuracy assessments. Kendall et al. (2001) reported a total map accuracy (Kappa) of 93.6% for the NOAA Puerto Rico and Virgin Island mapping effort; only 0.6% higher than the Miami-Dade results. The total map accuracy for Broward County was 89.6% (Walker et al., 2008) and Palm Beach County was 89.2% (Riegl et al., 2005); both over 3% lower than the Miami-Dade results. Finally, the NOAA benthic habitat maps of the lower Florida Keys have recently been assessed at 93.9% total map accuracy for general structure (similar to general habitats) (Walker and Foster, 2009); only 0.9% greater than the Miami-Dade results. Miami-Dade accuracy assessment for the detailed habitat categories showed good user's and producer's accuracies with most >90%. Most user's and producer's general habitat accuracies were higher as well, all >90% with one exception. The lowest general habitat accuracy was noted in the producer's accuracy for Unconsolidated Sediments (74.0%). Although the user's accuracy was quite high (91.5%) with 54 of the 59 reference data locations mapped as Unconsolidated Sediments correct, there were 19 Unconsolidated Sediment reference data locations that were mapped as something else (e.g. Agg. Patch Reef-Shallow). Several factors contributed to this low producer's accuracy. First, mixed habitat classes (Aggregated Patch Reef-Shallow and Discontinuous Seagrass) contributed to 5 of these 19 errors. These habitats are composed different levels of patchiness between sand and other substrate types. Even though these were mixed classes, the reference data were classified according to the video, notes, and GIS review. If the two substrates were not present in the video, they were regarded as whichever substrate was present. Since the scale of the reference data was smaller than the minimum mapping unit, the reference data didn't always sample enough area to capture the small patches of other substrate within. Thus 5 reference data locations were regarded as Unconsolidated Sediment, yet they may have been correctly mapped. Another contributing factor for these producer's errors was depth and lack of feature relief. Nine of the 19 errors occurred in deep habitats where visibility was limited and the only reliable data source was the LIDAR bathymetry. LIDAR bathymetry was very useful in detecting the edges of features with relief; however low relief features such as Colonized Pavement-Deep and Ridge-Deep were problematic. The Ridge-Deep was the most difficult habitat to map and this was reflected in its relatively low user (77.8%) and producer (84.0%) accuracies. Finally, the ephemeral nature of the system, especially in low relief pavement and seagrass habitats, likely contributed to some of the map errors. These habitats can often be covered and uncovered by sand movement during large storm events (Walker et al., 2008; Gilliam 2007). The area in southern Miami-Dade is very dynamic showing large changes over the last few years. Changes are evident when comparing the same area from several years ago in southern Miami-Dade County. The top image is the aerial photograph mosaic acquired by Biscayne National Park in 2005 and the bottom is a mosaic of aerial photography taken in December 2008. In the 3 year period between images, large areas of sand on the order of several thousand square meters are evident that used to be dense seagrass. These types of changes throughout the region can affect the benthic habitat map accuracy and may degrade it over time. 93.0% overall Metadata imported.C:\DOCUME~1\BRIANW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\xml416.tmp2009070209292800Dataset copied.2009081109262200 Vector G-polygon 1849 SimplePolygonFALSE1849FALSEFALSE coordinate pair 0.000000 0.000000 survey feet Transverse Mercator0.999941-81.00000024.333333656166.6666670.000000 North American Datum of 1983 Geodetic Reference System 80 6378137.000000 298.257222 GCS_North_American_1983NAD_1983_StatePlane_Florida_East_FIPS_0901 DadeHabitats_final_v1.2 Feature Class1849 FID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. FIDOID400 Shape Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. ShapeGeometry000 Habitat The broadest category in the hierarchical classification scheme. HabitatString50 Type The second tier classifier in the hierarchical classification scheme. TypeString50 Modifier1 The most specific detailed classifier in the hierarchical classification scheme. Modifier1String50 AREA The area of the polygon feature in ft. AREAFloat1911 PERIMETER The distance around each polygon feature in ft. PERIMETERFloat1911 The NOAA hierarchical classification scheme for structure described in NOAA-CRCP's "classification scheme for mapping the shallow-water coral ecosystems of southern Florida" (Rohmann, 2008) served as a basis upon which modifications were made to characterize the specific benthic habitats mapped in Miami-Dade County. NOAA's classification contains nine reef zones according to the feature's relationship along the shore (i.e. lagoon, back reef, fore reef, bank/shelf, etc.); however, many of these mapped zones did not apply in the mapped area. The absence of an emergent reef in Southeast Florida precluded mapping zones such as lagoon, back reef, and reef crest. Also our effort was confined to depths between 0 m and 35 m, which excluded the land. The intertidal zone was not distinguished in this project. Thus, all features mapped in this project reside within the Bank/Shelf, Fore Reef, or Bank/Shelf Escarpment zones. Changes to the NOAA scheme included the addition of ridge and sand borrow area categories, the inclusion of "Linear Reef "category in lieu of "Aggregate Reef", the inclusion and modification of two seagrass categories, and the inclusion of a depth component for many classes. "Linear Reef" was a previous NOAA classifier that was adopted in the Broward and Palm Beach mapping. Its definition fits well with the reef system in southeast Florida and was therefore retained instead of using the more recent NOAA descriptor "Aggregate Reef". Miami-Dade contained significant areas of mappable seagrass not present in Broward or Palm Beach, therefore two categories of Seagrass were added to the scheme: Continuous and Discontinuous (Figure 9). Acoustic ground discrimination results from Broward and Palm Beach substantiated including a depth component to the colonized pavement, ridge, aggregated patch reef, and sand classes to indicate that habitat on these features varied with water depth in those areas. Furthermore, the acoustic distinction of the linear reefs into different acoustic classes substantiated splitting the "Linear Reef" class into the following three subclasses- Linear Reef-Inner, Linear Reef-Middle, and Linear Reef-Outer. These same classes were used in the Miami-Dade classification scheme. Distinctions on the outer reef between linear reef, spur and groove, and colonized pavement were based on benthic cover as suggested by acoustic seafloor discrimination and geomorphology in the Broward benthic habitat mapping study (Walker et al., 2008). The Linear Reef-Outer was subdivided into four habitats: Aggregated Patch Reef, Spur and Groove, Linear Reef and Colonized Pavement-Deep. The area east of the outer linear reef consisted of a very patchy environment with large patches of reef interspersed amongst the deep sand. These were more prevalent close to the reef and tapered off eastward, becoming sandier. The definition of patch reef was problematic. Research on other definitions revealed that the term is generally not well defined. The main problems were (1) at what size does a patch reef become something else (e.g. Linear Reef) and (2) what is the difference between a small patch of colonized pavement and a patch reef? Brock et al. (2008) recently reported a GIS analysis of 1034 patch reefs east of southern Biscayne Bay. They reported that the planar area of these patch reefs was a mean of 1,111.33 m² ranging from 92.65 m² to 13,678.65 m² and the mean relative relief was 3.48 m ranging from 1.00 m to 11.17m. These criteria were used to guide mapping decisions on whether a feature was a patch reef or colonized pavement. In general, if it had some relief and was small, it was considered an Individual Patch Reef. Coral Reef and Hardbottom: Hardened substrate of unspecified relief formed by the deposition of calcium carbonate by reef building corals and other organisms (relict or ongoing) or existing as exposed bedrock. Coral Reef and Colonized Hardbottom: Substrates formed by the deposition of calcium carbonate by reef building corals and other organisms. Habitats within this category have some colonization by live coral. Linear Reef: Linear coral formations that are oriented parallel to shore or the shelf edge. These features follow the contours of the shore/shelf edge. This category is used for such commonly used terms as fore reef, fringing reef, and shelf edge reef. Linear Reef-Outer*: Consists of the reef crest of the outer reef.. Linear Reef-Middle*: Because the middle reef exhibited much less clear morphological differentiation than the outer reef, it was not practical to subdivide it into several units. It is therefore encompassed in one single category, ''linear reef.'' This category is given a unique color identifier because the acoustic roughness measures suggest a community structure that is largely distinct from hard grounds, shallow reef, and outer reef. Linear Reef-Inner*: The inner reef is an immature reef, best described as linear reef lacking clearly defined zonation. It has a unique color identifier because acoustic and biological data indicate that it harbors a distinct benthic community from the middle and outer reefs. Spur and Groove: Habitat having alternating sand and coral formations that are oriented perpendicular to the shore or reef crest. The coral formations (spurs) of this feature typically have a high vertical relief relative to pavement with sand channels (see below) and are separated from each other by 1-5 meters of sand or hardbottom (grooves), although the height and width of these elements may vary considerably. This habitat type typically occurs in the forereef zone. Patch Reef: Coral formations that are isolated from other coral reef formations by sand, seagrass, or other habitats and that have no organized structural axis relative to the contours of the shore or shelf edge. A surrounding halo of sand is often a distinguishing feature of this habitat type when it occurs adjacent to submerged vegetation. Individual Patch Reef: Distinctive single patch reefs that are equal to or larger than the minimum mapping unit (MMU). Aggregated Patch Reef: Clustered patch reefs that individually are too small (smaller than the MMU) or are too close together to map separately. Aggregated Patch Reef-Shallow*: Clustered patch reefs that individually are too small (less than the MMU) or are too close together to map separately that occur in water depths less than 20 m. Aggregated Patch Reef-Deep*: Clustered patch reefs that individually are too small (less than the MMU) or are too close together to map separately that occur in water depths greater than 20 m. Scattered Coral/Rock in Unconsolidated Sediment: Primarily sand bottom with scattered rocks or small, isolated coral heads that are too small to be delineated individually (i.e., smaller than individual patch reef). Colonized Pavement: Flat, low-relief, solid carbonate rock with coverage of macroalgae, hard coral, gorgonians, and other sessile invertebrates that are dense enough to partially obscure the underlying carbonate rock. Colonized Pavement-Deep*: This category includes a transition zone from colonized pavement to colonized rubble on the deep reefs. Because much of the rubble in the lee of the outer reef is at least partly consolidated, the differentiation between colonized pavement and rubble would be somewhat artificial. Colonized Pavement-Shallow*: This category includes rubble in many areas; however, consolidated rubble fields are a less frequent feature in shallow water. Especially inshore of the ridge complexes, limited rubble is found and a wide, contiguous area of pavement is encountered. This area can have variable sand cover, which shifts according to wave energy in response to weather. Thus, some of the colonized pavement will always be covered by shifting sand and the density of colonization will be highly variable. Ridge*: Linear, shore-parallel, low-relief features that appear to be submerged cemented ancient shoreline deposits. Presumably, they are the foundation upon which the linear reefs grew and consist of early Holocene shoreline deposits; however, verification is needed. The biological cover is similar to that of colonized pavement with macroalgae, scleractinians, gorgonians, and other sessile invertebrates that are dense enough to partially obscure the underlying carbonate rock. Ridge-Deep*: While the geological provenance of the structure is not clear, its morphology suggests it to be a shoreline deposit of older age than the outer reef, possibly the structure on which the outer reef initiated. It consists of hard ground with variable and shifting sand cover and sparse benthic communities. Ridge-Shallow*: Ridges found in shallow water near shore that are geomorphologically distinct, yet their benthic cover remains similar to the shallow colonized pavement communities on the surrounding hard grounds. They presumably consist of early Holocene shoreline deposits with possibly some Acropora framestones. However, verification is needed. Seagrass: Habitat with 10 percent or more cover of Thalassia testudinum and/or Syringodium filiforme. Continuous Seagrass*: Seagrass community covering 90 percent or greater of the substrate. May include blowouts of less than 10 percent of the total area that are too small to be mapped independently (less than the MMU) (Figure 9). Discontinuous Seagrass*: Seagrass community with breaks in coverage that are too diffuse, irregular, or result in isolated patches that are too small (smaller than the MMU) to be mapped as continuous seagrass (Figure 9). Unconsolidated Sediments: Unconsolidated sediment with less than 10 percent cover of submerged vegetation. Sand: Coarse sediment typically found in areas exposed to currents or wave energy. Sand-Deep*: Sand deeper than the 20 m contour exposed to a lower energy environment that can have finer grain size, sparse Halophila spp., and a rubble component. This habitat can contain a high cover of turf and low-lying benthos in areas east of the Linear Reef - Outer. Sand-Shallow*: Shallow water sediment exposed to a higher energy environment. Large, mobile sand pockets are found on the areas of consolidated hardgrounds. It is believed that the sand movement is a deciding factor in the generation of benthic patterns. Other Delineations: Artificial: Manmade habitats such as submerged wrecks, large piers, submerged portions of rip-rap jetties, and the shoreline of islands created from dredge spoil. Inlet Channel*: All inlet channels in the survey area are maintained artificially and are characterized by dredged bottom and spoil ridges on the flanks. Sand Borrow Areas*: Several borrow pits from previous dredging projects are found throughout the survey area. While they are all found in sandy areas at the bottom, many of them expose limestone, and thus small ridges or patch reefs are formed that can harbor a strongly localized and patchy, but sometimes dense, benthic fauna. Downloadable Data NCRI/NSU retains the right to continue independent work on similar projects and also retains the right to publish all mapping products. The maps are subject to change based upon further data collection and evaluation. 3.534 0.000 20090811 Brian Walker NSUOC REQUIRED: The mailing and/or physical address for the organization or individual.REQUIRED: The city of the address.REQUIRED: The state or province of the address.REQUIRED: The ZIP or other postal code of the address. REQUIRED: The telephone number by which individuals can speak to the organization or individual. FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 local time http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html ESRI Metadata Profile enhttp://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.htmlESRI Metadata Profile 2009081109262100FALSE20090811093252002009081109364700{B6CF5023-187E-41A6-97AE-41582EB3F20D}Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.3000DadeHabitats_final_v1.2932496.05329959022.706961591118.725221448464.8624421-80.161769-80.07828425.95746525.5645181ISO 19115 Geographic Information - MetadataDIS_ESRI1.0dataset002file://\\DUSKY2\F$\DadeCountyGIS\DadeCountyMapping\DadeHabitatMapping\DadeHabitats_final_v1.shpLocal Area Network0.000ShapefileNAD_1983_StatePlane_Florida_East_FIPS_0901184920090811