| description:
|
This dataset contains watershed locations of rare and imperiled fish collections compiled from various sources. Maintaining aquatic ecosystem health is critical for the conservation of a number of rare and imperiled freshwater mussel and fish species. This project employed Geographic Information System (GIS) models to rapidly evaluate and broadly describe streams based upon systemizing up-to-date statewide multi-scale spatial data capable of characterizing aquatic species habitats. Main data sets that were used to attribute the stream network included climate, ecoregions, ecological drainage units, and HUC-12 watersheds. We developed a statewide stream habitat classification GIS data layer that is necessary for the identification of existing and potential habitats of aquatic species. The classification scheme used a set of hierarchical stream habitat abiotic characteristics presumably correlated with the fine-scale stream characteristics important for aquatic species. The nested aquatic classification system crosses landscape-level ecosystem/hydrologic units for freshwater areas. The freshwater aquatic habitat classification provides adequate detail for conducting ecological GIS modeling and large- scale statewide and ecoregional assessments, finer watershed level assessments, as well as assessments at a scale of individual stream segments. |