Geoffrey Matthews and Philip Caldwell

Research conducted by the Fishery Ecology Branch has shown that coastal salt marshes are valuable nursery grounds for many economically important fishery species. Losses and damages to salt marshes can, and should, be repaired for continued support of our fisheries. Other research has shown that created salt marshes may not support as many fish and crustaceans as natural salt marshes. Researchers need a means to identify created salt marshes and to track their development, especially after several years when growth of vegetation make created and natural marshes indistinguishable.

An application using a geographical information system (GIS) is being developed to help monitor the locations of restored and created coastal salt marshes in Galveston Bay, Texas, using ArcView 3.1. Our main objective is to develop a tool that would enable anyone, regardless of past knowledge about the site, to identify, locate, and visit a created marsh. A database identifying and locating each created marsh is used with data showing bay shorelines, roads, boat ramps, waterways, and scanned photographs (aerial and land-based). The user will be able to select restoration sites, view digitized photos of these sites, produce maps showing how to go to the site from a selected start point, and view or print information and history about the sites.

Future expansions of this GIS application are planned. A search function that identifies and displays sites that are due for 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year inspections will be developed. Seamless data acquisition from other agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permit and mitigation projects, and the addition of research study sites from university research projects will also be constructed.  Sharing these data and the application via the internet is also underway.