Caribbean Fish Nursery Habitat (Southeast Blueprint Indicator)

Reason for Selection Areas that provide nursery habitat for juvenile fish, as well as areas where fish spawn and otherwise congregate, are important for ensuring the persistence of abundant and diverse fisheries. Many fish use these habitats during multiple life stages and throughout all seasons. For example, many coastal fish lay their eggs in estuarine habitats because of the combination of food availability for juveniles and protection from predators (Sheaves 2015). Input Data * National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) [Environmental Sensitivity Index] (ESI) data for Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands; [download ESI maps and data] ([PuertoRico_2000_GDB] and [VirginIsl_2000_GDB], last modified October 10, 2012); [read NOAA’s definitions of the biological resource classes] The ESI biological resources data is intended to represent species that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of oil spills. NOAA classifies these species into seven general categories, referred to as “elements”: birds, fish, invertebrates, habitats, marine mammals, terrestrial mammals, and reptiles. NOAA further divides the elements into sub-elements by grouping species with similar characteristics (e.g., taxonomy, morphology, life history, and/or oil spill sensitivity). NOAA compiled the biological resources data with the assistance of biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other organizations. In this indicator, we use polygons associated with the fish element and two sub-elements: estuarine nursery fish and estuarine resident fish. ESI defines the estuarine nursery fish class as “spawning, nursery, or other concentration areas”. ESI defines the estuarine resident fish polygons as “spawning or other concentration areas; locations of threatened, endangered, or rare species”. The estuarine nursery fish polygons represent habitat for the following estuarine nursery fish: tarpon (Megalops atlanticus), mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis), yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus), great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), common snook (Centropomus undecimalis), bonefish (Albula vulpes), mojarras (Diapterus spp.), mullet (Mugil spp.), jacks, grunts, other snappers, and other species generally classified as “nursery fish”. The estuarine resident fish polygons represent habitat for mangrove molly (Poecilia orri). Many of these areas also provide habitat for other species of diadromous, freshwater, marine benthic, and marine pelagic fish. ESI also classifies the e_nursery sub-element fish polygons used in this indicator as associated with the following diadromous fish: sirajo goby (Sicydium plumieri), hog-nosed mullet (Joturus pichardi), mountain mullet (Agonostomus monticola), and other species generally classified as “native stream fish”; the following freshwater fish: largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus), channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), peacock bass (Cichla ocellaris), and tilapia (Tilapia spp.); the following marine benthic fish: red hind (Epinephelus guttatus), permit (Trachinotus falcatus), butterfly fish (Chaetodon spp.), damselfish (Chromis spp.), groupers, parrotfish, wrasses, and other species generally classified as “reef fish”; and the following pelagic fish: species generally classified as “pelagic fish”. * 2020 [LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation Type] (EVT) (v2.2.0) for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; [access the data for U.S. Insular Areas] * [Southeast Blueprint 2023 subregions]: Caribbean * [Southeast Blueprint 2023 extent] Mapping Steps * From the ESI geodatabase for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, select the “fish_polygon” vector layer and the associated “biofile” table. Join the biofile table to the fish polygons using the attribute “RARNUM”. Note: be sure to use a one-to-many join because many of the fish polygons are coded to multiple sub-elements. * Merge the Puerto Rico and USVI fish polygon data into a single layer. * From the merged fish polygon layer, select by attributes where SUBELEMENT = ‘e_nursery’ or SUBELEMENT = ‘e_resident’ and extract the selected polygons. * Convert the extracted nursery polygons from vector to raster. * Using the LANDFIRE EVT data, remove all pixels with a value in the EVT_NAME field of “Developed-High Intensity”, “Developed-Medium Intensity”, “Developed-Low Intensity”, “Developed-Roads”, “Developed-Open Space” or “Quarries-Strip Mines-Gravel Pits-Well and Wind Pads”. This removes areas from the fish nursery polygons that have been urbanized since the ESI data was created. * Clip to the Caribbean Blueprint 2023 subregion. * As a final step, clip to the spatial extent of Southeast Blueprint 2023. Note: For more details on the mapping steps, code used to create this layer is available [in the Southeast Blueprint 2025 Data Download] or [Caribbean-only Southeast Blueprint 2025 Data Download] under > 6_Code. Final indicator values Indicator values are assigned as follows: 1 = Fish spawning, nursery, or other concentration area 0 = Not identified as a fish spawning, nursery, or other concentration area Known Issues * The indicator source data was published in 2001. As a result, this indicator may overestimate fish nursery habitat value in areas that have been altered by storms, urbanized, or converted to agriculture since the data was collected. We attempted to remove areas that have been developed using 2020 LANDFIRE EVT landcover. We left in agricultural areas because they may still provide some fish nursery habitat value if inundated. * The 2020 LANDFIRE EVT landcover misclassifies some parking lots as wet areas due to aerial imagery. These areas may be overprioritized in the indicator. Disclaimer: Comparing with Older Indicator Versions There are numerous problems with using Southeast Blueprint indicators for change analysis. Please consult Blueprint staff if you would like to do this (email [hilary_morris@fws.gov]). Literature Cited LANDFIRE, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS), U.S. Geological Survey. Published August 1, 2022. LANDFIRE 2020 Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands. LF 2020, raster digital data. Sioux Falls, SD. [[https://www.landfire.gov]]. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service, Office of Response and Restoration, Hazardous Materials Response Division, Seattle, Washington. Published June 2001. Puerto Rico ESI/RSI: FISH (Fish Polygons). Second Edition. [[https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/oil-spills/download-esi-maps-and-gis-data#PuertoRico]]. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service, Office of Response and Restoration, Hazardous Materials Response Division, Seattle, Washington. Published August 2001. U.S. Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands ESI: FISH (Fish Polygons), First Edition. [[https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/esi_download#VirginIslands]]. Sheaves, M., R. Baker, I. Nagelkerken, and R. M. Connolly. 2015. True value of estuarine and coastal nurseries for fish: Incorporating complexity and dynamics. Estuaries and Coasts, 38: 401-414. DOI: 10.1007/s12237-014-9846-x. [[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12237-014-9846-x]].