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Oyster habitat suitability modeling for the Alabama Barrier Island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island

Metadata Updated: November 12, 2025

A spatially explicit oyster habitat suitability index (HSI) model was developed for the Alabama barrier island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island. Based on previous oyster habitat suitability studies, seven water quality variables were selected and their relationships with habitat suitability were developed and incorporated into the oyster HSI model for Dauphin Island restoration assessment: 1) mean salinity, 2) minimum monthly mean salinity, 3) annual mean salinity, 4) annual mean dissolved oxygen, 5) annual mean total suspended solids, 6) annual mean water depth, and 7) annual mean water temperature. The final HSI score was calculated using the weighted geometric mean of the suitability scores of these individual variables. The oyster HSI model was calibrated and validated using field data on oyster density from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) Marine Resources Division (MRD and continuous water quality data from the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program. Then, the oyster HSI model was used to assess oyster habitat suitability changes with and without restoration under future storminess and sea level (SL) conditions. The barrier island restoration actions being assessed include beach and dune restoration, marsh restoration, and placement of sand in the littoral zone. The storminess bins included realizations with a “medium” storminess, which included 1 to 3 storms over a 10-year period (that is, ST2) and a “high” storminess, which included 4 to 5 storms over an equal period (that is, ST3). The two future sea levels included a SL of 0.3 m (that is, SL1) and a SL of 1.0 m (that is, SL3) above the contemporary SL. Specifically, the medium storminess was paired with the 0.3 m above the contemporary SL (that is, ST2SL1) and the “high” storminess bin was paired with the 1.0 m above the contemporary SL (that is, ST3SL3). To account for intertidal marsh vertical accretion as a component of marsh morphology evolution, two scenarios were included in modeling: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) high and intermediate SLR curves in which marsh kept pace with SLR through accretion (1 cm/yr) through 2022 under high SLR curve whereas marsh kept pace with SLR by accretion for the entirety of the USACE intermediate curve. Inputs of water quality conditions under future storminess and sea level conditions were provided by the CE-QUAL-ICM model that was coupled with a geomorphology model and a hydrodynamic model. This data release includes simulation results and metadata of oyster habitat suitability scores at each spatial unit (grid cell) across the study domain: estuarine waters near Dauphin Island.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-5dbb2ac7e4b06957974ec016
Data Last Modified 2020-08-30T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id ebb6d566-74d0-4ace-9859-400c9903fdc2
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -88.37923093049213, 30.16558288808868, -88.02425818719769, 30.35236528118813
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 415f85f31351c36db915eb65a023f6ff2858a1f1dadbee715b6e4d27c2f88ceb
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -88.37923093049213, 30.16558288808868, -88.37923093049213, 30.35236528118813, -88.02425818719769, 30.35236528118813, -88.02425818719769, 30.16558288808868, -88.37923093049213, 30.16558288808868}

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