Columbia River Estuary

Landscape Scale Assessment

Habitat Change Analysis

Project coordinators:

Jen Burke and Kim Jones (ODFW)Charles Simenstad (UW) Dan Bottom (NMFS)

Digital data providers and project participants:

LCREPCRESTEarth Designs Consulting, Inc. Oregon Natural Heritage Program

Columbia River Estuary

Landscape Scale Assessment

Habitat Change Analysis

Objective (1st year)

• Concentrate initially on a small area in the tidal fluvial region of the estuary due the size of the estuary and the level of detail we hope to achieve

• Exceed but build upon previous mapping efforts in the estuary and the Willamette River

Site Selection

• based on available historic and contemporary data

• Representative of a larger hydrogeographic area

Purpose (1st year)

• Complete and establish a habitat change analysis protocol to be used throughout the estuary

Columbia River Estuary

Landscape Scale Assessment

Habitat Change Analysis

Habitat Change Assessment completed 1983

Focus area of NMFS project

Historic sources of data, such a topographic maps

Columbia River Estuary

Landscape Scale Assessment

High Resolution Satellite Imagery, in addition to many other sources

Columbia River Estuary

Landscape Scale Assessment

Columbia River Estuary

Habitat Change Analysis

Habitat Change Analysis

0 200 400 600 800 1000

tss

ts

sw

dw

Hab

itat

Acres

Error and certaintyHistoric Present

Results:

The analysis will spatially quantify in a GIS the changes in theColumbia River estuary from the late 1800s to contemporary.

–shoreline–channel structure–Floodplain (vegetation) and fish habitat–Error and certainty assessment