Submerged Aquatic Vegetation of Coastal Alabama - GPS Field Points Data (MBNEP Survey 2015)

This data set consists of GPS point data documenting the location, species composition, and other habitat characteristics of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in coastal Alabama, collected as part of a remote sensing investigation of SAV distribution using summer and fall 2015 ortho imagery as base maps. Survey areas include Mississippi Sound, Mobile Bay and the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, Little Lagoon, Bay La Launch, Perdido Bay, and their communicating tributaries. SAV was concentrated in upper Mobile Bay and the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, Mississippi Sound, and the Perdido Key area of southeast Baldwin County. A total of 1,243 field points were assessed in 2015. Additional locations that were not inspected during 2015 were visited in the late spring and early summer of 2016. These areas included locations in East Fowl River, West Fowl River, Halls Mill Creek, Rabbit Creek, Fish River, Magnolia River, Bon Secour River, and lower Perdido Bay. In total, point data for the summer and fall 2015 mapping effort were collected at 1,437 locations. Overall, there were 3,875.6 more acres mapped in 2015 than in the 2009 MBNEP survey, mostly due to a 2,454.7-ac increase in the Bridgehead Quadrangle and a 511.4-ac increase in the Mobile Quadrangle.