Eelgrass Occurrence Records in Nova Scotia from 2009 to 2025

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) presence and absence records collected in Nova Scotia coastal waters between 2009 and 2025. The Coastal Benthic Ecology Lab at Fisheries and Oceans Canada collated data from multiple government, academic, and non-profit sources. Records include associated metadata, water depth, substrate type, and references for the species distribution model by O’Brien et al. 2022.

Use Cases

• Modeling eelgrass species distribution based on presence/absence records and environmental variables.
• Analyzing habitat suitability based on substrate type (rock, soft, mixed) and water depth.
• Assessing temporal trends in coastal benthic ecosystems from 2009 to 2025.
• Validating and extending the O’Brien et al. 2022 species distribution model with new records.

Strengths

• Data spans 16 years (2009-2025), providing a multi-year temporal perspective.
• Incorporates records from multiple authoritative sources including DFO, provincial departments, academia, and non-profits.
• Includes key environmental variables like water depth and substrate type where available.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic or methodological bias inherent to the contributing sources.

Provenance

Source

Coastal Benthic Ecology Lab (CBEL) at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Collection Method

Collated from field measurements via boat, snorkel, drop camera video transects, surface observations, and sample collections.

Time Range

2009-2025

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 17:00:51.965978; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Coastal waters in Nova Scotia, Canada.