Fish Habitat Suitability Maps for Bay of Quinte Nursery Habitat

Habitat suitability maps for the Bay of Quinte Area of Concern, modeled at a 3-meter grid resolution. The data assesses nursery habitat suitability for low vegetation association fish species across all temperature windows, with values scaled from 0 to 1. It was produced by Fisheries and Oceans Canada using the Habitat Ecosystem Assessment Tool (HEAT) and covers a 39-year period from 1972 to 2011.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of habitat suitability values (0-1) for low vegetation association species to identify critical nursery areas.
• Model changes in nursery habitat suitability classes (very low, low, medium, high) over the 39-year time series from 1972 to 2011.
• Integrate 3-meter resolution grid data on depth, vegetation, and substrate with temperature suitabilities for ecological impact assessments.

Strengths

• High-resolution geospatial data modeled at a 3-meter grid resolution.
• Temporal coverage spans 39 years of historical analysis from 1972 to 2011.
• Suitability values are quantitatively scaled from 0 (not suitable) to 1 (highly suitable).

Limitations

• Data is specific to nursery habitat for low vegetation association species, limiting analysis for other life stages or vegetation types.
• Primary file formats (PDF, ESRI REST, FGDB/GDB) may require specialized GIS software for analysis, limiting accessibility.
• The modeling is confined to the Bay of Quinte Area of Concern, reducing generalizability to other geographic regions.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Modeled using the Habitat Ecosystem Assessment Tool (HEAT), temperature algorithms, vegetation models, and water level inputs.

Time Range

1972 to 2011

Freshness

Data last updated on 2026-03-24, though the modeled time range ends in 2011.

Geography

Bay of Quinte Area of Concern, Canada