Fish Habitat Suitability Maps for Bay of Quinte, 1972-2011

Habitat suitability maps for fish in the Bay of Quinte, modeled at a 3-meter grid resolution over a 39-year period. The data, produced by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, classifies habitat suitability from 0 to 1 based on depth, vegetation, substrate, and temperature for different life stages. Final maps represent the maximum suitability value for each species guild and life stage combination across the modeled years.

Use Cases

• Modeling long-term habitat suitability trends for fish based on the 39-year time series.
• Assessing the impact of water level changes on juvenile and adult fish habitat.
• Identifying high-suitability zones for conservation based on the combined depth, vegetation, and substrate variables.
• Analyzing habitat availability for different thermal guilds and life stages.

Strengths

• Modeled at a high spatial resolution of 3 meters.
• Covers a long temporal range from 1972 to 2011.
• Integrates multiple environmental variables: depth, vegetation, substrate, and temperature.
• Suitability values are scaled from 0 to 1 and classified into four distinct classes.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

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

1972-2011

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-24 08:09:27.648146; freshness should be verified

Geography

Bay of Quinte Area of Concern, Canada