St. Lawrence River 2021 ESI Invertebrate Data for Oil Spill Sensitivity

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data characterizing freshwater mussels and other invertebrates in the St. Lawrence River for the 2021 Environmental Sensitivity Index. The study area spans from the headwaters of Lake Ontario to the western portion of L'Ile-Saint-Regis Island in Canada. Associated tables store species-specific abundance, seasonality, status, and life history information.

Use Cases

• Modeling oil spill sensitivity and impact zones based on invertebrate species abundance and distribution.
• Assessing seasonal vulnerability of freshwater mussel populations based on stored seasonality information.
• Prioritizing coastal protection and cleanup resources based on biological resource sensitivity data.
• Integrating invertebrate data with shoreline habitat and human-use layers for comprehensive environmental planning.

Strengths

• Data is part of a standardized Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) framework for oil spill response.
• Includes associated tables with species-specific attributes like abundance and seasonality.
• Spatial coverage is clearly defined for a specific stretch of the St. Lawrence River.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Primary file format is PDF, which may limit direct machine-readability for spatial analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely collected and compiled for the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) program.

Time Range

2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:33:02.554408; freshness should be verified.

Geography

St. Lawrence River from headwaters of Lake Ontario to western L'Ile-Saint-Regis Island (Canada).