GL_StClair_Detroit_River 2019 ESI: Terrestrial Mammal Distribution Polygons

Vector polygons represent terrestrial mammal distribution for the St. Clair / Detroit River System in southeastern Michigan. The data set contains sensitive biological resource data for five species: bats, river otter, beaver, muskrat, and Canada lynx. It is part of the 2019 Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data for the Great Lakes region, characterizing coastal environments by their sensitivity to oil spills.

Use Cases

• Modeling oil spill sensitivity for terrestrial mammals based on species distribution polygons.
• Assessing habitat overlap for conservation planning based on the described biological resource data.
• Integrating species-specific attributes like abundance and seasonality for environmental impact studies based on associated data tables.

Strengths

• Data covers five specific terrestrial mammal species: bats, river otter, beaver, muskrat, and Canada lynx.
• Spatial data is designed to be used with associated tables containing species-specific attributes.
• Study area is explicitly defined, including portions of Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified despite a last updated date of 2026-03-13.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data collection for the Great Lakes region.

Time Range

2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:21:12.438657

Geography

St. Clair / Detroit River System in southeastern Michigan, including parts of Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie.