San Francisco Bay Benthic Habitat 2011

These data define habitat data within the San Francisco Bay area and were developed through a collaborative effort with the California State Coastal Conservancy on behalf of the Ocean Protection Council. This project aimed to collect and delineate approximately 930 square miles of intertidal and subtidal lands. Habitat delineation extended from the upper intertidal zone to the point where bottom image signatures were no longer visible due to depth or turbidity, approximately minus-2 meters in the San Francisco Bay system. A single benthic habitat dataset was used to extract three data layers: biotic, substrate, and geoform. While polygon boundaries remained unchanged during extraction, any polygons lacking biotic, substrate, or geoform information were removed from their respective layers. These data are designed to assist local coastal zone managers in their decision-making processes and the long-term management of the Bay, including applications such as sea level rise.

The layers available within the data download include: biotic, geoform, and substrate.

Partners: California State Coastal Conservancy on behalf of the Ocean Protection Council