Return to search results
Tidal Creek Sentinel Habitat Database
The Ecological Research, Assessment and Prediction's Tidal Creeks: Sentinel Habitat Database was developed to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations' (NOAA) Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) Oceans and Human Health Initiative (OHHI). The goal of the program is to provide the scientific information and framework for forecasting environmental and human health risks across estuarine habitats, watersheds, and regions which includes the testing of new technologies developed by other HML OHH groups. This includes a wide range of data from tidal creek systems which are being used as the sentinel habitat for assessing and predicting the impact of coastal development on estuarine systems. Sampling has occurred in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. Historical data from 1994, 1995, 2000 as well as recent data from 2005, 2006, and 2008 are included in the database. A wide range of parameters have been sampled in the estuarine tidal creek systems and their watersheds to obtain data on water quality (e.g., nutrients, pathogens, dissolved oxygen, salinity), sediment quality (e.g., characteristics, chemical contaminants), biological condition (e.g., macrobenthos, fish, organism health) , human exposure (e.g., pathogens), and watershed attributes (e.g., land cover, impervious cover, demographics). Each creek was sampled from its headwaters to its junction with a large open estuary. The creeks represented the range of land use types and human uses that occur in the Southeastern and Gulf regions, including forested, suburban, and urban watersheds. Results of these studies indicate that the amount and type of watershed development are linked to changes in creek environmental quality including increased fecal coliform levels, decreased sediment quality, changes in the kinds and abundances of biota, changes in the abundance of juvenile fish, and decreases in the abundance of shrimp that use these habitats as nurseries. These findings suggest that the shallow estuarine habitats that form the primary link with the land provide early warning of impairment and may be sentinels of ensuing harm from land-based activities. The levels of microbial and chemical contamination in these headwater environments are frequently an order of magnitude greater than that reported for deeper open water environments. Shallow or headwater tidal creeks are, in effect, the "first responders" to impacts of non-point source pollution runoff.
Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | non-public |
| contactPoint |
{
"fn": "Not provided - Contact data.gov",
"hasEmail": "mailto:datagovsupport@gsa.gov"
}
|
| describedByType | application/octet-steam |
| description | The Ecological Research, Assessment and Prediction's Tidal Creeks: Sentinel Habitat Database was developed to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations' (NOAA) Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) Oceans and Human Health Initiative (OHHI). The goal of the program is to provide the scientific information and framework for forecasting environmental and human health risks across estuarine habitats, watersheds, and regions which includes the testing of new technologies developed by other HML OHH groups. This includes a wide range of data from tidal creek systems which are being used as the sentinel habitat for assessing and predicting the impact of coastal development on estuarine systems. Sampling has occurred in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. Historical data from 1994, 1995, 2000 as well as recent data from 2005, 2006, and 2008 are included in the database. A wide range of parameters have been sampled in the estuarine tidal creek systems and their watersheds to obtain data on water quality (e.g., nutrients, pathogens, dissolved oxygen, salinity), sediment quality (e.g., characteristics, chemical contaminants), biological condition (e.g., macrobenthos, fish, organism health) , human exposure (e.g., pathogens), and watershed attributes (e.g., land cover, impervious cover, demographics). Each creek was sampled from its headwaters to its junction with a large open estuary. The creeks represented the range of land use types and human uses that occur in the Southeastern and Gulf regions, including forested, suburban, and urban watersheds. Results of these studies indicate that the amount and type of watershed development are linked to changes in creek environmental quality including increased fecal coliform levels, decreased sediment quality, changes in the kinds and abundances of biota, changes in the abundance of juvenile fish, and decreases in the abundance of shrimp that use these habitats as nurseries. These findings suggest that the shallow estuarine habitats that form the primary link with the land provide early warning of impairment and may be sentinels of ensuing harm from land-based activities. The levels of microbial and chemical contamination in these headwater environments are frequently an order of magnitude greater than that reported for deeper open water environments. Shallow or headwater tidal creeks are, in effect, the "first responders" to impacts of non-point source pollution runoff. |
| distribution |
[
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "https://maps.coastalscience.noaa.gov/tidalcreek/",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Offline Data",
"downloadURL": "https://maps.coastalscience.noaa.gov/tidalcreek/",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP)",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort.",
"downloadURL": "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nos/nccos/dmp/pdf/39580.pdf",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
"downloadURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Full Metadata Record",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset.",
"downloadURL": "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/39580",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
}
]
|
| identifier | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:39580 |
| issued | 2006-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| keyword |
[
"OceanCommunity",
"Environmental Monitoring",
"Socioeconomics",
"biological communities",
"coastal ecosystem",
"coastal health",
"fecal indicators",
"impervious cover",
"land cover",
"macrobenthos",
"nekton",
"non-point source pollution",
"nutrients",
"sediment chemistry",
"sediment grain size",
"stormwater runoff",
"tidal creek",
"water quality",
"watershed",
"1994",
"1995",
"1996",
"2000",
"2001",
"2002",
"2003",
"2004",
"2005",
"2006",
"2008",
"Alabama",
"Georgia",
"Mississippi",
"North Carolina",
"South Carolina",
"DOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS > National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
"hml"
]
|
| landingPage | https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/39580 |
| language |
[]
|
| license | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
| modified | 2006-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| publisher |
{
"name": "National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science",
"@type": "org:Organization"
}
|
| references |
[
"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nos/nccos/dmp/pdf/39580.pdf"
]
|
| rights | otherRestrictions, unclassified |
| spatial | -77.83271,30.27166,-88.54614,34.19934 |
| temporal | 1994-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/1994-01-01T00:00:00+00:00 |
| title | Tidal Creek Sentinel Habitat Database |