TBCMP Opportunity Analysis

Overview

This document describes the methods used to create spatial layers for the Tampa Bay Coastal Master Plan (TBCMP) habitat opportunity analysis. Layers are created for seven counties in the Tampa Bay region: Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota.

Methods are reproduced from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program 2020 Habitat Master Plan update described in Environmental Science Associates (2020) and Beck et al. (2023). All processing is implemented in numbered R scripts, described sequentially in the Steps sections. All source code is available at https://github.com/tbep-tech/tbcmp-opportunities. Original code for the Habitat Master Plan is available at https://github.com/tbep-tech/hmpu-workflow. Claude Code was used extensively to adapt the original code herein, with all resulting products and documentation verified by a real human.

Environmental Science Associates. 2020. Tampa Bay Estuary Program: 2020 Habitat Master Plan Update. Nos. 07-20. Tampa Bay Estuary Program. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hp0l_qtbxp1JxKJoGatdyuANSzQrpL0I/view?usp=drivesdk.

Beck, M. W., D. E. Robison, G. E. Raulerson, et al. 2023. “Addressing Climate Change and Development Pressures in an Urban Estuary Through Habitat Restoration Planning.” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11: 1070266. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1070266.

Opportunity areas for each county can be downloaded here and are defined as follows:

Category	Description
Existing Conservation Native	Native habitat within existing conservation lands
Existing Conservation Restorable	Restorable land within existing conservation lands
Proposed Conservation Native	Native habitat within proposed conservation lands, outside the coastal stratum
Proposed Conservation Restorable	Restorable land within proposed conservation lands, outside the coastal stratum
Reservation Native	Native habitat in the coastal stratum that is unprotected or proposed for conservation
Reservation Restorable	Restorable land in the coastal stratum that is unprotected or proposed for conservation

Restoration potentials for each county can be downloaded here and are defined as follows:

Category	Description
Coastal Uplands	Restorable upland habitat within the coastal stratum
Freshwater Wetlands	Restorable wetland habitat outside the coastal stratum
Native Uplands	Restorable upland habitat outside the coastal stratum
Tidal Wetlands	Restorable tidal habitat (Mangrove Forests/Salt Barrens and Salt Marshes combined)