ecological characterization atlas of coastal alabama - Data Center

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(Numenius hap eopus), short-billed dowitcher ( Limnodromus griseus ) and sander Fing Cai rd Ts alba) ( Imhof 1976) . In addition, many other species pass through -t Fe -area U-uing migration or overwinter there . Shorebirds that nest in Alabama and may be considered permanent residents include willet ( Cato trophorus semipalmatus), American oystercatcher ( Haematopus palliatus), snowy p over ara rius alexandrinus), Wilson's pTover ara riudTs wi`Tsonia), black-neck e-d--s-t i'lt (Himantopus mexicanus), clapper rai a us-long ostris), and king rail (RaT uf s el Iegans mhof 1976) . Specifi~ting sites of these species are variaTTand generally not reported in the literature . However, some nesting sites occur on Dauphin I sl and, i n the Bon Secour Bay area, on Bl akel ey I sl and, the Pi nto Pass area, around Lake Shelby, and many other areas . Probably the most common marsh bird found along the coast is .the clapper rail, usually found in saline and brackish marsh areas . They are abundant, and also breed in the marshes and on the islands of Mississippi Sound . The greatest densities are found on Marsh Island ( Biloxi quadrangle) and along Heron Bay (Holliman 1978) . Snowy plover are reported to nest on Sand Island (Biloxi quadrangle), west end of Dauphin Island (Biloxi quadrangle), and Fort Morgan peninsula ( Pensacola quadrangle) ; and the black-necked stilt on the dredge spoil areas of Blakeley, Pinto, and McDuffie Islands (Mobile quadrangle) ( Johnson 1979) . Theodore Disposal Island ( Hollinqers Island) (Mobile and Biloxi quadrangles) is also reported as a nesting site for the brown pelican (P . O'Neil 1984, pers . comm .) . Additionally, over 600 white pelicans were observed on the Theodore Disposal Island (D . Cooley, U .S . Fish and Wildlife Service ; pers . comm . 1984) . Information on certain bird species believed to be threatened or endangered, such as osprey and the peregrine falcon, is contained in the section on threatened and endangered species . Waterfowl Concentration Areas in Coastal Alabama The U .S . Fish and Wildlife Service administers the Migratory Bird Habitat Preservation Program, which is designed to preserve critical waterfowl habi tat by ac qui si tion from pri vate owners ( Fi sh and Wi l dl i fe Serv ice 1982) . This program of purchases from willing owners is designed to save from development areas vital to waterfowl species . Under this program, specific areas in the United States have been identified as key wetland units, most important to nesting or migrating waterfowl . Two units have been identified in coastal Alabama, the Point Aux Chenes-Grand Bay Swamp Unit (Biloxi quadrangle) and the Lower Mobile Delta Unit (Mobile and Bay Minette quadrangles) . The Lower Mobi 1 e Del ta Uni t i s by far the most important as i ndicated by the acreage versus wintering population totals shown in Table 2 . The most numerous waterfowl speci es i n the Lower Mobi 1 e Del ta are lesser scaup ( Aythya affinis), gadwall ( Anas strepera), redhead ( Aythya americana), northern pintai nas acuta), green-wing~tea.1 (A . crecca , ue-winged teal (A . discors), malTa_r_cT_ ( A . platyrhynchos) an T american wigeon (A . ameri cana ) .-T~oo T duck ( Ai x sponsa )an7EF- ,oF do ed-mergansers ( Lophodytes cucuT-- atus are found in the__Ric~ce -wooded areas and are two o t e ew cTucTc 7
Table 2 . Average annual waterfowl population by species 1969-78 ( modified from Fish and Wildlife Service 1982) . Species Point Aux Chenes-Grand Bay Swamp Unit Lower Mobile Delta Unit (31,649 acres) (21,507 acres) Mallard 100 400 American Black Duck --- 128 Mottled Duck 25 50 Gadwall 50 1,622 American Wigeon 100 511 Green-winged Teal 25 800 Bl ue-wi nged Teal 10 200 Northern Shoveler --- 33 Northern Pintail 25 978 Wood Duck 50 250 Redhead 300 1,422 Canvasback --- 722 Lesser Scaup 250 4,444 Ring-necked Duck --- 289 Common Goldeneye --- 11 Bufflehead --- 11 Ruddy Duck --- 56 American Coot 100 16,544 TOTAL 1,035 24,471 species nesting in coastal Alabama . Mottled duck ( Anas fulvigula ) are also known to breed on Dauphin Island (Imhof 1976) . American coot ( Fulica americana), although not a duck, is the most numerous waterfowl species in the Mobi Te Delta area, composing almost 68 % of total waterfowl population . Other areas in which large populations of certain waterfowl species are sometimes found during the winter are upper Perdido Bay, around Dauphin Island and in Bon Secour Bay . For example on Bon Secour Bay, over 100,000 scamp were observed during the winter of 1983-84 (D . Cooley, pers . comm . 1984) . Harvest figures for ducks and coots over the years 1972 to 1983 in the Mobile Delta are presented in Table 3 . In general, more coots than ducks were harvested over the 12-year period, but the relative numbers varied by sea son . SEA TURTLES Turtle nesting is extremely rare in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico . The Atlantic small loggerhead (Caretta caretta) is reported to occur and occasionally nest in the area oun 9757,_7oschung 1976 ; McDiarmid 1978) . The 8
Page 1 and 2: FWS/OBS-82/46 August 1984 MMS 84-00
Page 3 and 4: Library of Congress Card No . 85-60
Page 5 and 6: SUMMARY The southwest Alabama coast
Page 7 and 8: CONTENTS PREFACE . . . . . . . . .
Page 9 and 10: Page CL IMATOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY . .
Page 11 and 12: Number Page 14 Frequency of destruc
Page 13 and 14: Number Page 13 Charter boats and he
Page 15 and 16: Number Pa e 49 Summary of geologic
Page 17 and 18: Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce Mob
Page 19 and 20: water . Plants and animals not phys
Page 21 and 22: and white ibis (Eudocimus aTbus) .
Page 23: Grant's Island (Biloxi quadrangle)
Page 27 and 28: (widgeongrass) is the dominant seag
Page 29 and 30: (Benson 1982) . Brown and white shr
Page 31 and 32: Table 4 . Commercial landings of se
Page 33 and 34: Table 5 . Estimated recreational ca
Page 35 and 36: offshore waters from December throu
Page 37 and 38: Unless otherwise specified, the fol
Page 39 and 40: Table 7 . Recommended State of Alab
Page 41 and 42: Table 7 . (concluded) Recommended s
Page 43 and 44: (Mount 1975 ) . Thi s speci es i s
Page 45 and 46: REFERENCES Wetland Habitats Cowardi
Page 47 and 48: Stout, J . P ., and M . J . Lelong
Page 49 and 50: Guest, W . C ., and G . Gunter . 19
Page 51 and 52: SOURCES OF MAPPED INFORMATION Wetla
Page 53 and 54: In April and June 1978 the Gulf of
Page 55 and 56: distribution of the species are dis
Page 57 and 58: landed, the value of the seafood la
Page 59 and 60: Service publication Alabama Coastal
Page 61 and 62: year, over 2 million individual bir
Page 63 and 64: The Styx, Blackwater, and Perdido R
Page 65 and 66: It was estimated ( Table 9) that 2
Page 67 and 68: Table 10 . Average daily two-way tr
Page 69 and 70: while the majority in Mobile County
Page 71 and 72: mouth of Mobile Bay has tremendous
Page 73 and 74: SOLID WASTE LANDFILLS AND ONSHORE D
Page 75 and 76:
Table 15 . Areas of Alabama estuari
Page 77 and 78:
Cavellero House (1) 7 North Jackson
Page 79 and 80:
Horst House ("Moongate") (1) 186 ;
Page 81 and 82:
Spring Hill College Quadrangle (1)
Page 83 and 84:
periods . Hallmarks of the Woodland
Page 85 and 86:
Table 16 . Maintained navigable cha
Page 87 and 88:
Mobil Oil discovered gas in a deep
Page 89 and 90:
National Natural Landmarks Boschung
Page 91 and 92:
May, E . B . 1976 . Holocene sedime
Page 93 and 94:
U .S . Army Corps of Engineers . 19
Page 95 and 96:
Intensively Used Recreation Beaches
Page 97 and 98:
Man-Made Land Baxter J ., 15 Decemb
Page 99 and 100:
SOILS AND LANDFORMS INTRODUCTION Th
Page 101 and 102:
oad flood plains of the Mobile/Alab
Page 103 and 104:
At elevations of about 30 m (100 ft
Page 105 and 106:
The Troup-Benndale-Smithton soil as
Page 107 and 108:
Table 19 . Potential uses and limit
Page 109 and 110:
Somewhat the same situation exists
Page 111 and 112:
due to limitations of Landsat cover
Page 113 and 114:
decrease in sediment being transpor
Page 115 and 116:
Changes in Perdido Pass are among t
Page 117 and 118:
60 m (100 to 200 ft), and some of t
Page 119 and 120:
REFERENCES Alabama Coastal Area Boa
Page 121 and 122:
SOURCES OF MAPPED INFORMATION Soil
Page 123 and 124:
Active Dunes Alabama Coastal Area B
Page 125 and 126:
: EXPLANATION ERATHEM SYSTEM SERIES
Page 127 and 128:
carbon component of the production
Page 129 and 130:
Table 20 . Oil facilities in coasta
Page 131 and 132:
Oil and gas production statistics f
Page 133 and 134:
CLAY Clay is a ubiquitous mineral r
Page 135 and 136:
Table 24 . Production (net tons) of
Page 137 and 138:
Table 27 . Geologic strata containi
Page 139 and 140:
excavation (Smith and Gilbert 1975)
Page 141 and 142:
REFERENCES OIL AND GAS Alabama Coas
Page 143 and 144:
SAND AND GRAVEL Alabama Coastal Are
Page 145 and 146:
SOURCES OF MAPPED INFORMATION OIL A
Page 147 and 148:
CLIMATOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY INTRODUCT
Page 149 and 150:
Table 32 . Rainfall in coastal Alab
Page 151 and 152:
systems to extend into the gulf are
Page 153 and 154:
These storms have the potential to
Page 155 and 156:
average forward speed of hurricanes
Page 157 and 158:
Table 35 . Hurricane surges in Alab
Page 159 and 160:
occurs when water rises above the w
Page 161 and 162:
Table 37 . Monthly mean discharges
Page 163 and 164:
Alabama River C L u z O W L 0 u ~ Z
Page 165 and 166:
Table 41 . Chemical analyses of wat
Page 167 and 168:
~ 0 umber (quad) tation name ate of
Page 169 and 170:
Table 42 . (concluded) isso ve su s
Page 171 and 172:
~ -------- 00 ~ ~r I ~ . i I I ~ I
Page 173 and 174:
Table 43 . Existing municipal sewag
Page 175 and 176:
Regional Plan- Table 45 . Water qua
Page 177 and 178:
Table 46 . Average and maximum-mini
Page 179 and 180:
Table 46 . (concluded) -~Tater temp
Page 181 and 182:
Table 47 . Water-quality trends in
Page 183 and 184:
discharge from metropolitan Mobile
Page 185 and 186:
Table 49 . Summary of geologic unit
Page 187 and 188:
affected by the surface environment
Page 189 and 190:
Longshore currents in the Gulf of M
Page 191 and 192:
consisting of a wedge of salt water
Page 193 and 194:
AI ARAMA ` FI (lRIf1A Figure 19 . E
Page 195 and 196:
~ ~ l ~ l i L j + l j* l + j* ~ + j
Page 197 and 198:
REFERENCES CLIMATOLOGY AND HYDROLOG
Page 199 and 200:
Brady, D . W . 1979 . Water resourc
Page 201 and 202:
Schroeder, W . W . 1976 . Physical
Page 203 and 204:
This 25-page document gives detaile
Page 205 and 206:
Information on the location, thickn
Page 207:
H TtiF I :r ~ . ~ .~ U _ . DEPARTME
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