Book Description

The estuarine fauna and their habitats in Padilla Bay, Washington, have been the subject of a variety of studies during the last 20 years, although there has been no review or synthesis of these studies. Concern for the habitats along the coasts of the United States has increased in recent years. To address this concern, several classification schemes have been proposed for coastal habitats (Ray 1975; Cowardin et al. 1979; Dethier 1990; Simenstad et al. 1991). Recently, Ray (1994) has proposed a Coastal Habitat Classification Scheme to provide an overall framework for evaluating coastal habitats. An early step in this process of evaluating coastal habitats is the collection and summary of existing information. The objective of this report is to collect the available data on habitats in Padilla Bay, Washington, and to review the information relevant to the habitats identified in the Coastal Habitat Classification Scheme.