Known and prospective rocky shoal locations in three rivers in Georgia, USA

Many central questions in river ecology and management rely on understanding the distributions of aquatic plants and their habitats. However, it remains difficult to map submerged aquatic vegetation and relevant habitat characteristics in rivers at scales beyond the scope of field surveys. We focus here on rocky shoals, which are the principal habitat of the riverine macrophyte Podostemum ceratophyllum Michx. This species is considered an indicator of the overall ecological health of the rivers it inhabits, including the well-being of several fish and invertebrate species of conservation concern. Here, we provide a map of known and likely rocky shoal habitats in three rivers in Georgia, USA, produced by a manual survey in Google Earth Pro using simple, repeatable criteria. We intend for this map to aid ongoing and future efforts to locate rocky shoals in these rivers, model the distribution and growth of associated species, and identify prospective shoals in other systems.

河流生态学与河流管理领域的诸多核心问题，均依赖于对水生植物及其栖息生境分布的认知。然而，在超出野外调查覆盖范围的空间尺度上，对河流中的沉水水生植被（submerged aquatic vegetation）及其相关生境特征进行制图仍颇具挑战。本研究聚焦于岩质浅滩（rocky shoals）——它是河生大型植物（riverine macrophyte）Podostemum ceratophyllum Michx.的核心栖息生境。该物种被视为其栖息河流整体生态健康状况的指示物种，同时可反映多种受保护关注的鱼类和无脊椎动物类群的存续状态。本研究提供了美国佐治亚州三条河流中已知及潜在岩质浅滩生境的分布图，该图通过在Google Earth Pro中开展人工目视解译，并依托简洁可重复的解译准则生成。本数据集旨在助力当前及未来相关研究：包括在上述三条河流中定位岩质浅滩、模拟伴生物种的分布与生长规律，以及在其他水系中识别潜在岩质浅滩生境。