(e.g., nursery, spawning, foundation)
Different habitats may be vulnerable to different impact types. Therefore, it is important to consider the impacts associated with the project and if habitats present in the proposed area may by sensitive to those impacts. Habitats often support specific assemblages of species so impacts to the habitat are also likely to impact species diversity. In addition, habitats serve many roles, including shelter, refuge from predators and/or competitors, and food. It is important to understand how these habitat roles could be altered due to human impact. Habitat identification should also denote habitats that are listed as "environmentally sensitive habitat areas."
Nearshore estuarine and marine ecosystems—e.g., seagrass meadows, marshes, and mangrove forests—serve many important functions in coastal waters. Most notably, they have extremely high primary and secondary productivity and support a great abundance and diversity of fish and invertebrates. Because of their effects on the diversity and productivity of macrofauna, these estuarine and marine ecosystems are often referred to as nurseries in numerous papers, textbooks, and government-sponsored reports (Boesch and Turner 1984, NRC 1995, Butler and Jernakoff 1999).