U.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is the principal Federal agency that provides information to the public on the extent and status of the Nation's wetlands. The Service's strategic plan for our vast national wetland data holdings is focused on the development, updating, and dissemination of wetlands data and information to Service resource managers and the public. This data set represents the extent, approximate location and type of wetlands and deepwater habitats in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These data delineate the areal extent of wetlands and surface waters as defined by Cowardin et al. (1979). Certain wetland habitats may be excluded because of the limitations of aerial imagery as the primary data source used to detect wetlands. These habitats include seagrasses or submerged aquatic vegetation that are found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of estuaries and near shore coastal waters. Some deepwater reef communities (coral or tuberficid worm reefs) have also been excluded from the inventory. These habitats, because of their depth, go undetected by aerial imagery. By policy, the Service also excludes certain types of "farmed wetlands" as may be defined by the Food Security Act or that do not coincide with the Cowardin et al. definition.ArcGIS FeatureLayerhttps://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/6094fbf943644d6cb27e015d723b2207_0engU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Open DataPublicFWS HQ ES National Wetlands Inventory Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands [United States]Web servicesUnited StatesLast Modified: 2023-01-31