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Selecting indicators for the 2011 Assessment of the Nation's Wetlands
Citation:
KENTULA, M. E. AND M. E. SCOZZAFAVA. Selecting indicators for the 2011 Assessment of the Nation's Wetlands. Presented at Society of Wetland Scientists annual international meeting, Madison, WI, June 21 - 26, 2009.
Impact/Purpose:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to conduct a National Wetland Condition Assessment in 2011 with reporting due in 2013.
Description:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to conduct a National Wetland Condition Assessment in 2011 with reporting due in 2013. The results will be used to ensure that technical and financial resources are more efficiently allocated to address risks that confront wetlands. Planning has included a major effort to identify indicators and metrics that can be (1) used effectively and efficiently to quantitatively describe the ecological condition of the wide variety of wetlands across the nation. A series of meetings and reviews were used to obtain input from scientists and experts from academia and Federal, state, and tribal wetland programs. Vegetation, soils, hydrology, and stressors were selected as high priority indicators. Fish and amphibians were dropped from consideration because of the difficulty in sampling them in all wetland types and within the constraints of the one day per site limits of the survey. Further examination of algal, bird, and water quality sampling was recommended. A Field Operations Manual is being reviewed and tested in summer 2009 to finalize the variables to be measured and the related protocols.