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Calibration of the Delaware Rapid Assessment Protocol to a Comprehensive Measure of Wetland Condition
Citation:
SIFNEOS, J., A. T. HERLIHY, A. D. Jacobs, AND M. E. KENTULA. Calibration of the Delaware Rapid Assessment Protocol to a Comprehensive Measure of Wetland Condition. WETLANDS. The Society of Wetland Scientists, McLean, VA, 30(6):1011-1022, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
The importance of monitoring and assessment to the management and protection of wetlands has been recognized, and research in recent years has made progress in the development of wetland monitoring and assessment tools.
Description:
The importance of monitoring and assessment to the management and protection of wetlands has been recognized, and research in recent years has made progress in the development of wetland monitoring and assessment tools. Wetland assessments are made at multiple levels of intensity based on desired data quality, the scale of application, available resources, and the level of effort involved in data collection. We developed a method which calibrates rapid assessment data to comprehensive wetland condition data using a multiple regression approach. Specifically, the Delaware Rapid Assessment Protocol was calibrated to an Index of Wetland Condition (IWC) derived from hydrogeomorphic (HGM) variables using data collected at riverine, depression and flat wetlands in the Nanticoke and Inland Bays watersheds of Delaware and Maryland. The resulting calibrated rapid condition score was highly correlated with the intense IWC score in each wetland type. The calibration methodology was also robust with respect to changes in statistical cutoff values and model selection method. Our approach provides a quantitative alternative to using best professional judgment to score rapid assessment methods. When rapid methods are correlated with intense methods, double sampling (using rapid methods at all sites and intense methods at a subset of sites) can be used to increase the overall survey sample size resulting in increased precision in estimates of regional condition.