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SYNOPTIC ASSESSMENT OF WETLAND FUNCTION: A PLANNING TOOL FOR PROTECTION OF WETLAND SPECIES BIODIVERSITY
Citation:
Schweiger, E. W., S G. Leibowitz, J. B. Hyman, W. E. Foster, AND M. C. Downing. SYNOPTIC ASSESSMENT OF WETLAND FUNCTION: A PLANNING TOOL FOR PROTECTION OF WETLAND SPECIES BIODIVERSITY. BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION 11:379-406.
Description:
We present a synoptic assessment intended to maximize the benefits to wetland species biodiversity gained through Clean Water Act regulatory efforts within 225 sub-basins in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas (U.S. EPA, Region 7) USA. Our assessment provides a method for identifying sub-basins potentially critical for supporting wetland species biodiversity and may assist environmental managers and conservationists constrained by limited resources. We prioritize sub-basins based on the projected increase in the risk of wetland species extirpation across Region 7 that would be avoided by applying a unit of regulatory protection effort within a sub-basin. Because the projected increase in risk avoided per unit effort has not been directly measured, we represent this quantity with an index of indicators drawn from readily available geographic data.....Protection of wetland species biodiversity is an important, but not exclusive, attribute around which priorities should be set. Nevertheless, incorporation of our results into management strategies should allow managers to cast their local decisions in the context of Regional scale maintenance of wetland species biodiversity, increasing ecological benefits for a given protection effort.