You are here:
COASTAL WETLANDS INDICATOR STUDY: EMAP-ESTUARIES LOUISIANIAN PROVINCE - 1991
Citation:
Turner, R. E., E. M. Swenson, AND J K. Summers. COASTAL WETLANDS INDICATOR STUDY: EMAP-ESTUARIES LOUISIANIAN PROVINCE - 1991. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/620/R-95/005, 1995.
Impact/Purpose:
This report represents data from a single year of pilot study operations of the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP). Because the probability-based scientific design used by the EMAP necessitates multiple years of sampling, there may be significant levels of uncertainty associated with. some of these data.
Description:
This document describes the rationale, objectives, approach, and strategy for testing biological indicators of ecological condition in coastal wetlands. This coastal wetlands program is part of the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) administered by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Research and Development. The overall goal of EMAP-Coastal Wetlands is to provide a quantitative assessment of the status and long-term trends in coastal wetland condition on regional and national scales with known confidence. The purpose of this report is to begin the process of indicator selection and testing to produce the appropriate field measurements, statistical metrics, and reporting indices to assess status or condition of coastal wetlands. The biological indicators to assess coastal wetland condition or 'health' is central to the EMAP concept. It assumes that meaningful information can be obtained for regional and national assessments of important coastal wetland attributes on a fairly constrained and limited set of indicator measurements. The development and selection of indicators for EMAP-Coastal Wetlands is viewed as a continual process, now in its early stages. This study examined the evaluation of 21 wetland indicators related to sediment characteristics, vegetation, and hydrology. The study focused on the quantification and evaluation of five endpoints with regard to these indicators: 1) Spatial and Temporal Variability, 2) Responsiveness, 3) Interpretability and Ambiguity, 4) Integration and 5) Cost Effectiveness.