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BROAD-SCALE ASSESSMENT OF WETLAND VULNERABILITY USING GIS AND LANDSCAPE-ECOLOGICAL METRICS
Citation:
Lopez, R D., D T. Heggem, AND J G. Lyon. BROAD-SCALE ASSESSMENT OF WETLAND VULNERABILITY USING GIS AND LANDSCAPE-ECOLOGICAL METRICS. Presented at American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Las Vegas, NV, July 27-30, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
The primary objectives of this research are to:
Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;
Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;
Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;
Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;
Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.
This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.
Description:
Landscape-ecological indicators of ecosystem integrity are increasingly being sought for use in habitat suitability assessments, habitat vulnerability assessments, and as a means to set goals for restoration projects. We utilized currently available information from the Arkansas GAP Program, Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST), and National Wetland Inventory (NWI) to determine the ecological vulnerability of wetlands in the Lower White River Basin (Arkansas). The documented ecological requirements of wetland species in the region were used to inform the merged GAP, CAST, and NWI habitat models for the 897,000 White River Basin study area. Wetland patch size, patch shape, and human-induced disturbance factors were used to determine the relative ecological vulnerability of wetland habitat for mallard duck, black bear, and plant species undercurrent and future landscape conditions. Results in the white River Basin indicate that a substantial proportion of wetland habitat is vulnerable to fragmentation or loss, as a result of patch configuration and/or hurnan-induced disturbance factors. The models suggest that a future decrease in the occurrence or duration of wetland flooding along 226 kilometers of riparian habitat in the White River National Wildlife Refuge would result in the net loss of 2822 hectares of habitat for obligate-wetland or facultative-wetland organisms, in specific areas. The model results demonstrate that selected spectral remote sensing data, NWI data, and ecological principles can be combined to develop a practical ecological vulnerability model for wetlands at broad scales.