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ISOLATED WETLANDS: STATE-OF-THE-SCIENCE AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Citation:
Leibowitz, S G. AND T. L. Nadeau. ISOLATED WETLANDS: STATE-OF-THE-SCIENCE AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS. Presented at Society of Wetland Scientists, New Orleans, LA, June 8-13, 2003.
Description:
The U.S. Supreme Court case of Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (SWANCC) has had profound implications on the legal status of isolated wetlands. As a result of this decision, policymakers and regulators need information on the ecological definition and functions of isolated wetlands. In response, we organized a symposium on isolated wetlands at last year's SWS annual meeting. The symposium addressed basic ecological questions of how isolated wetlands function, how isolation contributes to and shapes these systems, and assessed gaps in our knowledge of isolated wetlands. In this presentation, we provide a brief overview of the case and review some of the scientific findings resulting from the symposium. The issue of hydrologic connectivity is particularly significant. The degree of hydrologic connectivity that would be required for a wetland to be regarded as jurisdictional is a policy issue. Whatever the specification, regulators will need methods that allow them to evaluate hydrologic connectivity. Techniques that allow mapping of regional ground-water travel times and recurrence frequencies of intermittent surface-water connections could be especially useful in this regard. We also summarize remaining science gaps. Basic research on the role of isolated wetlands in supporting the biological, chemical, and physical integrity of U.S. waters is critical for helping regulators implement the SWANCC decision. In particular, ecologists need to better define the role of isolated wetlands in supporting organisms that spend most of their life cycle in navigable waters, their tributaries, or adjacent wetlands.