Wetland Communities

Importance / Issues

Wetlands are important sites of biodiversity, and half of all endangered species are found in marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens (Niering 1988). Wetlands serve many important ecological functions, including groundwater recharge, habitat for flora and fauna, soil erosion control, chemical uptake and transformation, and flood water control (Carter 1996, Mitsch and Gosselink 1993). Wetlands of the NETN are threatened by a suite of anthropogenic stresses associated with increasing visitor pressure and rapid residential development of watersheds adjacent to the parks. A monitoring program is essential to help resource managers document trends in wetland condition, evaluate potential threats, and identify areas of management concern. This protocol will identify robust indicators of wetland function that are suitable for monitoring the condition of the NETN predominant wetland types (freshwater emergent wetlands, forested and scrub/shrub wetlands, peatlands, and salt marshes), and determine the sample size necessary to detect change in these variables through routine monitoring. The protocol will also identify landscape attributes that can be used to assess the susceptibility of park wetlands to anthropogenic stressors as a basis for a stratifed sampling design.

Protocol Development & Status

The Wetland Monitoring Protocol is in development at this time. A pilot program for the protocol was done at Saratoga NHP and Acadia NP in 2007. The protocol is undergoing revisions based on the recommendations of the 2007 field testing. The Wetland Monitoring Protocol Development Summary is available at this time.

A monitoring and assessment framework for NETN parks was developed by NatureServe for the NETN in 2009.

Potential Measures

Potential measures include groundwater and surface water chemistry (conductivity and pH), water level, and wetland plant community structure.

Preliminary Monitoring Objective

The preliminary monitoring objectives are:

• Determine the status, trends, and natural variability of species richness, abundance, and diversity of wetland plant communities in selected NETN wetland types.
• Determine the status and trends in wetland habitat indicators such as nutrient regimes, water level, temperature, water chemistry, hydrological fluctuations, and isolated disturbances in hydrology.
• Determine status and trends in indicators of the relative abundance of invasive species in wetland communities of NETN parks.

Contact Information

NPS lead: Brian R. Mitchell

Email: Brian R. Mitchell

802-457-3368 ext.37

References

Carter, V. 1996. Wetland Hydrology, water quality, and associated functions. pp. 35-47 In J.D. Fretwell, J.S. Williams, and P.J. Redman (eds.) National water summary on wetland resources. U.S.G.S. Water Supply Paper 2425. U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.

Mitsch, W.J. and J.G. Gosselink. 2000. Wetlands 3rd ed. Wiley, New York.

Niering, W.A. 1988. Endangered threatened and rare wetland plants and animals of the continental United States. pp. 227-238 In DD. Hook et al. (eds) The ecology and management of wetlands. Vol. I.: Ecology of wetlands. Timber Press, Portland, OR.