Ecological integrity assessment and performance measures for wetland mitigation

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The Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies have developed a National Wetlands Mitigation Plan that includes the need for assessing the effectiveness of biological and functional indicators that will help establish performance standards for wetland mitigation. This report outlines an approach to establish performance standards for wetlands mitigation using an adapted version of NatureServe’s methodology for conducting ecological integrity assessments. The authors chose 18 wetland ecological systems from fens to swamps, playas, flatwoods, and marshes. Relying primarily on literature sources and field wetland manuals, they identified indicators and metrics for assessing ecological integrity by • using a standardized classification of wetland types, including diagnostic characteristics; • identifying key ecological attributes and indicators of each system, with protocols for measuring those indicators to ensure consistent field measurements and documentation; • identifying practical metrics with ratings and thresholds based on “normal” or “natural” benchmarks; and, • providing a scorecard matrix by which the indicators/metrics are rated and integrated into an overall assessment of the ecological integrity of the wetland. Over 50 metrics were identified across the 18 systems, with metrics per system ranging from 13 (10 core, 3 supplementary) to 25 (12 core, 13 supplementary). Thirteen of the 15 metrics were widely shared among the systems, suggesting that a generic list of metrics could be developed, at least among broadly similar systems. A document is available for each system describing the rationale for selection and rating of each metric, the scorecard approach, and the protocols for collecting each metric. This multimetric approach is similar to Karr’s Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) approach for aquatic systems, in that metrics were used to document degradation along a continuum from reference to degraded, but here the authors bring together biotic metrics with abiotic metrics as part of an overall assessment of ecological integrity. They discuss how this approach can assist the wetland mitigation process. They compare this approach to other functional assessments used in mitigation, such as the hydrogeomorphic (HGM) approach. These methods still require field testing that is conducted using sampling procedures and design with quality assurance controls before being ready for inclusion in the mitigation process. Next steps include the need for field testing of metrics and evaluation of the ability to generalize these results across broad categories of wetlands.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - Zoology: Multiple Species, ELECTRONIC FILE - Ecology

Suggested citation: Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Rocchio, M. Schafale, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, J. Teague, T. Foti, and P. Comer. 2006. Ecological Integrity Assessment and Performance Measures for Wetland Mitigation. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.

Possible SWAP citation: Faber-Langendoen D, J Rocchio, M Schafale, C Nordman, M Pyne, J Teague, T Foti and P Comer. 2006. Ecological integrity assessment and performance measures for wetland mitigation. Arlington (VA): NatureServe; [accessed 2015 Jun 1]. 38 p. http://www.natureserve.org/biodiversity-science/publications/ecological-....

SWAP (2/19/2016) citation: Faber–Langendoen D, Rocchio J, Schafale M, Nordman C, Pyne M, Teague J, Foti T, Comer P. 2006. Ecological integrity assessment and performance measures for wetland mitigation. Arlington (VA)