The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is embarking on the National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA) 2011, which will include Level II Rapid Field Methods and Level III Intensive Biological and Physico–Chemical Measures to assess wetland condition across the nation. Sites are being drawn from a random sampling design, following the US Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) status and trends project, and will assign each state and tribal area a discrete number of wetland sampling points. As a precursor to the 2011 field portion and Level II and III assessments, we propose to conduct a Level I Landscape-scale Assessment of the 67 sample points located within the state of Florida, with geographic coordinates available from USEPA by mid-March (a delay from the original target date in late January). Our selected Level I assessment is the Landscape Development Intensity (LDI) index, a quantitative measure based on nonrenewable areal empower density of land uses, which has been used as a human disturbance gradient in assessing ecosystem condition. The LDI is calculated remotely based on digital imagery, land use/land cover, and GIS.
Results/Conclusions
Analysis of the Florida peninsula has indicated a wide range in the condition of wetland resources, from an LDI index value of 0 in large conservation lands (e.g. interior areas of Everglades National Park), indicating no human land use activities, to a high above 34 (e.g. wetlands surrounded by high density urban development), indicating high use of non-renewable energy in human activities. Because the rate of conversion and drainage of wetlands in Florida is similar to mean wetland loss throughout the United States and because Florida has been assigned the greatest number of sampling points in the NWCA 2011 design, Florida serves as an excellent pilot study to inform landscape scale analysis of wetland condition. If significant correlations are found between Levels I-III assessments in the NWCA 2011, as have been found throughout the US for wetlands and streams, this remotely calculated Level I tool can be used as a gauge of wetland condition, supporting evaluations of wetland quality (or condition) that enhance estimates of wetland quantity (or tracking no net loss), and helping resource managers fulfill the goal of the Clean Water Act, to protect and restore the biological, chemical, and physical integrity of our Nation’s waters.