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Differential Assessment of Designations of Wetland Status Using Two Delineation Methods

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Abstract

Two different methods are commonly used to delineate and characterize wetlands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) delineation method uses field observation of hydrology, soils, and vegetation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wetland Inventory Program (NWI) relies on remote sensing and photointerpretation. This study compared designations of wetland status at selected study sites using both methods. Twenty wetlands from the Wetland Boundaries Map of the Ausable–Boquet River Basin (created using the revised NWI method) in the Ausable River watershed in Essex and Clinton Counties, NY, were selected for this study. Sampling sites within and beyond the NWI wetland boundaries were selected. During the summers of 2008 and 2009, wetland hydrology, soils, and vegetation were examined for wetland indicators following the methods described in the ACOE delineation manual. The study shows that the two methods agree at 78 % of the sampling sites and disagree at 22 % of the sites. Ninety percent of the sampling locations within the wetland boundaries on the NWI maps were categorized as ACOE wetlands with all three ACOE wetland indicators present. A binary linear logistic regression model analyzed the relationship between the designations of the two methods. The outcome of the model indicates that 83 % of the time, the two wetland designation methods agree. When discrepancies are found, it is the presence or absence of wetland hydrology and vegetation that causes the differences in delineation.

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Acknowledgments

The project was funded by the Wetland Programs Development Grant, US Environmental Protection Agency (CD-97245908-0). We thank the Ausable River Association, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Adirondack Park Agency, and the Adirondack Invasive Plant Project. Special thanks go to Mr. Jaysen Dickson, Mr. Steven Flint, Mrs. Robin Ulmer, Mr. Adrian Sellars, and Ms. Kathleen Wiley for their assistance. We thank Dr. Haiyan Su for her assistance in statistical analysis. The authors extend special thanks to all landowners for granting permission to survey their lands.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Molecular Biology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, 07043, USA

    Meiyin Wu

  2. Private Consultant, Willsboro, NY, 12996, USA

    Dennis Kalma

  3. Mirror Lake Environmental, Whitefish, MT, 59937, USA

    Carol Treadwell-Steitz

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  1. Meiyin Wu
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  2. Dennis Kalma
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  3. Carol Treadwell-Steitz
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Correspondence to Meiyin Wu.

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Wu, M., Kalma, D. & Treadwell-Steitz, C. Differential Assessment of Designations of Wetland Status Using Two Delineation Methods. Environmental Management 54, 23–29 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0273-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0273-3

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