Wisconsin Wetlands: Assessment Methods and Tools

This page gives you access to some of the assessment methodologies that the DNR and others have developed to assess the health of wetlands and the services they provide. Some methods focus on individual wetlands, while others focus on assessing many wetlands at a time in a larger area, such as a watershed. These assessment methods require a great deal of professional expertise to carry out. The type of assessment tool you use depends on the questions you are trying to answer and the time, resources and expertise you have available to use.

Level 1, 2, 3 Approach to Wetland Assessment and Monitoring

U.S. EPA´s National Wetlands Monitoring Workgroup has endorsed the concept of a Level 1, 2, 3 approach to monitoring. Level 1, "landscape assessment," relies on coarse, landscape scale inventory information, typically gathered through remote sensing and preferably stored in, or convertible to, a geographic information system (GIS) format. Level 2 is "rapid assessment" at the specific wetland site scale, using relatively simple, rapid protocols. Level 2 assessment protocols are to be validated by and calibrated to Level 3 assessments. Level 3 is "intensive site assessment," and uses intensive research-derived, multi-metric indices of biological integrity. All of these methods have been developed with grants from USEPA, Region V.

Level 1

• Milwaukee River Basin Wetland Assessment Project: Developing Decision Support Tools for Effective Planning [2006, PDF 4MB]

  The full Final Report to USEPA describes:

  1. A method for identifying "potentially restorable wetlands", in the Basin.
  2. A set of wetland-related "watershed metrics" that characterize ecological conditions in the watersheds and subwatersheds of the Basin.
  3. A Wildlife Habitat Decision Support Tool that planners can use to evaluate the wildlife support provided by existing wetland habitats and a means of evaluating future land use scenerios. For instance, a planner could evaluate where wetland restoration can generate the most benefit for wildlife.
  4. A Water Quality Decision Support Tool that planners can use to evaluate the relative contributions of existing wetlands to downstream water quality in different watersheds. This can also be used to evaluate future land use scenarios and where wetland restoration can generate the most benefit for improving water quality.
  5. Progress to date on a Floodwater Storage Decision Support Tool.
  6. Discussion of the uses and limitations of the project data and tools.

Level 2

• Development of Methods to Assess and Monitor Small Wetlands Restored on Private Lands [PDF 3.5MB]

  This report by Jill Hapner, prepared with the support of Ozaukee County and US EPA-Region V, evaluates wetlands restored on private lands in Ozaukee County. Wetland functions in a random sample of the County restoration sites were measured and compared. The report also includes survey results about the management concerns of the wetland landowners.

• Wisconsin Rapid Wetland Assessment Methodology [PDF 81KB]

  This qualitative method was developed to provide a standardized process for the professional to evaluate the extent to which a specific wetland performs a given function. The full range of wetland functions and values are covered. The presence or absence of specific characteristics are used to determine the importance of each functional value for a site. The method documents the best professional judgement of the evaluator and requires one or more field visits.

Level 3

• Development of a Floristic Quality Assessment Methodology for Wisconsin [June 2003, PDF 274KB]

  Appendix: Coefficient of Conservatism Values for Plant Species [June 2003, PDF 237KB]

  This method allows for an intensive, expert-based, assessment of the floristic quality of a given wetland site. It can also be used to document the biological condition of the wetland, based on its plant community. The method requires a high degree of plant identification skill to correctly inventory the site. A computer program to enter plant inventory data and calculate WFQA statistics is now available. Contact Tom Bernthal for more information.

• Wisconsin Depressional Wetland Biological Indices (two versions):

  • Development of a Biological Index and Classification System for Wisconsin Wetlands Using Macroinvertebrates and Plants [January 2000, PDF 5.7MB]
    Figures: Development of a Biological Index and Classification System for Wisconsin Wetlands [PDF 2.8MB]
  
  
  

  This methodology is intended for use in small isolated depressional wetlands based on work in 103 small wetlands across Wisconsin. It contains two separate indices of biological integrity: a plant community index and an index based on the macroinvertebrate community. Each index is composed of multiple metrics, or measures of the plant or macroinvertebrate community that have been found to be significantly correlated with an increase in disturbance to wetlands. It is not intended for use in wetlands with a fish community or a hydrologic connection to other surface waters. (The family-level macroinvertebrate index requires sampling to be done in early spring.)

  • Field testing the Wisconsin Depressional Wetland Macroinvertebrate and Plant Indices of Biological Integrity for Application by Trained Volunteers [September 2005, PDF 800KB].

    Appendices 1, 2, and 3 [September 2005, PDF 5MB]

    The metrics for the plant and macroinvertebrate indices of biological condition were chosen to be simple enough that the methodology could be used by volunteers or agency staff without extensive training in plant or macroinvertebrate taxonomy. This study field tested the feasibility of deploying the methodology with trained volunteers by comparing their results to those obtained by specialists highly trained in plant and macroinvertebrate identification.

    Overall the volunteers carried out the macroinvertebrate and plant biotic indices with accuracy equal or similar to that of an expert. However most volunteers spent at least one day processing each macroinvertebrate sample and often described the process as tedious or frustrating. The results suggest an additional training session is required prior to implementation of formal use of these methodologies. The results also showed that the floristic quality assessment rankings were similar to the Wetland Plant Biotic Index rankings for the same sites, lending confidence in both methods.

  • Refinement and Expansion of Wetland Biological Indices for Wisconsin [April 2002, PDF 2.11MB]
  
  
  

  This further work developed additional biological indices for isolated depressional wetlands. Multi-metric indices were developed for the zooplankton, diatom and amphibian communities. The plant and macroinvertebrate metrics were further refined. These indices were developed using a reference set of 74 Isolated Depressional wetlands.

More Information

For more information on wetland monitoring and assessment, please contact:

Tom Bernthal
(608) 266-3033