Effect of time on consistent and repeatable macrophyte index for wetland condition

Hernandez, Erica; Reiss, Kelly Chinners; Brown, Mark T.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.01.013

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Previous study on inter-annual fluctuations in FQA scores has not produced consistent results. Studies have found site scores sampled in two different years to be highly correlated (e.g., [ 52 ]). While this demonstrates high levels of temporal correlation, it gives FQA users no indication of how different actual site scores might be across years ( S3 Fig ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale and Sampling Effects on Floristic Quality

Spyreas

2016

PLoS ONE

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Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) is increasingly influential for making land management decisions, for directing conservation policy, and for research. But, the basic ecological properties and limitations of its metrics are ill defined and not well understood–especially those related to sample methods and scale. Nested plot data from a remnant tallgrass prairie sampled annually over a 12-year period, were used to investigate FQA properties associated with species detection rates, species misidentification rates, sample year, and sample grain/area. Plot size had no apparent effect on Mean C (an area’s average Floristic Quality level), nor did species detection levels above 65% detection. Simulated species misidentifications only affected Mean C values at greater than 10% in large plots, when the replaced species were randomly drawn from the broader county-wide species pool. Finally, FQA values were stable over the 12-year study, meaning that there was no evidence that the metrics exhibit year effects. The FQA metric Mean C is demonstrated to be robust to varied sample methodologies related to sample intensity (plot size, species detection rate), as well as sample year. These results will make FQA measures even more appealing for informing land-use decisions, policy, and research for two reasons: 1) The sampling effort needed to generate accurate and consistent site assessments with FQA measures is shown to be far lower than what has previously been assumed, and 2) the stable properties and consistent performance of metrics with respect to sample methods will allow for a remarkable level of comparability of FQA values from different sites and datasets compared to other commonly used ecological metrics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale and Sampling Effects on Floristic Quality

Spyreas

2016

PLoS ONE

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“…Many disturbances are reflected in shifts in the presence or abundance of particular plant species (Magee and Kentula 2005; Johnston et al 2008), plant functional or trait groups (Lopez and Fennessy 2002; Quétier et al 2007), plant assemblages (Galatowitsch et al 1999; Magee et al 1999; DeKeyser et al 2009; Johnston et al 2009), or vegetation structural elements (Mack 2007), making vegetation a powerful indicator of wetland condition (Mack and Kentula 2010). Existing VMMIs or VIBIs have proven useful for monitoring condition and prioritizing conservation or management actions for specific wetland types at local or regional scales within the United States and elsewhere (e.g., DeKeyser et al 2003; Miller et al 2006; Reiss 2006; Mack 2007; Hargiss et al 2008; Rothrock et al 2008; Lemly and Rocchio 2009; Mack 2009; Veselka et al 2010; Euliss and Mushet 2011; Genet 2012; Rooney and Bayley 2012; Deimeke et al 2013; Wilson et al 2013; Hernandez et al 2015; Savage et al 2015; Jones et al 2016; Miller et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A national-scale vegetation multimetric index (VMMI) as an indicator of wetland condition across the conterminous United States

Magee

Blocksom

Fennessy

2019

Environ Monit Assess

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In 2011, the US Environmental Protection Agency and its partners conducted the first National Wetland Condition Assessment at the continental-scale of the conterminous United States. A probability design for site selection was used to allow an unbiased assessment of wetland condition. We developed a vegetation multimetric index (VMMI) as a parsimonious biological indicator of ecological condition applicable to diverse wetland types at national and regional scales. Vegetation data (species presence and cover) were collected from 1138 sites that represented seven broad estuarine intertidal and inland wetland types. Using field collected data and plant species trait information, we developed 405 candidate metrics with potential for distinguishing least disturbed (reference) from most disturbed sites. Thirty-five of the metrics passed range, repeatability, and responsiveness screens and were considered as potential component metrics for the VMMI. A permutation approach was used to calculate thousands of randomly constructed potential national-scale VMMIs with 4, 6, 8, or 10 metrics. The best performing VMMI was identified based on limited redundancy among constituent metrics, sensitivity, repeatability, and precision. This final VMMI had four broadly applicable metrics (floristic quality index, relative importance of native species, richness of disturbance-tolerant species, and relative cover of native monocots). VMMI values and weights from the survey design for probability sites ( n = 967) were used to estimate wetland area in good, fair, and poor condition, nationally and for each of 10 ecoregion by wetland type reporting groups. Strengths and limitations of the national VMMI for describing ecological condition are highlighted. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10661-019-7324-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Wetlands stand out among plant communities because the plant species found there have special adaptations that allow them to tolerate the unique conditions of such habitats, especially hydric soils. Consequently, wetland plants are good indicators of the environmental condition of wetlands, since these plant species are easy to identify, they respond to changes in the hydroperiod, water chemistry, substrate type, landscape connectivity to seed sources, border effects, and changes in the disturbance regime (Hernández et al, 2015). Therefore, long term monitoring of vegetation is, on the one hand, technically feasible and, on the other, essential in obtaining information for adaptive management of wetland ecosystems (Sah et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%