Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program after 18 Years of Development

Session: Poster session

Donald Uzarski, Central Michigan University, IGLR, CMUBS, and Department of Biology, [email protected]
Valerie Brady, Natural Resource Research Inst., [email protected]
Matthew Cooper, Northland College, Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation, [email protected]

Abstract

The Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Consortium was formed in 2000. The goal of the consortium was to develop a basin-wide monitoring plan.  Development of the monitoring plan was completed in 2008 and in 2010, USEPA-GLNPO funded the first 5-year round of monitoring based on the Consortium’s plan. A second 5-year phase was funded in 2015. Since implementation, an enormous amount of data have been generated on vegetation, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, birds, and chemical and physical parameters.  Each year approximately 200 sites are randomly selected for sampling without replacement and 10% of the selected sites are resampled in subsequent years to evaluate temporal variation.  Additional wetlands are sampled as benchmarks specific to restoration taking place across the basin.  Our primary objective was to implement a standardized basin-wide coastal wetland monitoring program that would be a powerful tool to inform decision-makers on coastal wetland conservation and restoration priorities throughout the entire Great Lakes basin.

1. Keyword
wetlands

2. Keyword
monitoring

3. Keyword
ecosystem health