The Development of a Vegetation Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) for Lake Huron Coastal Wetlands

Session: Poster session

Jacob Dybiec, Central Michigan University, [email protected]
Dennis Albert, Oregon State University, [email protected]
Donald Uzarski, Central Michigan University, IGLR, CMUBS, and Department of Biology, [email protected]

Abstract

Great Lakes coastal wetland monitoring often uses indices of biotic integrity (IBIs), consisting of pre-determined metrics, to quantify the level of human impact to a biotic community at a site. While vegetation-based IBIs are often used, yearly natural variation in Great Lakes water levels have been shown to alter wetland plant communities, therefore making the effects of human impact on the plant community less clear. By analyzing five years of data from 52 lacustrine coastal wetlands along the shores of Lake Huron in Michigan, we were able to identify vegetation-based metrics less impacted by water level change. Data from three coastal wetland vegetation zones in 2014 were analyzed using principal components analysis (PCA) to identify relationships between plant community composition and water quality. Data from 2011 to 2015 were then used to analyze these relationships, and the patterns they exhibited from year to year. Potential metrics were identified, and Pearson correlations were used to determine the strength and significance of their relationships with water quality over the five-year period. These metrics can be applied to existing and future data to quantify the impacts of human disturbance on Lake Huron’s coastal wetland plant communities in a more reflective manner.  

1. Keyword
coastal wetlands

2. Keyword
bioindicators

3. Keyword
Lake Huron

4. Additional Keyword
IBI