2nd Edition

Wetland Landscape Characterization Practical Tools, Methods, and Approaches for Landscape Ecology, Second Edition

    324 Pages 110 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    324 Pages 110 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Wetlands are, by their very nature, ephemeral and transitional, which makes them challenging to characterize. Yet the need for characterizing wetlands continues to grow, particularly as we develop a better understanding of the wealth of ecosystem services that they provide. Wetland Landscape Characterization: Practical Tools, Methods, and Approaches for Landscape Ecology, Second Edition shows how wetland characterization tools, methods, and approaches can be integrated to more effectively address twenty-first-century wetland issues.

    A Practical Toolbox for Integrated Wetland Landscape Characterization

    The book explains how to locate, identify, and map the extent of wetlands to learn more about their importance to society and the larger landscape. It examines jurisdictional, regulatory, and practical applications from the scientific, engineering, and lay perspectives. Fully updated, the second edition reflects an emerging infrastructural, ecosystem goods-and-services perspective to better assist readers who may encounter these concepts and challenges as they assess and characterize wetlands. Examples and case studies illustrate a variety of situations and solutions, highlighting the use of current techniques to assess, inventory, and monitor natural resources under changing conditions. These examples offer lessons and ideas for the issues encountered every day by wetland landscape ecology practitioners. The book also refers readers to additional resources to help them solve specific challenges.

    New in This Edition

    • Updates of practical geospatial methods
    • More project-driven examples
    • A description of the pitfalls of using ecological data at landscape scales, along with solutions
    • Alternative techniques for a variety of practitioners
    • Linkages between field and landscape ecological practices
    • Online resources for practitioners
    • New illustrations

    This book helps readers develop the concepts, skills, and understanding of how to best achieve project goals in the rapidly changing disciplines of landscape science and wetland ecology and management. A valuable resource, it provides practical tools, methods, and approaches for conceptualizing, designing, and implementing broad-scale wetland projects that take into account critical societal linkages.

    Introduction: The Challenge

    Key Themes Driving Landscape Characterization

    Wetland Principles
    Trends in Wetland Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment
    Wetland–Landscape Paradigm
    Current Global Perspectives and Systems Approaches
    Ecological Goods and Services
    Sustainability
    Watershed and Coastal Planning
    Utilizing This Edition to Its Full Benefit

    Traditional to Contemporary Characterization Methods
    Photointerpretation
    Interpretations
    Historical Aerial Photographs, Sources, and Their Utilization
    Creation of Image-Based Land Cover Products
    Applied Photogrammetry and Image-Based Remote Sensing
    Case Study: Traditional Characterization of Geographically Isolated Wetlands
    Broad Assessment of Rivers, Stream, and Associated Wetlands
    Wetland Ecosystem and Receptor Monitoring
    Methods for Characterizing Changes in Features
    Case Study: Landsat Characterization of Map Analysis of Riparian and Riverine Wetlands of the Mississippi River (Headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico)
    Characterization of Vegetation
    Soil Characterizations
    Water Resource Characterization
    Wetland Classification
    Case Study: Digital Characterization Approaches for Geographically Isolated Wetlands

    Integrating Field-Based Data and Geospatial Data
    Effectively Utilizing Data Variables
    Data Availability, Cost, and Quality
    Key Data Types
    Metric Measurability, Applicability, and Sensitivity
    Categorization
    Training Data Set Development
    Change Detection Using Principal Component Analysis
    Assessment of Accuracy
    Case Study: Mapping Invasive Plant Species in the Great Lakes
    Discussion and Conclusion
    Summary

    Utilizing Broad-Scale Characterization Approaches
    Temporal Change
    Data Processing
    Vegetation Index Differencing
    Importance of Preprocessing
    Postcategorization
    Land Cover and the Role of the Classification System
    Advanced Sensors
    Case Study: Great Lakes Wetland Characterization and Indicator Development
    Moving Forward with the Landscape Perspective

    Determining Ecological Functions of Wetlands with Landscape Characterization
    Gathering Information
    Management Considerations and Maximizing Tools
    Planning Considerations
    Features of Interest
    Wetland Risks and Impacts
    Case Study: Habitat Risk Assessments in the Lower Mississippi River Basin Using Metrics and Indicators
    Resource Applications of Results

    References

    Appendix: Mississippi River and Surrounding Landscape

    Index

    Biography

    Ricardo "Ric" Daniel Lopez, Ph.D. is a leader in the field of wetlands ecology and landscape ecology. He has led the way in novel applications of field-based and geospatial data analyses to solve current and future global environmental challenges. This body of work includes monitoring and assessing upland, aquatic, and wetland ecosystems, with particular focus on a wide variety of wetlands, rivers, and streams. Ric’s career has focused on the development and application of both broad-scale and community-based indicators of restoration, sustainability, and environmental risk. A native of Santa Barbara, California, Ric spent his youth knee-deep (or deeper) in the many wetlands and tide pools of the region.

    John Grimson Lyon, Ph.D. was interested early on in wetlands as places of native vegetation. This interest was honed during youthful wanderings in the mountains and river valleys of the Pacific Northwest, California, Nevada, and Alaska. Systematic study at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels has yielded a body of work on remote sensing, mapping, identification, and characterization of processes in wetlands, and related ecosystems in the Great Lake states and Western United States.

    Lynn Krise Lyon is a lifelong educator, writer, and artist. She spent a good portion of her youth playing in creeks and streams. As an adult, she has visited wetlands all over the United States with her husband, John. She abhors black flies and snakes, loves cranberry bogs, and fervently believes Michigan has the best wetlands in the world.

    Debra Kim Lopez has dedicated her existence to the appreciation of literature and writing, global sustainability issues, and the social sciences. She values the importance of global initiatives for improving communities around the world; she has traveled extensively. Lopez has partnered with her husband, Ric, on a plethora of wetland and other environmental issues, ever since they first encountered one another on a common travel adventure 22 years ago.

    "The main strengths of the book include its practical geospatial approaches and rich case study examples… . This is an excellent reference book, one of a kind, for a variety of wetland landscape characterization issues."
    —Professor Wei "Wayne" Ji, University of Missouri–Kansas City, USA

    "Wetland Landscape Characterization will clearly be an invaluable resource for scientists and professionals involved in wetlands assessment and monitoring. The authors provide an in-depth understanding of traditional-to-contemporary methods of characterizing wetlands, the methods used to integrate field-based and geospatial data, the keys to analysis at multiple scales, and determining the ecological function of wetlands. These topics are brought to life through a wide range of case studies that provide the reader with an invaluable learning tool and significant new insight. Wetland Landscape Characterization is an essential reference for all those involved in wetland ecology."
    —Stuart E. Marsh, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA

    "… provides good technical explanations of concepts such as an ‘ecological indicator’ or ‘landscape metrics’, which allows the non-specialist reader to understand the methodology used in assessment of wetland health and habitat risk. I also appreciated the discussion linking ecosystem services to the health of the White River aquatic ecosystems, which drives home the importance of proper wetland management. The concept of the Unified Vulnerability Index (UVI) is presented clearly, providing a novel, yet comprehensive indicator to ascertain in a holistic manner. It is a strength of the material that the pros and cons of the UVI are mentioned in some detail."
    —Douglas Cripe, Scientific Officer, Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland

    "The book explains how to locate, identify, and map the extent of wetlands to learn more about their importance to society and the larger landscape. It examines jurisdictional, regulatory, and practical applications from the scientific, engineering, and lay perspectives. Fully updated, the second edition reflects an emerging infrastructural, ecosystem goods-and-services perspective to better assist readers who may encounter these concepts and challenges as they assess and characterizewetlands."
    ––Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 20, 2013