The Swamp Stomp
Volume 16, Issue 4
Pennsylvania State University researchers have modified an already existing wetland assessment tool to make it faster at while maintaining accuracy. The tool, known as the Floristic Quality Assessment Index (FQI), saves time and could benefit wetland monitoring strategies, reports Phys.org.
Penn State’s wetland research center, Riparia, has been developing tools for monitoring and assessing wetlands since the 1990s. The original FQI was used to monitor prairies, but researchers discovered that it could be used for wetlands as well. The only downside was that it required the user to have a list of all the plants in a given wetland.
“We have heard from individuals monitoring wetland quality that the FQI was too time-consuming and that the field technicians didn’t always have the botanical knowledge to accurately identify all the plants in an area,” Sarah Chamberlain, senior research assistant at Riparia, said.
To solve this problem, the Chamberlain and Robert Brooks, the founder of Riparia, used an abridged list of a wetland’s dominant species to speed up the process. They tested their new “rapid model” against 87 different wetlands. Using the new model proved to be just as accurate as using the older, slower model in predicting a wetland’s quality.
“Our ultimate goal is to provide tools that states can use to easily monitor wetlands, which will hopefully assist with the preservation of these unique and special areas in the future,” Chamberlain said.
The researchers also developed a free online calculator for assessing a wetland’s quality. Users simply input a list of plant life in an area, and the calculator gives an objective quality assessment of the wetland. This tool can also be used to monitor the quality of other habitats, such as highlands. It can be found here.
Research for this tool was funded by the EPA. Work on the tool was also done in collaboration with other states through the Mid-Atlantic Wetlands Workgroup.
Source:
http://phys.org/news/2016-01-rapid-version-tool-easier-wetland.html#jCp