Assessment of wetlands in the Upper Juniata watershed in Pennsylvania, USA using the hydrogeomorphic approach

Autor: Mary E. Kentula, Susan F. Jensen, Don L. Stevens, Kristen C. Hychka, Robert P. Brooks, Denice H. Wardrop
Rok vydání: 2007
Předmět:
Zdroj: Wetlands. 27:432-445
ISSN: 1943-6246
0277-5212
DOI: 10.1672/0277-5212(2007)27[432:aowitu]2.0.co;2
Popis: This paper reports on the ecological status of wetlands in the Upper Juniata watershed in Pennsylvania, USA, as determined by employing the hydrogeomorphic (HGM) approach. HGM assessment provides a measure of the potential functional performance of a single wetland for up to 11 functions, depending on the subclass. Functional Capacity Index (FCI) scores calculated for each function range between a score of 1 (indicates the site is performing at optimum levels) and a score of 0 (indicates the site is not performing the function). Mean scores for all functions for the wetland resource in the Upper Juniata ranged from 0.48–0.63, except for Long-term Surface-Water Storage (0.39) and Characteristic Hydrology (0.85). Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) plots were fairly linear over most of the distribution for all functions, indicating that the FCI scores were evenly distributed over the population. Several of the plots flattened at the upper and/or lower ends of the curves, indicating that a very s...
Databáze: OpenAIRE