Wetlands-Related Web Sites Compiled by Biology 578 Students (see also sites from Biology 675)
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/
US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds
This is the main page that seems to be a very useful tool in describing wetlands and the regulations applied to them. In addition to this if you hit the "America's Wetlands our Vital Link" icon there is an in depth description of America's wetlands, what they are, the functions they play in the ecology of a watershed, the current status and trends, and the protection programs that are somewhat regulating the wetlands. This website is very up to date and even contains a Wetlands Hotline (1800-832-7828) to find out more about these mechanisms.
Madria R. Nester
http://twri.tamu.edu/research/tnrcc/1.html
"Wetland Insect Populations as Biological Indicators: evaluation of a wetland mitigation monitoring tool"
The title of the article that I chose for my summary is insects as biological indicators in wetland regions. An experiment was done in Texas. In the study the students collected caddisflies from wetlands to help indicate how the wetlands are functioning. There are several varieties of this aquatic bug. Some peirce food some shredd some are predators and so on down the line. So they went out and collected these flies from a variety of wetlands to see what kind of bug the wetland was supporting. By looking at the method by which the way the bug feeds indicates what type of wetland it is or what type of vegetation and heterogeneity is present in the system. So by finding the trophic guild of the flies the researchers were able find out what type of wetland and what it can support. This study sounds good. It helps with man made wetlands as well as with old wetlands to see how they are progressing. Sounds like this study is good and should continue on.
Tony Stafford
http://www.wetlands.ca/wetcentre/wetcanada/wetcanada.html
Wetlands of Canada
This site is a portion of the site www.wetlands.ca. It contains some of the data collected on the wetlands in Canada. For example, I found out that Canada has 13,030,568 ha of wetlands (all of which are listed by region on this website). It also contains some other directories that inform searchers about what constitutes a wetland in Canada, how research is conducted, and other stuff like that.
Chris Lester
http://www.anca.gov.au/environm/wetlands/wwwhp.htm
This site is compiled by the Australia Biodiversity Group. They are the people who are in charge of administering the National Wetlands Program in Australia. The title of the site is called "Wetlands, Waterways, & Waterbirds." This site offers the National Wetland Program for Australia, the Migratory Waterbird Program, the Ramsar Convention, and contains an extensive list of the 698 "important" wetland area in Australia. In the Directory of Important Wetlands one will find the location, wetland type, site description, disturbances, current usage and much more. This site has about everything anyone would want to know about Australian Wetlands and the priorities of their program. If you can't find what your looking for they supply an address and phone number.
Scott Cyganiewicz
I finally found a neat website for our assignment. It's called WATERSHEDSS, otherwise known as Water, Soil and Hydro Environmental Decision Support System. This is a huge website with tons of info on how to classify, protect, and even rebuild and restore different water/wetland areas. There are several pages with tons of wetlands info including their functions,roles, loss & degredation, protection, mitigation, and links to other sites. I found a few pages describing a project to build wetland areas for use as filters for non-point source pollution. They provide info on design, construction, planting and monitoring; they can even provide a "how-to manual". There are photos of the construction site, as well as data on the various water monitoring topics. Lots of stuff to see! Even copies of various sections of The Clean Water Act.
To get to the specific wetlands info, go into water quality and land treatment...then wetlands ... then wetland management.
Lisa Moulton
http://earthsat.com/sast/50.html
Selected FEMA Companion Studies
Since being in Charleston during Hurricane Hugo in 1989 I have had an interest in Hurricanes and I thought it would be interesting to see what kinds of impact they have on wetlands and their recovery after such a storm. This page contains some FEMA companion studies that include Hurricane storm surge modeling(5.3) and wetlands reversion potential modeling(5.2). 5.2 describes how considerations are being made to reverse the drainage of wetlands in Monroe, Illinois to prevent (or at least attempt to prevent) great floods like the one in 1993. A wetlands reversion map is included. 5.3 covers hurricane storm surge information and details on the impact made by Andrew in 1993 on Jupiter Inlet, South Dade County, Florida. A detailed image of Jupiter Inlet is included.
Bill Cantrell
http://environment.miningco.com/msubwet.htm
This website contains links to a variety of other wetlands dedicated sites. Included in these are US government sites as well as scientific research sites. In addition there are two links to information on the Ramsar Convention. International wetlands websites may also be accessed though this page.
If your interests are more towards the marine envronment then go to :
http://inlet.geol.scarolina.edu/winyah.html
This site describes the North Inlet - Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and presents some of the data collected by the researchers. The NERR program is a national network of estuarine sites that study human impacts on estuaries. To find out about other sites, do a net search for NERR.
LeRoy Humphries
http://geog.gmu.edu/gess/Everglades/pract.html
This website is about the destruction of the Florida Everglades. It is in four parts. Part one looks at the history of the Everglades, the second part is about the destruction, the third part is about the current condition of the Everglades, and the fourth part is about the rehabilitative efforts.
Part I: This part looks at the significance of wetlands and the benefits the Florida Everglades have for humans.
Part II: This part talks about all of the destruction of the Everglades. Such as early development in the 1800's, diking the Okeechobee, creating 4 major canals, and the conversion of the Kissimmee River to a canal.
PartIII: This part is about the current problems in the Everglades National Park, the Big Cypress Swamp, in the Water Conservation Areas, in Lake Okeechobee, and the Kissimmee.
Part IV: There is a program 'Save The Everglades'. It explains what is being accomplished now.
Amber Gail Busch
http://www.audubon.org/campaign/wetland/index.html
National Audubon Society's Wetland website
The National Audubon Society has accumulated update information on wetlands and their preservation. You can find a couple different definitions of a wetland, review current legal cases, or learn ways to protect the wetlands. The most interesting part of the site is the fact sheet. There is information about wetland losses in each state, and the effects this has on fish and endangered species of birds. A list of wetland horror stories have also been compiled from website visitors. In addition to the information presented by the The National Audubon Society, there are many great links to other sites.
Kristine Johnston
http://www.usgs.gov/wetlands/task3a.html
Consistency of [Wetland] Data
The Task of 3A was to identify the level of consistency among various governmental wetland delineation groups. The site chosen was Wincomico county near Washington D.C. This study by wetland ecologists would ultimately lead to improved techniques in determining whether an area should be termed a wetland, lowland or upland. Many of the varying governmental sets were in disagreement about the presence or non-presence of a wetland.
The results recorded in this paper, found strengths and weaknesses that relate to the governmental groups effectiveness of identifying all wetland areas, and (or) delineating only wetland areas as wetlands.
Scott W. Vuono
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ramsar/ (especially http://www.iucn.org/themes/ramsar/key_docs_index.htm)
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
This is the document produced by the Ramsar Convention. The Ramsar Convention was the first international document written that recognized the importance of wetlands. The Ramsar Convention (held on Feb.2, 1971 in Ramsar, Iran ) emphasises the importance of wetlands as a fragile waterfowl habitat. This document consists of 12 Articles, and most of it deals with the bureaucratic aspects of implementing this document. The definition of the term wetlands in the document is fairly broad and nonspecific. The text is available in Spanish, French, and German, and the site has a link to the Ramsar Convention Bureau in Switzerland.
Mel Creighton
http://www.doi.gov/oepc/wetlands2/
The Impact of Federal Programs on Wetlands: Volume II
http://www.doi.gov/oepc/wetlands2/v2ch13.html
Southeastern Alaska
This webpage gave an introduction to the types of wetlands commonly found in Alaska, and gave a map of the largest area of wetlands in the Tongass National Forest. It continues to explain the effects that logging has been having on these wetlands, and the steps that are being taken to try to prevent logging from occurring. It discusses several acts that have been established, as well as others in which the NWI has been called in on. It goes on to explain the other factors besides logging that are adversely affecting the wetlands in Alaska. This page also lets ou in on how damaging it would be for all or the organisms in the area (including humans) if these wetlands are continuously being destroyed.
Monica Friece
Center for Aquatic Plants, University of Florida
The University of Florida has provided a page containing several interesting topics such as wetland services and products, newsletters, photo galleries, revelant web sites and subject matter information. This site also offers APIRS (Aquatic and Wetland Plant Information Retrieval System) which was found to be helpful. In all, this page is very good one to visit; its possibilities are endless and well presented.
Chris DeFranco
[This site has lots of information on invasive plants. -- Eric]
http://www.nwrc.gov/cwppra.html
Lousiana Coastal Wetlands
CWPPRA is known as the Coastal wetlands Planing Protection and Restoration Act. It oversees the coastal wetlands in Louisiana and has information on the coastal basins in the state. This includes aerial maps of each basin with data collected on each. Reports on projects, summaries, and available publications plus who is on the board. It is written by Rick Baye of cajunweb, New Orleans, LA. Check out the Teche/ Vermilion Basin (this is home). See if you can find Avery or Marsh Islands; they are in the heart of cajun land. Question: How do you become a cajun? Answer next time!
Dean Henderson
http://wave.nos.noaa.gov/ocrm/czm/welcome.html
Coastal Zone Management Program
From this site you can find information on the coastal zone management plan. Also included is the Coastal Zone Management Act of 72. Which is found at http://wave.nos.noss.gov/ocrm/CZM_ACT.html. And I was also able to locate the South Carolina Coastal Management Program. Which does not have a lot of information. Which shows how poor South Carolina is at protecting its Coastland. This was found at http://www.nos.noaa.gov/ocrm/czm/czmsouthcarolina.html. I do realize that this does not directly talk about wetlands but since the coastline does include a lot of wetlands but I thought this information was interesting especially since we live on the coast.
I also found a website that had a little information about Winyah Bay. It was http://www.inform.und.edu/edres/college/bsos/depts/geography/wetlands/photos/winyahbay.
[Note: This last site doesn't seem to work. We're looking into that. If you have any luck let me know. -- Eric]
Stephanie A. Hamilton
http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/resource/literatr/pondweed/pondweed.htm
Sago Pondweed (Potamageton pectinatus L.): A Literature Review
This article is about the Sago Pondweed, a submersed angiosperm. This population is extremely important to waterfowl communities. Unfortunately the numbers of pondweed are declining drastically. Future research topics include: 1) determining, in variety wetland types, the causes of light-limiting turbidity that often suppresses sago growth; 2) understanding the ways in which human activities on and near wetlands affect sago production; and 3) developing reliable and predictable techniques to stimulate sago production for waterfowl by using water level manipulations and other means, in a variety of environmental settings.
Kimberly Vance
http://www.nrc.nbs.gov/plan/web_goal.html
National Wetland Research Center 5-year Implementation Plan
This web page contains information from the NWRC's (National Wetland Research Center) 5 year implementation plan on wetlands by the WEB (Wetland Ecology Branch). It tells about their future plans for wetland restoration and maintanence, resilency of plant communities, exotic species ecology and management, aquatic ecology and nutrient cycling, and management practices and their effects on wildlife populations and ecosystems. The WEB not only restores and manages wetlands, but also helps to educate the community and provide scientific publications. The major geographic areas of research are souteastern U.S., Texas and Mexico. They are extremely concerned with the endangered coastal prairie in the central and western Gulf of Mexico Region. The NWRC has been around since 1975. It was founded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Its headquarters are in Lafayette, Louisiana. For more information about the NWRC try their website http://www.nwrc.nbs.gov/
Sandra B. DeMaria
http://www.doa.state.wi.us/deir/coastal.htm
especially http://www.doa.state.wi.us/deir/wicoswet.htm
This site will give you some cool facts about Wisconsin's wetland areas. The state's specific wetland types and the area of coverage are given, as well as unique wetland's in the state. Click on coastal wetlands for more interesting facts.
Natali West
http://inlet.geol.sc.edu/estnet.html
NERR's Estuary-Net Project
The NERR, National Estuarine Research Reserve System, developed this site to encourage collaborations among high school students, community volunteers, local officials, state Coastal Zone Management (CZM), and the NERR to solve non-point pollution problems in estuaries and their watersheds. The site shows and explains just what an estuary is. You can also submit and retrieve different data sets, metadata, that the above groups have submitted. Actually, it is very interesting, and contains some pretty cool maps!
Theresa C. Donevant
WETNET: The Wetlands Network
This is a rather small website, but it has quite a few useful resources. This site mainly consists of links to other websites, but does provide a few of its own resources. These include: 1.) Who's Wet? Profiles of organizations concerned with wetland conservation. 2.) The wetlands resource centre, which explains what wetlands are and gives a ton of cool information on the wetlands of Canada. 3.) Exploring Wetlands which includes virtual birding and online wetland tours. 4.) WETNET keyword search which allows you to search for specific things. There are two especially interesting links on this site. 1.) Ecoscope for sustaining wetlands, http://www.wetlands.ca/EcoScope/ecopage.html This is a curriculum based wetlands education program. And 2.) Wetlands International-the Americas, http://www.wetlands.ca/wi-a/wadex.html This site is now under construction, but looks like it may be interesting.
Kimberly Hott
For information on aquatic plants, visit the Center for Aquatic Plants at the University of Florida. This page includes a photo gallery, an Aquatic and Wetland Plant Newsletter, on line books, and other resources, services, and products.
Jen Spicer
This web site has maps for continental US, Alaska and Hawaii. This site also gives data, satus of wetlands,information on ecology and information on GIS technology.
This web site may not be too scientific, but it is a good way to keep up with what is happening in the political world. It is a monthly newsletter that discusses the Endangered Species Act, Congressional affairs dealing with the takings issue, and court cases on wetlands.
Becky King
http://159.189.24.10/fieldin.htm
Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States
This page talks about hydric soils of wetlands and their indicators. It also lists addresses of people who can give more information if you want it.
Chrissy D'Angelo
AND LAST BUT MAYBE NOT LEAST:
http://hammock.ifas.ufl.edu/txt/fairs/18672
Activities in Wetlands of Florida, Olexa. M.T.
This site gives a brief explanation of who regulates and defines wetlands in Florida. The site also describes who is exempt from these regulations, who gets landfill permits and when reclamation is required. As well, there is a description of the mangrove regulations and the Everglades Act.
Tom Fontana