[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   heast


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 @TACF,,G@ AND TRENDS, MID- 1 970'S TO MID- I 980'S







                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              &w



































                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          ...........



















                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          GB625
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         out
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Lnd

































































                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        .H44S68
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 1994

































                                                                            _4



                                                                                                              '-it'







                               Lutcher Moore Swamp, Louisiana
                               PALUSTR[NTE FORESTED

                               NANCY WEBB@



                               ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

                               This report is the result of work by many                We would also like to thank the many people
                               individuals within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife            who shared their werland photographs with us
                               Service and others. Special thanks are extended          including John Gahr, Wendel Metzen, Kevin
                               to Dr. Donald Woodard, Director and his staff at         Moorhead, John Oberheu, Larry Ditto, Louis
                               the National Wetlands Inventory Center in St.            Justice, George Gentry, Nora Murdock, and
                               Petersburg, Florida; and to Mark Newcastle,              others with the Tennessee Valley Authority, the
                               Division of Printing in Washington, D.C.;                Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission,
                               to Keith Patterson and staff at Geonex-Martel,           the United States Soil Conservation Service, and
                               Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida; to Eric Hughes          the South Carolina Division of Tourism.
                               and Robert Lord with the U.S. Environmental
                               Protection Agency in Atlanta, Georgia.                   Our very special appreciation is extended to
                                                                                        Nancy Webb of Zachary, Louisiana, for providing
                               We are especially grateful for the efforts of            us with some of the most unusual and beautiful
                               Thomas Gale, Gale Communications in St. Paid,            wetland photographs we have seen.
                               Minnesota, for editing, layout and other help in
                               preparation of the final document.

                               Cover pboto:                                             This report should be cited as follows:
                               Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Florida             Hefner, J.M., B.O. Wilen, T.E. Dahl and W.E. Frayer.
                               PALUSTRINE FORESTED                                      1994. Southeast Wetlands; Status and Trends, Mid-
                               GEORGE GENTRY@                                           1970's to Mid-1980's. U.S. Department of the
                               Page 2 pboto:                                            Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlanta, Georgia.
                               Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Florida             32 pages.
                               PALUSTRINE FORESTED
                               GEORGE GENTRY@,




                                                                    For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office
                                                         Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20462@ @i28'
                                                                            ISBN 0-16-045537-5




           Southeast
           Wetlands

               STATUS AND TRENDS, MID-1970'S TO MID- 1980'S


                                 J.M. Hefner
                        U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                               Atlanta, Georgia

                                 B.O. Wilen
                        U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                              Washington, D.C.

                                  T.E. Dahl
                        U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                            St. Petersburg, Florida

                                 WE. Fraver
                      Michigan Technological University
                            Houghton, Michigan




                                                                       U.S. Department Of The Interior
                                                                          March 3,1849
                                                                                
                                                                         U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

                                                                         United States Department of the Interior
                                                                            Fish and Wildlife Service                        
                                                                             Southeast Region
                                                                              Atlanta, Georgia



                                                                                             

                                                                            
                                                                                    
                                                                                         
                                                                                          


                                                                                              
                                                                       United States Environmental Protection Agency




                                                                                                
                                                                          United States Environmental Protection Agency
                                                                                            Region IV
                                                                                         Atlanta, Georgia


            


                                                           Yellow Fringed-orchid
                                                           PALUSTRINE EMERGENT
                                                            NANCY WEBB












                                                                       
                                                                      

                                                                                      






               mgg                                         *4




                                                                      low,;




                                                             V
                                           Ilk I


                                                                          4t


                                                                .mik














                                                                           JAM*







 iOw "I.
                            Vl



                                                                         4 YAL




           Southeast
             Wetlands

               STATUS AND TRENDS, MID- 1970'S TO MID-1980'S


                                J.M. Hefner
                        U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                              Atlanta, Georgia

                                 B.O. Wilen
                        U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                             Washington, D.C.

                                 T.E. Dahl
                        U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                           St. Petersburg, Florida

                                W.E. Fraver
                     Michigan Technological University
                            Houghton, Michigan






                                                                                A 1994 Cooperative Publication by



                                                                                U.S. Department Of The Interior     
                                                                                 March 3, 1849                      

                                                                                U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service




                                                                              United States Department of the Interior
                                                                                     Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                                                         Southeast Region
                                                                                         Atlanta, Georgia
                          









                                                                                               
                                                                       United States Environmental Protection Agency
                                                                                            Region IV
                                                                                         Atlanta, Georgia


          



















                                                                      Yellow Fringed-orchid
                                                                      PALUSTRINE EMERGENT

                                                                      NANCY WEBB
 






                                                                                                                   @41
                                                                                                                                                                         1,
                                                                                                                                         ,4@@J,



                                          14,
                                IV































                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       J,Qlo,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               V,t






















                                                                                                                                                                                      --aw






                                                OfN















                                                                                                                                      ,Nr


                                                                                                                                                                                                               A.0
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Zw
                                                                                                                           iLl







                  Contents


                  Highlights       ........................................................................................................................................      5
                  Executive Summary               ..........................................................................................................................     6
                  Introduction         ....................................................................................................................................      8
                  Survey Methods             .............................................................................................................................   10
                  Results
                         Regional Status           .......................................................................................................................   12
                         Regional Trends             .....................................................................................................................   13
                         State Analyses          .........................................................................................................................   14
                  Discussion       ......................................................................................................................................    20
                  Conclusion        .....................................................................................................................................    24
                  Literature Cited          .............................................................................................................................    26
                  Appendix A: Habitat Categories                     .....................................................................................................   27
                  Appendix B: Data Tables                 ................................................................................................................   31


                  List of Figures

                    1. Study area: Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service                                         ............................................   5
                    2. Map of the physical subdivisions of the Southeast                              .......................................................................    7
                    3. Wetlands of the Southeast                  ........................................................................................................   12
                    4. Estuarine wetlands of the Southeast                        .........................................................................................  12
                    5. Palustrine wetlands of the Southeast                       ................................................................    ....................... 12
                    6. Wetlands, deepwater habitats, and uplands of the Southeast                                      ..................................................... 12
                    7. Palustrine wetland gains and losses in the Southeast...                                .............................................................. 13
                    8. Fate of palustrine forested wetland losses and conversions                                   ........................................................ 13
                    9. Weiland acreages, percentage of state landscapes and net losses, by state                                           ....................... I.......... 15
                  10. Wetlands of the conterminous United States                               ............................................................................  21
                  11. Estuarine wetlands of the conterminous United States                                     ............................................................. 21
                  12. Wetland losses in the conterminous United States                                 ....................................................................  21
                  13. Estuarine vegetated wetland losses in the conterminous United States                                            ...................................... 21
                  14. Palustrine forested wetland losses and conversions in the conterminous United States                                                     .............. 21
                  15. Wetland losses in the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Flats compared to the rest of the U.S                                                . .................... 21
                  16. All wetlands in the Southeast: Average annual loss .... ..............................................................                                 22
                  17. Palustrine forested wetlands in the Southeast: Annual average loss/conversion                                                 .............. .......... 22
                  18. Palustrine forested wetland losses and conversions in the Southeast                                         .......................................... 25





                  List of Tables


                  Table 1. Major wetland functions and values                           .................................................................................    8-9
                  Table 2. Distribution of sample plots and mean dates of aerial photo coverage by state                                                  .........I......... 10
                  Table 3. Distribution of sample plots within physical subdivisions                                     ................................................... 10
                  Table 4. Wetland, deepwater and upland habitat categories used in this study                                             ................................. 11
                  Table S. States with large conversions from palustrine forested to palustrine emergent wetlands                                                       ...... 13
                  Table 6. Wetland trends for the Southeast states, mid-1970's to mid-1980's                                             ......................... ......... 14


























                                                                                PM






           Highlights

           9 Nearly half (47 percent or 48.9 million acres)          *Estuarine (saltwater) wedand acreages
             of the wetlands in the conterminous United                remained stable throughout most of the region
             States are in the 10 states of the Southeast -            except for coastal Louisiana, where substantial
             Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,            losses were identified.
             Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
             Carolina and Tennessee. Wetlands and                      Freshwater wetlands declined dramatically.
             deepwater habitats comprise 21 percent                    Forested wetlands such as bottomiand
             of the region's area.                                     hardwood swamps and cypress sloughs
                                                                       declined by 3.1 million acres, -with heaviest
           *Wetlands alone cover 16 percent of the                     losses in the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Flats of
             region's area, compared to a 5-percent overall            North Carolina and in the Mississippi Alluvial
             coverage in area for the lower 48 states.                 Plain in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

           e From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, the                0 North Carolina stood out among all
             average annual net loss of wetlands in the                southeastern states with an estimated loss of
             Southeast was 259,000 acres. Wetland losses               1.2 million acres in palustrine forested and
             within the region accounted for 89 percent of             scrub/shrub wetlands. Although the average
             the net national wetland losses for the period.           annual net loss for all combined wetland types
                                                                       declined compared to earlier periods, the rate
                                                                       at which freshwater forested wetlands were lost
                                                                       and converted increased.




                          Wetlands in the Wetland losses between
                          (onterminous  mid-] 970's and mid-1 980's
                           United States




                                                   89% in the
                                                   Southeast











                                     47% in the
                                       utheast






                                                                                                                       EAST






                        103.3 million acres 2.6     acres





           Left.- Wood Ducks                            Figure 2. Study area: Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
           LARRY R DITTO*






                                  Executive Summary

                                  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepares                Changes were determined to be either natural or
                                  reports on the status and trends of wetlands and           human-induced. The wetland acreage estimate
                                  deepwater habitats of the conterminous United              for the mid-1980's was subtracted from the
                                  States on a 10-year cycle, in accordance with the          estimate for the mid-1970's and divided by the
                                  Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986 116               nine-year study period for an estimate of average
                                  U.S.C. 3931(a)l.                                           annual net loss.

                                  The most recent report in the series (Dahl and             Results show an estimated 51.2 million acres of
                                  Johnson 1991) evaluated wetland trends for the             wetlands in the 10 Southeast states in the mid-
                                  period from the mid-1970's to mid-1980's.                  1970's. By the mid-1980's, wetlands were
                                  The national studv design was such that region-            reduced to 48.9 million acres, including 44.6
                                  specific - and in @ome cases state-spccific -              million acres of freshwater wetlands and 4.3
                                  information also could be developed. The                   million acres of estuarine wetlands. The net loss
                                  present report analyzes data collected for the             within the region was more than 2.3 million
                                  10-state Southeast Region of the Fish and                  acres, making the average annual net loss
                                  Wildlife Service (Fig. 1).                                 approximately 259,000 acres. Nearly all
                                                                                             the losses were from freshwater wetlands.
                                  The design of this regional study consisted of a
                                  stratified random sample of 2,204 plots drawn              In the mid-1980's, wetlands comprised 16
                                  from the national sample of 3,629 plots. Aerial            percent of the regional landscape. By contrast,
                                  photography from the mid-1970's and mid-                   wetlands covered only 5 percent of the total area
                                  1980's (mean dates 1974 and 1983) for each of              of the lower 48 states. Southeast wetlands
                                  the plots was analyzed to detect changes in                represented 47 percent of the total wetlands in
                                  wetlands and deepwater habitat acreage.

                                                                                                                            Car Island, Louisiana
                                                                                                                            PALUSTRINE FORESTED

                                                                                                                                          CNANCY WEBB

















                                              4.1



                       Aj



                                                  T411











                                                                                        .4@
                                                                  All













               the conterminous United States. Nearly half of                               Over 3.1 million acres of forested wetlands
               the freshwater wetlands and over three-quarters                              (bottomland hardwoods, cypress sloughs, etc.)
               of the estuarine wetlands of the lower 48 states                             were lost or converted to other wetland types.
               are in the region. Wetland losses within the                                 Losses were particularly acute in the Lower
               Southeast represented 89 percent of the net                                  Mississippi Alluvial Plain (Louisiana, Mississippi
               national losses during this period.                                          and Arkansas) and in the Gulf Atlantic Coastal
                                                                                            Flats of North Carolina (Fig. 2).
               Estuarine (saltwater) wetlands declined by about
               1 percent, with an estimated net loss of 50,000                              Palustrine nonvegetated wetlands increased by
               acres. The loss rate for estuarine wetlands was                              400,000 acres. Most of the increase came from
               substantially less than estimates for previous                               conversion of non-wetlands to farm ponds,
               decades. However, the estuarine loss did not                                 ponds in residential areas and other small
               encompass all coastal wetland losses, because                                impoundments.
               some coastal areas also contain extensive
               freshwater wetlands that had losses. Most                                    Although urban development increased, the
               estuarine wetland losses occurred along the                                  effect on wetlands was relatively small compared
               northern Gulf Coast, especially in Louisiana.                                to other factors. Wetland conversions to non-
               Estuarine wetland acreage remained stable                                    wetlands were distributed nearlv evenlv between
               throughout the rest of the region.                                           agriculture and "other" land, such as @orests and
                                                                                            barren lands. This is a change from previous
               Palustrine (freshwater) wetlands showed a net                                decades when agricultural development was the
               decline of 2.3 million acres (4.8 percent).                                  primary cause of wetland loss.





                                                             Middle Western Upland Plain
                                                                (INTERIOR DIVISION)
                     Mid-continent                               41GHLAN
                       Plains and                     Vv-
                      Escarpments
                      (INTERIOR
                      DIVISION)



                                                                                                        Ulf-Atlantic
                                                                                                       o
                                                                                                            P i
                                                                                                                 In
                                                                                                        lling 101



                                                                              HTIC
                                                                 011IF-ATIA
                                                                                                                 Gulf-Allanti @Coastal
                                                                                                                       mots







                                       Figure 2. Map of the physical subdivisions of the Southeast (Hammond 1970).






                               Introduction

                               Extensive floodplains, wide coastal plains and          The wetlands of the Gulf Coast from Alabama to
                               abundant rainfall have created rich and diverse         Louisiana provide winter habitat for more thari
                               wetland resources in the Southeast (Fig. 1).            400,000 geese and three million ducks
                               At the time of European settlement, wetlands            (Mississippi Flyway Council 1991). Louisiana is
                               may have occupied a third of the land surface           second only to Alaska in volume of commercial
                               within this portion of the United States (Dahl          fishery landings with a harvest of over 1.2 billion
                               1990). Nearly half of Louisiana and Florida may         pounds, with a value of $264 millon in 1989
                               have been wetlands.                                     (National Marine Fisheries Service 1991).
                                                                                       Louisiana's catch is made up primarily of
                               The landscape in this region, as in most of the         wctland-dcpendent species such as brown
                               eastern United States, has been altered                 shrimp, white shrimp, blue crab, seatrout and
                               dramaticallv over the past 200 years. Wetlands          spot (Gossclink 1984).
                               have been @raincd to develop agricultural and
                               forestrv resources; they have been filled or
                               otherwise altered to construct comrncrcial and
                               urban developments, transportation networks
                               and navigational facilities (Tiner 1984).

                               Southeast wetlands play an integral role in the
                               region's quality of life - maintaining water
                               quality and quantity, supporting diverse and
                               plen4ul fish and Nvildlife habitat, and providing
                               economic livelihood and recreation for millions
                               of people.

                               A few specific examples of the contribution of
                               wetlands to the region are noted here.

                               A single 2,300-acre Georgia floodplairi wetland                    ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY SUPPORT
                               naturally provides pollution control benefits
                               worth a'n estimated $1 million each year                           Water Quality Maintenance
                               (Wharton 1970). The 552,000-acre Green                             L Pollution Filter
                               Swamp complex northeast of Tampa, Florida,                         - Sediment and Toxicant Trapping
                               stores water for eventual aquifer recharge with an                 - Oxygen Production
                               estimated value of $25 million annually (Brown
                               1984). The value of standing timber in southern                    - Nutrient Cycling
                               wetland forests has been estimated at $8 billion                     Chemical and Nutrient Absorption
                               (Tiner 1984).
                                                                                                  Biogeochemical (ycling
                                                                                               i  Primary Productivity
                                                                                    <             Microclimate Regulation
                                                                                    Z
                                                                                                  Biospheric Stabilization
                                                                                                  Biodiversity




                                                                                     FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT

                                                                                     F
                                                                                         d Shellfish
                                                                                     ish an
                                                                                     Waterfowl, Wading Birds, Shorebirds and Other Birds
                                                       t                             Furbearers and Other Mammals
                                                                                     Reptiles and Amphibians
                                                                                     Plant (ommunities
                                                                                     Endangered Species



           8













                Freshwater fishes of the region also depend on                               visit Everglades NatioDal Park, America's largest
                wetlands. For example, 53 species of fish are                                wetland park and a designated Wetland of
                known to use flooded bottorriland hardwood                                   International Importance (Ramsar Convention
                wetlands during their fife cycles (Wharton et al.                            Bureau). Table I provides a representative list of
                1981).                                                                       wetland values.

                Wetlands provide the region with a varicty of                                To manage wetlands resources effectively, it is
                recreational opportunities as well. In 198@ alone,                           important to understand their extent and the
                more than two million people fished Florida's                                influences that mav be affecting them. Hefher
                fresh waters. Nearly one million people each year                            and Brown's (1984) report on wetland trends
                                                                                             in the Southeast Pegion estimated the rate of
                                                                                             wetland conversion in the Southeast from the
                                                                                             mid-1950's to the mid-1970's, a time
                                                                                             immediately preceding governmental wetland
                                                                                             protection @fforts.

                                                                                             The present report covers a period in which
                                                                                             government programs and policies - and
                                                                                             environmental awareness - were beginning to
                                                                                             influence wetland management decisions. This
                                                                                             regional information can serve as an indicator of
                                                                                             the effectiveness of public policies and programs
                                                               'r.                           intended to reduce the loss of the nation's
                                                                                             wetlands and to identifi, areas experiencing
                                                                                             wetland change.




                                  SOCIO-ECONOMK VALUES                                                      HYDROLOGIC FUNCTIONS

                                  Product Source                                                            Flood Control
                                     Timber                                                                 Wave Dampening
                                     Peot                                                                   Erosion Control
                                     Forage                                                                 Groundwater Recharge
                                     Fish and Shellfish                                                     Groundwater Discharge
                                     Fur and Other Wildlife Products                                        Flow Stabilization
                                     Food                                                                   Saltwater Intrusion Prevention
                                     Medicine
                                  L Aquaculture
                                  Recreation

                                  Wastewater Treatment
                                  Water Supply                                               P
                                  Aesthetics
                                                                                         0
                                  Education and Scientific Research                      <
                                  Bank Stabilization
                                  Cultural Heritage
                                  Archaeological Resource
                                  Uniqueness



                Table I (both pages). Major wetland functions and values:
                Fish and wildlife habitat, environmental quality support,
                socio-economic values, hydrologic functions.

                                                                                                                                                                                            9






                                           Survey Methods

                                           Survey procedures for this study were first used                             black and white at 1:80,000 or 1:60,000 scale,
                                           by Frayer et. al. 1983. The metfiod was reviewed                             while the 1980's images were principally color
                                           and approved prior to its use by statisticians from                          infrared at 1:58,000 scale.
                                           the Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, Soil
                                           Conservation Service and the Army Corps of                                   Aerial photographs were interpreted and cover
                                           Engineers. It has been employed for a series of                              types delineated according to procedures
                                           national (Fraycr et al. 1983, Dahl and Johnson                               developed by the National Wetlands Inventory
                                           1991, Frayer 1991) and regional wetland status                               (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1990a; 1990b@.
                                           and trend studies (Frayer et al. 1989, Heffier                               Wetlands, deepwater habitats and uplands
                                           and Brown 1984).                                                             identified on the photographs were assigned to
                                                                                                                        one of 16 categories listed in Table 4 and
                                           The Southeast regional status and trends study                               described in Appendix A. All changes were
                                           consists of a stratified random sample of 2,204                              determined to be either natural (e.g. scrub/
                                           plots. Each plot is four square miles, or 2,560                              shrub wetland succeeding to forested wctland) or
                                           acres, and is permanently established for periodic                           human-inducccl (e.g. conversion of wetland to
                                           reevaluation. The samples are stratified based on                            residential development or agricultural usage).
                                           physical subdivisions (Hammond 1970)(Fig. 2),                                Non-wctland areas were assigned to one of three
                                           and state boundaries (Fig. 1) with the addition of                           general land-use categories: agricultural, urban
                                           a coastal stratum along the Gulf of Mexico and                               and "other."
                                           Atlantic coasts. The coastal stratum was added to
                                           incorporate estuarine and marine wetlands that                               Delineations on the interpreted aerial
                                           extended beyond the continuous land mass.                                    photographs were transferred to overlays on
                                           Sample plots were allocated to each stratum in                               1:24,000-scale U.S. Geological Survey
                                           proportion to the expected wettand density based                             topographic maps. Measurements of the various
                                           on estimates by Shaw and Fredine (1956). Table                               categories were made and acreages recorded for
                                           2 shows the number of plots within each state.                               analyses. Changes in wetland area from the mid-
                                           Table 3 shows plot distribution within the                                   1970's to mid-1980's for each sample plot were
                                           physical subdivision strata.                                                 also determined from these maps, measured and
                                                                                                                        recorded. Regional and state estimates were
                                           Aerial photography was the basic information                                 developed from the sample plot data using the
                                           source. Two sets of photographs were analyzed                                statistical procedures presented by Frayer et al.
                                           for each study plot. The mean years of the aerial                            (1983). As with previous status and trends
                                           photography for the study were 1974 and 1983                                 studies by the Fish and Wildlife Service, this
                                           (Table 2). This ninc-vear interval was used for                              study is a quantitative measure of wetlands.
                                           calculating average ar@urual wetland change                                  No assessment of wctland quality other than
                                           estimates. The 1970's photography was primarily                              changes in areal extent was made.


                                             Table 2. Distribution of sample plots and mean
                                             dates of aerial photographic coverage, by state.                             Table 3. Distribution of sample plots
                                             State                    Plots      1970's Date       I 980's Date           within physical subdivisions (Hammond 1970).
                                             Alabama                  76               1975                      1981     Physical Subdivision                                 Sample Plots
                                                                                                                          Appalachian Highlands                                          21
                                             Arkansas                 127              1974
                                             Florida                  644              1974                      1984     Eastern Interior Uplands and Basins                            17
                                             Ge@rgj                                                              9
                                                                      206                                                 Gulf-Aflantic Coastal Flats                                  762
                                             Kentucky                 17               1972                      1982     Gulf-Aflantic Rolling Plain                                  440
                                                  jano                                   974                     1 9@fi   Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain                             335
                                             Mississippi              96               1973                      1982     Mid-Gontinent Plains and Escarpments                              3
                                             NO Carolina              235              1973                      8        Middle Western Upland Plain                                       4
                                             South Carolina           133              1973                      1983     Ozark-Ouachito Highlands                                       12
                                             Tennessee                33               1972                      9-@ -1,1 Coastal Zone                                                 610


                10













              Table 4. Wetland, deepwater and upland habitat categories used in this study. (Detailed description in Appendix A)

                 Saltwater Habitats**            Common Description                                Freshwater Habitats**          Common Description
                 Marine Intertidal              Ocean beaches, bars,and flats                    Palustrine Forested            Swamps, bottomland hardwoods, etc.
                 Estuarine Subtidol*            Open water of boys and sounds                    Palustrine Scrub/Shrub         Shrub wetlands
                                                                                              
                 Estuarine Intertidal Emergents Salt marshes                                      Palustrine Emergents           Fresh marshes, wet meadows, etc.
                 Estuarine Intertidal Forest/Shrub Mangroves & other estuarine shrubs             Palustrine Unconsolitated Bottom Beaches, bars, and flats
                 Estuarine Intertidal                                                             Palustrine Unconsolidated Bottom Open water ponds
                 Unconsolidated Shore           Beaches, bars and flats
                                                                                                  Palustrine Aquatic Beds        Floating or submerged vegetation
                                                                                                  Riverine*                      Open water within river channels
                 Upland Land Use***             Common Description
                                                                                                  Locustrine*                    Lakes and reservoirs
                 Agriculture                    Croplands and pastures
                                                Cities towns and other built-up areas
                 Urban                                        other built-up areas                     Deepwater Habitats
                 Other Uplands                  Forest, range land and barren land                     Adapted from Cowardin et aL (1979)
                                                                                                       Adapted from Anderson et aL (1976)






              Norris Dam, Tennessee
              ACUSTRINE

              TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY







Norris Dam, Tennessee
LACUSTRINE                                                                                                                           
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY



                                                  


                                                                                                                                           






                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                     




                                                                                                                     

















                                                                
                                                                                                    11






                                             Results


                                             Estimates for acreage changes from the mid-                                    Palustrine forested wetlands represented 74
                                             1970's to the mid-1980's,,vere developed for 13                                percent of all freshwater wetlands in the region.
                                             wctland and deepwater habitat categories within                                Freshwater emergent wetlands made up 13
                                             the Southeast Region (Fig. 1). Data tables for                                 percent. Wetlands dominated by shrubs
                                             the region are presented in Appendix B.                                        comprised 10 percent. PaInStrine unconsolidated
                                                                                                                            bottom (freshwater ponds) were 3 percent of the
                                                                                                                            total (Fig.5).
                                             REGIONAL STATUS
                                                                                                                            Wetlands covered approximately 16 percent of
                                             There were an estimated 51.2 million acres of                                  the Southeast landscape in the mid-1980's.
                                             wetlands in the Southeast Region in the mid-                                   Dcepwater habitats occupied an additional
                                             1970's. An estimated 48.9 million acres remained                               5 percent of the area for a combined total
                                             bv the mid-1980's. The average annual net loss                                 of 21 percent of the region's acreage (Fig. 6).
                                             f@r the period was 259,000 acres. In the mid-
                                             1980's, 91 percent of the region's wetlands                                    Wetlands are present in every phvsical subdivision
                                             (44.6 million acres) were palustrine (freshwater).                             of the Southeast. The highest wetland density
                                             The remaining 9 percent (4.3 million acres)                                    occurred in the combined area of the Gulf-
                                             were estuarine wetlands (Fig. 3).                                              Atlantic Coastal Flats and Coastal Zone, where
                                                                                                                            wetlands covered 31 percent of the landscape.
                                             The estuarine intertidal emergent category                                     Although these two areas represent less than a
                                             accounted for 73 percent of estuarine wetlands.                                fourth of the region, nearly half of the region's
                                             Another 16 percent were estuarine forested/                                    wetlands occur there. More than three-quarters
                                             shrub, principally mangrove -dominated habitats.                               of the deepwater habitat acreage in the Southeast
                                             Approximately I I percent of all estuarine                                     was estimated within these physical subdivisions,
                                             wetlands were nonvegetated, e.g. saltflats,                                    primarily due to extensive estuarine subtidal
                                             muciflats and sandbars, (Fig.4).                                               habitats in the Coastal Zone.



                                                                            Figure 3                                                                        Figure 4
                                                                Wetlands of the Southeast                                                Estuarine wetlands of the Southeast

                                                 Polustrine                                                                     Emergent                                 Forest/Shrub 700,000acres
                                                 44,600,000 acres                                 Estuarine                     3, 7 00, 000 acres
                                                                                                              acres                                                                 Non-Vegetated
                                                                                                                                                                                    500,000 acres








                                                                                                                                                           Figure 6
                                                                            Figure 5                                                Wetlands, deepwater habitats and uplands
                                                         Palustrine wetlands of the Southeast                                                         of the Southeast
                                                 Forested                                ScruhlShrub 4,600,000acres             Uplands                                  Deepwater 15,800,000 acres
                                                 32,800,000 acres
                                                                                                                                250,300,000 ocr
                                                                                                    Emergent                                                                        Wetlands
                                                                                                     5,800,000ocres                                                                 48,900,000 acres

                                                                                                      Non-Vegetuted
                                                                                                      1, 300, 000 acres





                12













                    REGIONAL TRENDS                                                                                 Palustrine Wetlands
                                                                                                                    Freshwater wetlands declined by 4.9 percent, a
                    Estuarine Wetlands                                                                              net loss of2.3 million acres, from the mid-1970's
                    Estuarine wetlands declined by 1.2 percent, a net                                               base. Palustrine forested wetlands suffered large
                    loss of 50,000 acres. This does not include all of                                              losses. All other freshwater categories showed
                    the coastal wetland losses during the study period                                              slight net increases from conversions of palustrine
                    because most coastal areas also contain extensive                                               forested wetlands to those categories (Fig. 7).
                    palustrine wetlands that may have experienced
                    losses. Therefore, the overall loss of coastal                                                  Approximately 3.1 million acres ofpalustrine
                    wetlands in states like Louisiana cannot be                                                     forested wetlands (9 percent) were Jost or
                    derived exclusively from losses of estuarine                                                    converted. Nearly two-thirds ofthis decrease was
                    wetlands.                                                                                       actual wetland loss to agriculture and the "other"
                                                                                                                    (i.e. forest, range land and barren land) upland
                    An increase in estuarine intertidal nonvegetated                                                category. Most ofthe remaining decrease
                    habitats partially masked a 60,000-acre decrease                                                resulte@ from conversions to other wetland types,
                    in estuarine intertidal emergent wetlands                                                       particularly palustrine scrub/shrub and emergent
                    (saltmarshes). Nearly all saltmarsh loss and most                                               wetlands (Fig. 8).
                    of the increase in nonvegetated habitats occurred
                    in Louisiana. There was little change in                                                        More than two-thirds of the palustrine forested
                    mangrove -dominated habitats. Estuarine subtidal                                                wetland loss took place in the Lower Mississippi
                    (bay bottoms) increased by 27,000 acres;                                                        Alluvial Plain (Louisiana, Mississippi and
                    virtually all the increase was the result of                                                    Arkansas) and the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Flats,
                    saltmarsh loss in Louisiana. Except for coastal                                                 especially in North Carolina. Nearly 900,000
                    Louisiana, the acreage of estuarine wetlands and                                                acres were lost to agriculture in the Lower
                    deepwater habitats remained stable from the                                                     Mississippi Alluvial Plain. Within the Gulf-
                    mid-1970's to mid-1980's.                                                                       Atlantic Coastal Flats of North Carolina,
                                                                                                                    887,000 acres were lost, nearlv all ofNvhich
                                                                                                                    went to the "other" category. There were no
                                                          Figure 7                                                  identifiable gains to palustrine forested wetlands
                       Palustrine wetland gains and losses in the Southeast                                         ,vithin the region.
                                 Forested           Emergent          Scrub/Shrub        Non-Vegetated              Palustrine emergent wetlands showed a net
                                                                                         L-----7                    increase, with losses offset by conversion
                    0                              +369,900             +53,400             +399, 0                 (i.e. cleared but otherwise unaltered) of
                                                                                                   90               palustrine forested to the palustrinc emergent
                                                                                                                    category (Table 5).

                                                                NET (HANGE (in acres)                                  Table 5. States with large conversions from
                                                                                                                       palustrine forested to polustrine emergent wetlands.

                                                                                                                       Georgia                                                         184,000 acres
                                                          Figure 8                                                     Mississippi                                                     101,000 acres
                                   Fate of palustrine forested wetlands:
                                              Losses and conversions                                                   Louisiana                                                        89,000 acres
                                                                                                                        r an
                                                                                                                             SOS                                                        86,000 acres
                                            Urban 1.8%
                                                                             Agricultore 28.0%
                                                                           EIV;@                                    There were large losses of palustrine emergent
                                                                                                                    wetlands at specific locations. For example, nearly
                                                                                                                    108,000 acres were lost to agriculture in Florida.
                        Other 32.0%
                                                                                         PondslLokes                Regionwide, agriculture claimed 209,000 acres
                                                                                                                    of palustrine emergent wetlands. More than
                                                                                         3.8%
                                                                                                                    13,000 acres of palustrine emergent wetlands
                                                                                                                             lost to urban development - mainly
                                                                                    Scrub/Shrub 14.2%6              were                                                                        in
                                                                                                                    Florida - and 89,000 acres went to the category
                               [mergent 20.2%                                                                          other," mostly in North Carolina.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         13














                                           Palustrine scrub/shrub wetlands showed no                                     Deepwater Habitats
                                           measurable net change. As with palustrine                                     There was a net increase of 199,000 acres of
                                           emergent wetlands, scrub/shrub losses were                                    lakes (lacustrine habitat) during the study period.
                                           offset by conversions of palustrine forested                                  Most of the increased acreage came from the
                                           wetlands.                                                                     upland categories of agriculture and "other,"
                                           More than 719,000 acres of palustrine forested                                vith some increases from palustrine scrub/shrub
                                           wetlands were converted to scrub/shrub                                        and forested wetlands.
                                           wetlands. A third of this conversion took place in
                                           Georgia. More than 181,000 acres of palustrine                                STATE ANALYSES
                                           emergent wetlands succeeded to scrub/shrub
                                           wetlands - more than half of this in Florida.                                 The number of sample plots within each state
                                           During the study period, 112,000 acres of                                     was based on the anticipated density and
                                           palustrine scrub/shrub wetlands were lost to                                  variability of the wetlands (see Survey Methods),
                                           agriculture. Florida accounted for approximately                              The reliability and extent of the state-specific
                                           half of this loss with the remaining losses spread                            estimates varies. Precise estimates were possible
                                           among North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia and                                for states with large sample sizes (Louisiana and
                                           Arkansas. About 272,000 acres of scrub/shrub                                  Florida), while estimates were much less reliable
                                           wetlands were lost to "other," predominantly in                               for states with very small sample sizes (Kentucky
                                           North Carolina.                                                               and Ten    'nessee). State trend information is
                                                                                                                         summarized in Table 6. Wctland acreage
                                           Palustrine nonvcgctatcd wetlands, e.g. mudflats,                              estimates, the percent of land Surface occupied by
                                                                                                                         wetland and net wetland losses for each state are
                                           beaches, sandbars and small water bodies,                                     summarized in Figure 9.
                                           increased by 43 percent, or 400,000 acres. Water
                                           bodies such as farm ponds, mine pits, golf course                             Alabama
                                           and residential ponds accounted for most of the
                                           increase in nonvegetated freshwater wetlands.                                 Wetlands covered approximately 2.7 million acres
                                           More than half of the increase occurred in                                    or nearly 8 percent of Alabama. Palustrine
                                           Arkansas. Most of the increases came from                                     forested wetlands made up over 80 percent (2.2
                                           upland areas, predominantly from the "other"                                  million acres) of the total. The net loss of
                                           category. In general, these wetland increases did                             wetlands was estimated to be 42,000 acres. The
                                           not affect the acreage totals of vegetated                                    principal cause of the net wetland loss was
                                           wetlands or agriculture.                                                      agricultural development.


                                               Table 6. Wetland trends for the Southeast states, mid-1 970's to mid-I 980's.
                                               Standard error percent is shown as SE%.

                                                                              Mid-] 970'S Acres (SE%)               Mid-1980'S Acres 51%)                      Net (hange (S1%)
                                                                                    in thousands                         in thousands                             inthousands

                                               Alabama                              2,693  (15.0)                        2,651   (15.2)                          -42    (42.1)

                                               Arkansas                             3,516    (9.2)                       3,573   (10.4)                             57
                                               Florida                            11,299 (3.7)                           11,039 (3.7)                           -260    QU)

                                                                    --- - -------
                                               Georgia                              7,792 (5.4)                          7,714 (5.4)                             -78    (27.8)
                                               Kentucky                               381  (46.7)                          388   (45.6)                              6
                                                                                    9,303                                8,784 (3.9)                           -518 (21.0)
                                               Mississippi                          4,574  (14.8)                        4,365   05.0)                          -209    (35.8)
                                                                                                                         -5-,-04 8__ _63- 3-)                   1,199-- (-19-.5-)-
                                               South Carolina                       4,749 (11.5)                         4,689 (11.6)                              61 (38.8)

                                                  nessee                              657  (22.4)                          632   (22.8)                          -25    (88.8)
                                                 - ----- - -------- -        - ---------                             -------- ----

                                                 Standard deviations exceed estimated totals

                14















                                      Figure 9
                Wetland acreages, percentage of state landscapes and net losses, by state, mid- I 970's to mid- I 980's





                Weflonds 8% of state landscape
          *A        42,000 acres net change (mid-I 970's to mid-1 980's) Total state study area
          AVPAS
                     Standard deviations exceed estimated net change
        "@ ALA  30%             260,000 acres net change

                20%

                           78,000 acres net change




                Standard deviations exceed estimated net change

          L     28%         - 518,000 acres net change
          MI4IPPI 1151F@11111111
                       209,000 acres net change


         ANA
                        - 1, 199,000 acres net change


              H
          CAMA         61,000 acres net change


                 25,000 acres net change








                                @A'





                                         lam







                                             01ftv      W                                                Z:











                                                                                                'K4








                       Cardinalflower in Lutcher Moore Sivamp, Louisiana
                       PALUSTRINE FORESTED
                       NANCY WEB&91


        16



                                                                    f                                                                                               M
                                                                                    ILI



                                                                       Ilk

                                                                                                                                                                                        21


                                                                       Off




                                                                            404'






                                                                                                                                                                                                  it











                 K       A                                                                 Forested wetland conversion in Florida

                                                                                           PALUSTRINE FORESTED TO PALUSTRJNE EMERGENT

                                                                                           JOHN HEFNER


                                                                                           Excellent statistical reliability was achieved in a
                                                                                           number of other categories due to the large
                                                                                           sample size. Complete results of the Florida
                                                                                           analysis are in Frayer and Heffier (1991).

                                                                                           Georgia
                                                                                           Georgia followed Florida and Louisiana with a
                                                                                           total wetland area of 7.7 million acres, covering
                                                                                           2
                                                                                              percent of the state's landscape. This total
                                                                                            U
                                                                                           included nearly 367,000 acres of estuarine
                                                                                           wetlands and 7.3 million acres of palustrine
                                                                                  41
                                                                                      -    wetlands. The state's net wetland loss was
                                                                                           estimated at approximately 78,000 acres.

                                                                                           Palustrine forested was the predominant wetland
                                                                                           type, approximately 6.1 million acres. Nearly
                                                                                           500,000 acres of palustrine forested wetlands
                                                                                           were converted (i.e. cleared but otherwise
                                                                                           unaltered), with virtually the entire change to
                                Arkansas                                                   palustrine scrub/shrub or emergent wetland.
                                Arkansas contained nearly 3.6 million acres of             Kentucky
                                wetlands, more than 10 percent of the state's              The estimated total wetland acreage was 388,000
                                land surface. Approximately 2.8 million acres              acres, covering about 1 percent of the land
                                were palustrine forested, the majority of which            surface. The predommant type was palustrine
                                were located in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial             forested wetland. A statistically reliable estimate
                                Plain. Although a reliable estimate of net                 of wetland change could not be determined.
                                wetlands change could not be determined, there
                                was an estimated forested wetland decrease of              Louisiana
                                210,000 acres.                                             Louisiana was second to Florida with a total
                                Florida                                                    wetland area of 8.8 million acres, 28 percent of
                                Florida contained more than 11. 0 million acres            the state's surface area. Estuarine wetlands,
                                of wetlands, approximately 30 percent of the               consisting mainly of saltmarshes and some
                                state. Among the southea4ern states, Florida had           mangroves, totaled 1.9 million acres. Palustrine
                                the greatest wet-land acreage and density.                 wetlands totaled 6.9 million acres, of which 4.9
                                                                                           million acres were forested and 1.5 million acres
                                Palustrine (freshwater) wetlands predominated,             were emergent.
                                covering more than 9.6 million acres.
                                Palustrine forested wetlands covered 5.5 million           The net loss for all Louisiana wetland types was
                                acres, 50 percent of the state's wetland total.            518,000 acres. Approximately 57,000 @crcs of
                                Palustrine emergent wetlands covered 2.9 million           estuarine vegetated wetlands were changed to
                                acres (26 percent). Palustrine scrub/shrub                 other habitats. Nearly three-quarters of the
                                wetlands covered 1.2 million acres, or about 10            estuarine wetland change was the conversion of
                                percent of the state's wetland total. Florida              vegetated wetland to dccpwater habitat, i.e. from
                                showed a net wetland loss of 260,000 acres,                marsh to open water. Palustrine forested wetlands
                                                                                           declined dramatically, with net losses and
                                mainly from the destruction of palustrine                  conversions of 628,000 acres. Most palustrinc
                                wetlands. Two-thirds of the loss of palustrine             forested wetland losses in Louisiana took place in
                                wetlands was attributable to agricultural                  the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain and were
                                development, with the rest split evenly between            directly attributable to agricultural development.
                                urban development and "other" land use.
                                Estuarine wetlands, most of which were saltmarsh           Mississippi
                                and mangroves, totaled 1.4 million acres. Some             Mississippi had 4.4 million acres of wetlands,
                                losses of estuarine vegetated wetlands were due            about 14 percent of the state's land surface. Of
                                to urbanization. A precise estuarine wetiand loss          the total wetland area, 3.7 million acres were
                                estimate could not be determined.                          palustrine forested. A net loss of 209,000 acres of














             wetlands was estimated. More than 365,000                   South Carolina
             acres of palustrine forested wetlands were lost or          South Carolina had 4.7 million acres of wetlands,
             converted to other wetland types. Over half of              nearly 24 percent of the state. This acreage
             the change can be attributed to agricultural                included 418,000 acres of estuarine emergent
             development in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial               wetlands (saltmarsh). Palustrine wetlands held
             Plain.                                                      3.6 million acres of forested wetlands, 369,000
             North Carolina                                              acres of scrub/shrub wetlands, and 218,000
                                                                         acres of palustrine emergent wetlands.
             North Carolina had 5.0 million acres of wetlands,
             15 percent of the landscape. This total included            The state's net loss of wetlands during the study
             154,000 acres of estuarine emergent wetlands.               period was estimated at 61,000 acres. The
             Palustrine wetlands held 4.9 million acres, of              greatest acreage change occurred in the
             which 3.4 million acres were forested, 1.3 million          palustrine forested wedand category.     About one-
             acres were scrub/shrub, approximately 119,000               third of the 125,000 acres of forested wetlands
             acres were emergent wetlands, and 81,000 acres              altered was lost to non-wetland categories.
             were unconsolidated bottom (ponds).
                                                                         Tennessee
             North Carolina stood out among all southeastern             There were an estimated 632,000 acres of
             states with the highest acreage of net Nvetland             wetlands, covering about 2 percent of the state.
             loss. An estimated 1.2 million acres of wetlands            Most of this total was palustrine forested
             were lost to the "other" (forest, range land and            wetlands. The net loss of wetlands was estimated
             barren land) non-wetland catcgorv@ Nearly all the           at 25,000 acres.
             losses were from palustrine forested and
             palustrine scrub/shrub wetlands, and were
             concentrated in the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Flats.
                                                                                                CumberlandIsland, Georgia
                                                                                                          INLUUNTE INTERTIDAL

                                                                                                                    9GEORGE GENTRY















                                                                                     ,-4@flr














                                                                                                          ,.z7
















                                                                                                                                                  19







                                Discussion


                                Wetlands represent an important component of               than the combined total losses for the 38
                                the southeastern landscape, comprising 16                  conterminous states outside the Southeast
                                percent of the study area. By comparison,                  Region (Fig. 15). Almost 69 percent of the
                                wetlands cover onl@ about 5 percent of the lower           region's palustrine forested wetland loss was
                                48 states (Dahl and Johnson 1991).                         recorded within the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Flats
                                                                                           and Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain.
                                Nearly half (47 percent) of all wetlands and more
                                than three-quartcrs (78 percent) of all estuarine          Specific locations within these physical
                                wetlands occur in the Southeast (Fig. 10 & 11),            subdivisions stood out as excepti@nally vulnerable
                                even though the region is only 16 percent of the           to wetland conversion. Large acreages of
                                conterminous United States. Nearly half of the             palustrine forested wetlands were lost in the
                                estimated wetland acreage in the Southeast is              Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Flats of North Carolina and
                                located in the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Flats and             the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain in Louisiana.
                                Coastal Zone physical subdivisions. These two              Nearly 1.2 million acres of wetlands were lost in
                                subdivisions account for less than a quarter of the        Nortl@ Carolina, presumably by a combination of
                                region's total area.                                       silvicultural and agriculturai activities. In the
                                                                                           Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain, nearly one
                                Wetland loss in the Southeast strongly influences          million acres of bottomland hardwood wetlands
                                overall wetland trend estimates for the                    were destroved, mostly converted to farm land.
                                conterminous United States. The region's                   Over half d this change took place within the
                                wetland losses represented 89 percent of the net           Louisiana portion of the plain.
                                national loss (Fig. 12). For example, 84 percent
                                of the net losses/conversions of saltmarshes and           Peninsular Florida and coastal Louisiana also
                                mangroves (estuarine vegetated wetlands)                   experienced notable losses. Nearly all of the
                                (Fig. 13) and 9 1 percent of all losses/conversions        110,000 acres of freshwater marshes lost in
                                of freshwater (palustrinc) forested wetlands               Florida were altered for agricultural purposes.
                                occurred in the Southeast Region (Fig. 14).                Along coastal Louisiana, about 42,000 acres of
                                                                                           estuarine marsh were changed to nonvegetated
                                just as wetlands are not evenly distributed across         bay bottom due to a variety of causes including
                                the landscape, neither were sites of significant           erosion, saltwater intrusion, subsidence, sea-level
                                wetland losses. Over 62 percent of the region's            rise, sediment deprivation and physical alteration.
                                wetland loss took place in the Gulf-Atlantic
                                Coastal Flats and Coastal Zone. Wetland loss in                                                Eastern Tennessee
                                this portion of the region was five times greater                                                        RIVEIUNE
                                                                                                                                         JOHN HEFNER







             "I me-Ft'"T @711 15
                                                        -7-1-Q0










                                                                                           3


                                                                                               -Q@



           20














                                                Figure 10                                                                         Figure I I
                         Wetlands of the conterminous United States                                 Estuarine wetlands of the conterminous United States

                     Southeast                                                                        Southeast
                     48,900,000
                                 acres                                                                4,300, 000 acres
                                                        IN,m





                                                                          Remainder U.S.                                                                    Remainder U.S.

                                                             .........
                                                                          54,300,000 acres                                                                  1,200,000acres







                                                                                                                                  Figure 13
                                                Figure 12                                                        Estuarine vegetated wetland losses
                     Wetland losses in the conterminous United States                                             in the conterminous United States

                     southeast                                                                        Southeast
                     Z328,000acres                                                                    59,500 acres





                                                                          Remainder U.S.                                                                    Remainder U.S.
                                                                          283, 000 ocres                                                                    11,500 acres










                                                 Figure 14                                                                        Figure 15
                     Oalustrine forested wetland losses and conversions                                 Wetland losses in the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Flats
                                in the conterminous United States                                            compared to the rest of the United States

                     Southeast                                                                        Remainder of U.S.
                     3,100,700 acres                                                                  11.0%                                                 Remainder of Southeast
                                                                                                                                                            34. No





                                                                          Remainder U.S.
                                                                          302,700 acres                                                                   Guff-Aflunfic Coastal Flats
                                                                                                                                                          55.0%





                                                                                                                                                                                                       21














                               Annual wedand loss rates were variable due to          Although the overall wetland loss rate declined,
                               economic conditions, demographic patterns, land        the rate at which freshwater forested wetlands
                               values, and farm and timber prices, among other        were lost or converted accelerated (Fig. 17).
                               factors. From the 1950's to the 1970's, wetlands       Forested wetlands of the region were lost or
                               of the Southeast were lost at an average net rate      converted to other wetland types at an average
                               of 386,000 acres per year (Hefner and Brown            rate of 276,000 acres per year from the mid-
                               1984). During the study period from 1974 to            1950's to the mid-1970's (Hefner and Brown
                               1983, the net rate of regional wetland losses          1984). However, this rate increased to
                               declined to 259,000 acres annually. This is a one-     345,000 acres per year from the mid-1970's
                               third reduction compared to the rate of the            to the mid-1980's.
                               previous two decades (Fig. 16). The loss rate for
                               estuarine wetlands showed particular
                               improvement. And the rate of gains                                                             Great Egret
                               in small open-water bodies accelerated.                                                          UkRRY R DITTOC



                                                                                Figure 16
                                                             All wetlands in the Southeast: Average annual loss
                                                                       (Wetlands 0- Non-wetlands)

                                                     386 000 acFes_PLr










                                                                                                               259,000 acres pLr year



                                                      Mid 1950's - 1970's                         Mid 1970's - 1980's




                                                                                Figure 17
                                                Palustrine forested wetlands in the Southeast: Average annual loss/conversion
                                                       (Forested wetlands P- Non-wetlands or other wetland categories)



                                                           ----- -- --------- ------ - -- -


                                                                                                                345,000 a(res per year


                                                  -----------

                                                         --------------- -  ------


                                                   276,000 a(res per year





                                                     Mid 1950's - 1970's                          Mid 1970's - 1980's

           22








                     t


                                                           Own



                                                                                            ir


















      4N,V.






                               Conclusion

                               Wetland losses in the Southeast during the study          In recent years, public awareness of the
                               period far exceeded losses for the remainder of           relationship between wetlands and environmental
                               the conterminous United States. Losses were               quality has increased; wedand conservation
                               concentrated in a few specific areas within the           effort@ have been bolstered. Federal legislation
                               region: the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, coastal           such as the Federal Water Polution Control Act;
                               Louisiana, the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Flats of             the 1985 Food Security Act; the 1990 Food,
                               North Carolina, and in Florida. One wetland               Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act; Public
                               type - palustrine forested - showed the                   Tax Reform Act of 1986; and the 1986
                               greatest decline. Although large acreages were            Emergency Wetlands Resources Act include
                               lost to agriculture and other upland categories,          provisions that positively influence wedand
                               nearly as many additional acres were converted to         management.
                               palustrine scrub/shrub and emergent wetland
                               types. Scrub/shrub and emergent wetlands also             These laws have stimulated wetland programs
                               would have displaved net losses without these             that include regulatory enforcement, wetland
                               conversions (Fig. i8).                                    restoration, public outreach and education, direct
                                                                                         assistance to private landowners, disincentives for
                               The Fish and Wildlife Service currently is                agricultural drainage, and public acquisition.
                               collecting data to develop trend estimates for the        Clearly, these programs could be maximized in
                               period from the mid-1980's to the mid-1990's.             the Southeast to achieve real gains in wetland
                               Based on the findings of the current report,              conservation nationally@ The national wetland
                               sampling has intensified throughout a large               trend study now in progress should provide an
                               portion of the region, The number of upland               index for measuring these achievements.
                               categories has been increased to identi4, more
                               specifically the causes of wetland change.                                  Lutcher Moorc Swamp, Louisiana
                                                                                                                       PALUSTRINE FORESTED

                                                                                                                                     CNANCY WEBB






















                                                                                                                                      -4
                                                                                                                                           A



                                                                                                          r

                                                                                                                     A

                                            M!V





                                                                                                                                            %






                                                                                                                     j-


                         Y".

           24















                                                                                   Figure 18
                                                 Palustrine forested wetland losses and conversions in the Southeast




                        gh Urban
                             Agriculture                                                    1,0.2
                             Deepwater                                  Other                  \\
                        7_ Other                                                                 Shrubs
                                                                                   f_20,5        4500.7
                             Acres x 1000                                                        4554.1                                      9
                                                                                       13.8      +53.4                                                  Other

                                                                                   Ei R^                                                           7 7.1
                                                                                                                                 4.3
                                                                                                                                          Earergents
                                                                                                                                             5459.7
                                                                                                                                             5829.6     13.3
                                                                                                                                             +369.9

                Other                                                        I C,                                                         30.7

                                                                                                               627.4


                                                               9 2.7


                                                                                                                    61.2                       6EI


                                          A                                                                             NOR Vege
                                                                 867.1
                                                                                                                      Wetlands       s             3
                                                                                                                                     .7                Other
                                                                                                                                 1338.6
                                                                                                                                +399.9
                                                                              7.2
                                                                                         54.7








              A complete analysis of forested wetlands in the Southecst,                    other wetland types: 627,400 acres to emergents, 440,700
              which showed a loss of 3.1 mil ion acres during the study                     acres to shrubs, and 61 200 acres to nonvegetated wetcnds.
              period, has to include the impact of human activities and
              conversion to other wetland categories. Human activities                      Although scrub/shrub wetlands lost more than 400,000 acres
              converted more then one million acres of forested wetlands to                 to upland categories, these losses were completely offset by
              other wetland types. Without these conversions, scrub/shrub                   conversions from forested wetlands.
              and emergent wetlands would have experienced net losses in
              acreage.                                                                      The net gain of 369,900 acres of emergent wetlands similarly
                                                                                            is deceptive. The nearly 250,000-acre loss to agriculture,
              Nearly two million acres of forested wetlands were lost to                    "other" and urban categories was more than offset by
              upland categories - mostly "other" and agriculture.                           conversion of 627,400 acres of forested wetlands.
              Large forested wetland acreages were converted to


                                                                                                                                                                         25






                                Literature Cited


                                Anderson, J.R., E. Hardy, J. Roach, and R.             Hammond, E.H. 1970. Physical subdivisions of
                                Witmer. 1976. A land use and cover classification      the United States of America. In: National Atlas
                                system for use with remote sensor data. U.S.           of the United States of America. U.S. Geol.
                                Geol. Surv. Prof Paper 964. 22 pp.                     Surv@, Washington, D.C. Page 61.

                                Brown, S.L. 1984. The role of wetlands in the          Hefncr, J.M., and J.D. Brown. 1984. Wetland
                                Green Swamp. -In: Cypress Swamps, K.C. Ewel            trends in the southeastern United States.
                                and H.T. Odum, eds. University Presses of              Wetlands 4:1-11.
                                Florida. Gainesville, Fla. pp. 40@415.
                                                                                       Mississippi Flyxay Council (MFC). 1991.
                                Cowardin, L.M., V. Carter, F.C. Golet, and E.T.        Technical section minutes of a meeting held in
                                LaRoe. 1979. Classification of wetlands and            Nashville, Tenn. (February 22-27, 199 1). MFC.
                                deepwater habitats of the United States. U.S.          138 pp.
                                Fish Wildl. Serv. 103 pp.
                                                                                       National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
                                Dahl, T.E. 1990. Wetlands losses in tile United        1991. Fisheries of the United States, 1990. U.S.
                                States, 1780's to 1980's. U.S. Department of the       Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
                                Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington,
                                D.C. 21 pp.                                            Shaw, S.P., and C.G. Fredine. 1956. Wetlands of
                                                                                       the United States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,
                                Dahl, T.E. and C.E. Johnson. 1991. Status and          Washington, D.C. 67 pp.
                                trends of wetlands in the conterminous United
                                States, mid-1970's to mid-1980's. U.S. Fish            Tiner, R.W. Jr. 1984. Wetlands of the United
                                Wildl. Serv., Washington, D.C. 28 pp.                  States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Scrv@, Washington, D.C.
                                                                                       59 pp.
                                Frayer, WE. 1991. Status and trends of wetlands
                                and deepwater habitats in the conterminous             U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1990a.
                                United States, 1970's to 1980's. Michigan              Cartographic conventions for the National
                                Technological Univ@ Houghton, Mich. 32 pp.             Wetlands Inventory. St. Petersburg, Fla. 73 pp.

                                Frayer, W.E., and J.M. Heffier. 1991. Florida          U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1990b. Photo
                                wetlands: Status and trends, 1970's to 1980's.         interpretation conventions for the National
                                U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Atlanta, Ga. 32 pp.            Wetlands Inventory. St. Petersburg, Fla. 45 pp.
                                                                                       and appendices.
                                Fraver, WE., T.J. Monahan, D.C. Bowden, and
                                F.A. Graybill. 1983. Status and trends of              Wharton, C.H. 1970. The southern river swamp:
                                wetlands and deepwater habitats in the                 A multiple use environment. School of Business
                                conterminous United States, 1950's to 1970's.          Administration, Georgia State Univ. Atlanta, Ga.
                                Colorado St. Univ. 32 pp.                              48 pp.

                                Frayer, W.E., D.E. Peters, and H.R. Pywell.            Wharton, C.H., V.W. Labou, J. Newsom, P.V.
                                1989. Wetlands of the California Central Valley:       Winger, L.L. Gaddy, and R. Mancke. 1981. The
                                Status and trends, 1939 to mid- 1980's. U.S.           tai-ina of bottomland hardwoods in Southeastern
                                Fish Wildl. Serv., Portland, Ore. 29 pp.               United States. In: Wetlands of Bottomland
                                                                                       Hardwood Forests. JR. Clark and J. Benforado,
                                Gosselink, J.G. 1984. The ecology of delta             eds. Elsevier, Amsterdam. pp. 87-100.
                                marshes of coastal Louisiana: a community
                                profile. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., FWS/OBS-
                                84/09. 134 pp.










            26






            Habitat Categories

            Wetlands and deepwater habitat categories used              Within the Cowardin et al. (1979) classification
            in this study were adapted from Cowardin et al.             structure, wetlands and deepwater habitats are                  Appendix A
            (1979). In general terms, wetland is land where             grouped according to five systems: Marine,
            saturation with water is the dominant factor                Estuarine, Riverine, Lacustrine and Palustrine.
            determining the nature of soil development and              A system consists of environments of similar
            the types of plant and animal communities living            hydrological, gcomorphological, chemical and
            in the soil and on its surface. Technically,                biological influences. Each system is further
            wetlands are lands transitional betAecn terrestrial         divided by the driving ecological force, such as
            and aquatic systems where the water table usually           the ebb and flow of the tide, and by substrate
            is at or near the surface or the land is covered by         material and flooding regimes, or on vegetative
            shallow water. For the purposes of this                     life form. Groupings of categories were made to
            classification, wetlands must have one or more of           accommodate the special interests of the study
            the following attributes: 1) at least periodically, the     and the detail to which aerial photography could
            land supports predominantly hydrophytes; 2) the             be interpreted.
            substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil-,
            and 3) the substrate is nonsoil and is saturated            An overview of the Cowardin et al. (1979)
            with water or covered by shallow water at some              classification system and general descriptions of
            time during the growing season of each year.                the category types can be found in Dahl and
                                                                        Johnson (1991) and Frayer (1991). The
            Deepwater habitats consist of certain                       following are specific examples of the most
            permanently flooded lands. The separation                   common Southeastern wetland environments
            between wetland and deepwater habitat in                    included within the study categories.
            saltwater areas coincides with the elevation of the
            extreme low water of spring tide. In other areas,           Marine Wetlands
            the separation is at a depth of 6.6 feet below low          Marine intertidal category includes beaches, bars
            water. This is the maximum depth in which                   and flats alternately exposed and flooded bV tidal
            emergent plants normally grow.                              action - including the splash zone - of the
                                                                        open ocean.
            Wbite-Tailed Deer

            PALUSTRINE EMERGENT

            LARRY R D[7-TO@



































                                                                                                                                                   q






                                                                                                                                                  27














                                                                                             ESTUARINE FORESTED AND SCRUB/SHRUB
                                                                                             Mangroves, Everglades National Park


                                                                                             JOHN HEFNER



                                                                                             The estuarine intertidal unconsolidated shores
                                                                                             category includes wetlands with less than 30
                                                                                             percent areal coverage by vegetation and are
                                                                                             periodically flooded by tidal waters with at least
                                                                                             0.5 parts per thousand ocean-derived salts. These
                                                                                             areas include sand bars, mudflats and other
                                                                                             nonvegetated or sparsely vegetated habitats called
                                                                A
                                                                                             saltflats. SaItflats are hypersaline environments
                               41                                                            that generally occur near the interface of
                                                                                             saltmarsh and upland habitats. Sparse vegetation
                                                                                             of the saitflats may include glassworts (Salicornia
                                                                                             spp.) and saltwort (Batt's maritima). This
                                                                                             category also includes intertidal sandbars
                                                                                             and mudflats.


                                        V,                                                   Palustrine Wetlands
                                                                                             The palustrine forested category includes all
                                                                                             freshwater (containing less than 0.5 parts per
                                                                                             thousand ocean-derivcd salts) wetlands
                                                                                             dominated by woody vegetation greater than 20
                                 Estuarine Wetlands                                          feet in height. Floodplain wetlands locally called
                                                                                             bottomland hardwoods make up the
                                 The estuarine intertidal emergent category                  predominant portion of this category. Water
                                 includes coastal marshes that are flooded                   regimes range from brief periodic flooding to
                                 periodically by tidal waters with salinity of at least      near permanent inundation. For example,
                                 0.5 parts per thousand. Three types of estuarine            communities dominated by oaks (Quercus nira,
                                 marshes are locally recognized throughout the               Q. micbauxii and Q. phello@), along with green
                                 region. They are commonly called saltmarsh,                 ash (Fraxinuspennsylvanica), sweet gum
                                 brackish marsh and, along the Gulf of Mexico,               (Liquidambar styraciflua) and ironwood
                                 intermediate marsh. These types are separated               (Carpinus caroliniana) are subject to spring and
                                 based on degrees of salinity, as reflected by the           winter flooding. Old river scars and oxbows
                                 vegetation. Common plant species of the                     vegetated by cypress (Taxodium disticbum) and
                                 estuarine marshes include smooth cordgrass                  water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) may be flooded
                                 (Spartina alterniflora), black needlerush (Juncus           nearly continuously. Forested wetland
                                 roemerianus), seashore saltgrass (Disticblis                communities with intermediate degrees of
                                 spicata), and saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina                flooding are an extensive part of the bottorriland
                                 patens). Extensive saltmarshes occur in South               hardwood spectrum. Important species of the
                                 Carolina and Georgia; brackish marshes in North             intermediate zones include willows (Salix spp.),
                                 Carolina, Florida and Louisiana; and                        maples (Acer spp.), overcup oak (Quercus lyrara)
                                 intermediate marshes in Louisiana.                          and water hickory (Carya aquatica).

                                 The estuarine intertidal forested/shrub category            In addition to bottomland hardwoods, non-
                                 describes wetlands dominated by woody                       alluvial forested wetlands cover large acreages.
                                 vegetation and are periodically flooded by tidal            These include pine (Pinus spp.) dominated
                                 waters with ocean-derived salinity of at least 0.5          pocosins, savannas and wet pine flatwoods; hydric
                                 parts per thousand. This category primarily                 hammocks; bay (Magnolia virginiana, Gordonia
                                 encompasses the mangrove -dominated wetlands                lasiantbus and Persea borbonia) heads; Atlantic
                                 of peninsular Florida and Louisiana. Principal              white cedar (Chamaecyparis tbyozdes) swamps; pin
                                 species of mangrove communities include red                 oak (Quercuspalustris) flats; and cypress or gum
                                 mangrove (Rbizopbora mangle), white mangrove                (Nyssa sylvatica Par. biflora) ponds.
                                 (Laguncularia racemosa) and black mangrove
                                 (Aviecenniagerminans). Of these species, only               The palustrine scrub/shrub category
                                 black mangroves are found along coastal                     encompasses all freshwater (containing less than
                                 Louisiana. The most extensive mangrove forests              0.5 parts per thousand ocean derived salts)
                                 are located along the southern tip of Florida.              wetlands dominated by woody vegetation less
                                                                                             than 20 feet in height. These habitats include
                                                                                             formerly forested wetlands that have been

            28













           cleared, burned or otherwise impacted but are            The palustrine aquatic bed category includes
           still wetland and are now experiencing regrowth.         shallow freshwater (containing less than 0.5 parts
           Also within this category are shrub-dominated            per thousand ocean-dcrived salts) wetlands
           bogs vegetated by species such as hollies (11ex          vegetated by floating or submerged vegetation.
           spp.), bays, fetterbushes (Lyonla lucida and             Typical of the plant species found within this
           Leucorhoe racemosa), buckwheat-tree (Cliftonia           category are floating vascular plants such as
           monophylla) and titi (Qyrilla racemiflora);              duckwe@d (Lemna spp.) and mosquito fern
           accreting river point bars, backwaters of ponds          (Azolla caroliniana); and rooted vascular plants
           and reservoirs, beaver ponds and sand or gravel          such as spatterdock (Nuphar spp.), water-lilies
           pits vegetated by buttonbush (Cephalanthus               (Nymphaea spp.), pondweeds (Potamogeton spp.)
           occidentalis), wiilows or alders (Alnus serrulata);      and hornworts (Ceratophyllum spp.).
           and mountain bogs dominated by rhododendron
           (Rhododendron maximum).                                  Two palustrine nonvegetated (containing less
                                                                    than 30-percent coverage by vegetation)
           The palustrine emergent category includes all            categories were evaluated. These are palustrine
           freshwater (containing less than 6.5 parts per           unconsolidated shore, which includes periodicallv
           thousand ocean-derived salts) wetlands                   flooded fresh-,vater (less than 0.5 parts per
           dominated bv rooted erect soft-stemmed plants.           thousand ocean-derived salts) beaches, bars and
           Most habitat@ in this category are freshwater            flats as well as palustrine wetlands that may be
           marshes vegetated by plants @uch as cattail (Typba       temporarily devoid of vegetation; and palustrine
           SPP.), arrowhead (S@gittaria spp.) and                   unconsolidated bottom, which includes all ponds
           pickerelwecd (Pontederia cordata). Also included         and other permanently flooded open freshwater
           are wet prairies, wet meadows and pitcher plant          bodies less than 20 acres in size.
           (Sarracenia spp.) bogs, each of which may be
           vegetated by a diverse assemblage of non-woody
           plant species.


           White Water Lilies
           PALUSTRINE AQUATIC BEDS
           NANCY VVEBBC












































                                                                                                                                           29













                                 Deepwater Habitats                                       Upland Categories
                                 Several categories of deepwatcr habitats were            All areas not identified as wefland or deepwater
                                 included to encompass the entire aquatic                 habitat were placed in three upland categories.
                                 spectrum of which wetlands are a part. Among             The categories agriculture, urban, and "other"
                                 these are: estuarine subtidal, which includes the        were adapted from the descriptions provided by
                                 permanently submerged area of bays and sounds            Anderson et al. (1976). "Other" includes
                                 where ocean-derived salts exceed 0.5 parts per           Anderson's Level I classes of forest land, range
                                 thousand, where there is at least partial                land and barren land, as well as lands that have
                                 obstruction from the open ocean, and there is            been drained and cleared but not put to
                                 occasional dilution by freshwater runoff from the        identifiable use.
                                 land; riverine, which includes all permanently
                                 flooded open freshwater (containing less than 0.5
                                 parts per thousand ocean-derived salts) habitats
                                 found within a channel; and lacustrine,which
                                 includes all permanently flooded open freshwater
                                 (containing less than 0.5 parts per thousand
                                 ocean-derived salts) areas of lakes and reservoirs
                                 exceeding 20 acres.




                                                                                                                                     Soybeans
                                                                                                                                AGKICULTURE

                                                                                                                          POTASH & PHOSPHATE INSTITUTE


























                                                                                          &

                                                                                      @, W.r-





                                                                                       W10,
                                                        4-Z








            30






            Data Tables


            Estimates produced include acreages with                     Estimates for the mid-1970's, the mid-1980's
            associated standard errors. Many estimates are               and change during the period were produced for                 Appendix B
            not considered reliable enough to recommend                  categories described in Appendix A. These
            their use for making decisions. An indication is             estimates are summarized in Table I of
            given of the reliability of each estimated acreage           Appendix B. Totals for columns are estimates of
            in the summary tables included in this appendix.             total acreage by category for the mid-1980's.
            The standard error of each entry expressed as a              Row totals (the extreme right column) are
            percentage of the entry (SE%) i@ below each                  estimates of total acreage by category for the
            estimate. Reliability can be stated generally as             mid-1970's. Entries are interpreted @s in the
            4c'we are 68 percent confident that the true value           following examples (all from the ninth row or
            is within the interval constructed bv adding to              column of Table 1):
            and subtracting from the entry the SE%/100
            times the entry." For example, if an entry is one            oe  4,842,400 acres classified as palustrine
            million acres and the SE% is 20, then we are 68                  emergent in the mid-1970's were again
            percent confident that the true valuc is between                 classified palustrinc emergent in the mid-
            800,000 and 1,200,000 acres. An equivalent                       1980's.
            statement for 95 percent confidence can be made
            by adding and subtracting twice the amount to                    208,700 acres are classified as palustrine
            and from the entry. Therefore, a large SE%                       emergent in the mid-1970's had changed to
            indicates low reliability, if any, in the estimate.              agriculture by the mid-1980's.

            This discussion on reliability is meant to aid in                156,800 acres classified as palustrine
            interpretation of the study results. It was                      scrub/shrub in the mid-1970's had changed
            expected that only certain estimates would be                    to palustrine emergent by the mid-1980's.
            precise enough to be meaningful. However, all
            entries are included in the summary table for                    The estimate of palustrine emergent area in
            additivity and ease of comparison.                               the mid-1970's is 5,459,700 acres.

                                                                         ee  The estimate of palustrine emergent area in
                                                                             the mid-1980's is 5,829,600 acres.

                                                                         eo  The estimate of net change in palustrine
            Pitcher Plants                                                   emergent area in the mid-1970's and the
            PALUSTRINE EMERGENT                                              mid-1980's is 369,900 acres.

            NORA MURDOCH
                                                                           N                       VM971
                                      1. Al
                                                                                                              4%
                                                           .;A

                                                                                           e
                                                  V.


                                                                         V
                                                                                                lot
                                                                                                          pop,


                                                                                                                                                   31








                        Southeast Wetlands, 1970's to 1980's
                        TABLE I Area, in tkousands of acres, by surface area classification.



                                                                                                               C U        R R E N T                                     C L A S S I F                                    I C A T 1 0 N S



                        Sampling error, in percent,
                        is given below estimate.
                                                                                                                                       0
                                                                                                                                       ff
                                                                                                                                       -\9       4"'        %%
                                                                             40                                                        %z
                                                                                                                                                                                               P                                                                              TV
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         %\*                 0'                     jo,       4,
                                                                                                0                                                                                  ------
                                                                                         <
                                                                   '-W
                                            MARINE INTERTIDAL                                                             .1           0         0          0           0.1:i      0                      4@                                 00          0          1.4       53.2
                                                                             26.7                                                                                                              86.1       88.2                                                      43.3      25.1


                        Cn
                                               UNCONSOLIDATED                            .61    0.4d                                                        -0          0          -0-         -0--[-- - -3.3i;          0                   651- 0-     - 0-.1-'- -0.41 233.1
                                                          SHORE              78.81       14.2   GA             25.7       52A                                                                                                                94'91       81.1       76.31     13.8
                                                                                                                                                                                                          26.7


                                                                                                                                                                                                             - ----------
                                                                                                                                                                                               0                                             0
                                                   AQUATI( BEDS                                 203.7          0          <01          0                    0           0                                 011            0                   0           0          0   210.6
                                                                                         92.1   25.0
                                                                                                                                                                                                          96.5                                                                24A


                                                                                                                                       0         0.4!!      0           8.9        <0.1        0.9        45.5           0                   03.4@,      13         4.7 3164.7
                                                          EMERGENT                       .4@@   0     3087 1!
                                                                                         @L                    4.8@@      79.81i                 52.6                   57.5                   57.3       14.9                               93.7        43.0       19,1      4.7

                                                                             -4f                                                                                                                                                                                    1.1 704.3
                                                          FORESTED &                     0.31!  0              3.7        694.71@      0                    0           0. 3       03:         0          1.1,           0                   003
                                                                                         52.                              12.7                                                                            40.9                               94.8
                                                   S(RUB/SHRUB                           7                     60.5                                                     94.5       94,8:                                                                 57.3'@     64.4      13.5

                        C-1                    UNCONSOLIDATED                -- ---------                      07----<OJI@             12.1-1    -2.0       0.1,        --0.6,     -0.1        -0.71 --<O.I,             -0                  1 .-2<0.1   -0.1@      1.0,      17.9
                                                          SHORE                                                                        27.7      42.3       74.1        11.3 _90.0@            72.4 1                                        76,8        84.6:1     41.5      20.8

                                                                                                                  --------                       824-.9     1.5         11.3i1     03          1-.6-1     01             0.2                 1-.9 20.2   I.V!       7.0, 870.5
                                               UNCONSOLIDATED                            0                                0            0,54,
                        LL.                                                                        d
                                                                                                                                                                                                          ?6.9:          57-2                42.5 361    38.3,L     33.1j     4,9
                                                          BOITOMS                                                                                0          29,8        16.7       38 1        311


                                                                                                -----------                                                     -------
                                                   AQUATIC BEDS              0           0      0              0          0 1          0         1.7        47.2        OJ         0.1         <0. 1      0              0.2                 0.6, <0. 1  41         0.2 1     50.3
                                                                                                                                                 36.7       12.4        50.@       98.1
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         74.8                74.6                   74.1      111
                        COD
                                                                                                                          0-           --O.f     RA,        34                                            <0. 1          10.1                60.1' 208.7 13.3       88.6, 5459.7
                                                          EMERGENT                                                                                             4W 4                1 N
                                                                                                                                       63A       15J        33.3        7.1        21@4        2 .4                      37.7                26,61, 163  27.2       63.3      6]


                                                          FORESTED                              0              <0.1       0            04        48.6       12.7        639.8" 32  53 8.2      719 .3,    0              13.3                49.01 8691  57 .3  997.8  35946.1
                                                                                                                                       57.5      15.1       41.8                                                         2&2                 33.5 13.0
                                                                                                                                                                        138        3.6.        1 Il                                                      24.2       17.7      3.5


                                                   S(RUB/SHRUB                           <01i   0              0.1@       0            0.1       111        13@         156.81  278.6,         3616.81                   10.11               27.8 111.6  14.0  271.8   4500.7
                                                                             101A                              65.1                    63,0      15.8       29,0        14.8       14.5;       9.6                       75.8                62.3 31.6   38.1       405       9.2


                                                                             6.                 D1                                     ---,<6 I!                                               -<6 988    -2.51 --       6
                                                          ESTUARINE          5@          14.51:                9.1        02;          01@                                                                                                   &I <D.1,    0.4@@      1.2 9909.0
                                                          SUBTIDAL           723
                                                                                         26.5                  6.1        41           96.91                            903        1                      2.2                                            55.3                 2.2


                                                          R
                                                                   7         -Y          -0                               0i@          0                                           7.4         15.1       0   158        8.8                 6.41.3      0          2.8 1637.0
                                                          IVERINE                                                                                0,7        &1,         15.3;
                                                                                                                                                 56.5                   38.5       36.6        30.5                      10.9                99.1 62.1              60.1      10.7


                                                                                                                                                 0'.4"      0.31        -8 4-J                            0
                                                          LACUSTRINE                                           I          1                                                        0.2         2*91                      0.1 3960.4,         18.01       0.11@      3.7 4071.0
                                                                                                                                       96.7      63.0       96.0        64.81      63 2        70'!                      95.1                13.6 93.5   70.3 1     784       13.3


                                                                                         0      0              0          0.3,         1,2       79.7       1.1         57.9@i     26          11.41,     0              6.01                681; 822 44.8:306.9@@  897.1 63677.9
                                                   AGRICULTURE                                     j
                                                                                                                          98.2         40                   46.7        25.1       55.7        33.3.                     45.7                28.3 3.2    15.91      21.2      3.1

                                                                             0           -0.1,  --O-j
                                                                                                                                                                                                          1.7!           0                   0.3 1.2 6649.4 i       0.4 665S.8
                                                          URBAN                                                0          0            01@       25         <01         0.2'       0.1         02
                                                                                         831                                           77.0,1    27.61
                                                                                                                                                                        39A        93.4        97.8       91J                                91.3 1?4.8  6.6        99's      8.6


                                                          OTHER                          --0.4  a              0.4,       01           5,-61     2-38.8     0,.5        -- 10-.9@@ 5.1         -- 33      -1.2@@         12.1                92,81-3291.1L74S..6[ 153465.6J5L7874.5
                                                                             75.1        44.1                  59.0:1                            70.1       34.5        36,21      53.7        38.4       36.6' i                            12.7'       12.1       2.0       1.9
                                                                                                                          65.          30.1                                                                              49.7
                                                                                                               -J@                                                                                                                           64.2!--     -

                                                                                                204.4  3105.1@:           704.41       20.5      1249.4     681  5829.611  32845.4i'           4554] 9935.C   1640.3     4269.9'             86770.3,  7792.0 155744.8, 315036.3
                                           TOTAL SURFACE AREA                --@2.@!     . i;l                                                                                                            i
                                                                             25.2        13.1   24.9           4.8        13.5;        18.6      15.6,      12.5,       6.4        3.6;        8.2        2.2            10.a                128 1.2     8.0        2.0       0


                                                          CHANGE             _O.B]       16.6@@ 6.2            -596@      0. 1:@       2.6       370.9@     184         369.9'  -3100.7        53.4       26.91L         3.3                 198.9 3092.4  1136.2  -2129]     0
                                                                             224.4       46.3   101'a i        20.9       1314.3,      83.6      502        30.8        AD         8.4         299.5      33.9           596.8               0@3 15.6    10.2       26.1


                        32







                                        Southeast Wetlands, 1970's to 1980's
                                        TABLE 2 Area, in tkousands of acres, by selected surface area groups.



                                                                                                                               C U R R E N T                         C L A S S I IF I C A T 1 0 N S



                                                                                                                                                                                                                          I
                                        Sampling error, in percent,                                                                                                                                                       &P
                                        is given 6elow estimate.                                                                                                        Al
                                                                                                                                                                                               _01
                                                                                                                                                                                               141VP
                                                                                                                                                                                               1
                                                                                                                   &              *e         az4                     4e                   S@p0
                                                                                                                                                                     I                    np                   Ak,
                                                                                              4        10                                                                                                      N*_                               q
                                                                                                                               A*,-       "VI           ï¿½111    1014@                     <
                                                                                                                                          101     Y             -                         0                               '00
                                                                                                       41                                 4%      A0            10091                                                             401         401-
                                                            MARINE INTERTIOAL            49.1          41          1.4         1-.4       0                                               O.@               0             -0      1-141'      53.2
                                                                                         26.7                      39.5        08.7               77.3          77.3                      88.2                                    43.3        25J
                                        z
                                                        Lu       NONVEGETATED            0.1           434.5       -4.7                   0       0             0                         3.9@:             0             0.1     0.4         443.7
                                                            23                           78.8          14.2        26,3,@                                                                 26.1                            81.1    76.3        13.9


                                                            Uj
                                                            IZ                                                                                                                            46.6              3.7           3.8     5.8         3869.0
                                                        w             VEGETATED          1.6           3.7         3793ff                 0.4     10.4,         10.8
                                                        LLJ                              40.1          26.4        46                     47.0    52.2'         50.9                      14.6              85.8          40.0    19.6        4.6

                                                            ESTUARINE WETLANDS           1.7                           4235,9             0.4:1   10.4          10.8                      503;              3.7           3.9     6.2         4312.7
                                                                                         38.7                                  41         47.0    52.2          A9                        13.6              65.8.         39.11   19.1'       43


                                                        w        NONVEGETATED            0             0           <0.1        <0.1       890.0,  15.0                                    4.2               20.2          1.1     8.2,        938.7
                                        LL_                                                                                               4.7     14.6                                    34.31             36.2,         37.0    30.7        4.7
                                                        C02
                                                                      VE69ATED           0.2           41          0.1         0.1        117.4  42985.4;                                 170.611     1190.0              84.6    1358.2      45906.5
                                        C013            CL                               100.5                     64.4        62.5       ?.6     12                                      19.9              10.9          20.2    17.4        3.2


                                                                      PA[USTRINE         0.2           4 1         GA          0.1                      44007.8                           174.81      1210.2              85.7    1366.4      46845.2
                                                                      WETLANDS           iou                       5u          s6._6-,                          3.1                       1"                10 1.'        20.0,   _17.3       3.1


                                        _j                       ALLWETLANDS                                                                                         48307.9              225.7       1213.9              89.6    1374.0@     51211.1
                                                                                                                                                                                          154               10.7          @?.2                2.9


                                                            DEEPWATER HABITATS           0.5           14.8@       9.4         24.2       1.7     125.7         127.4, 152.1              15437.4           19.3          0.5     7.71        15617.0
                                                                                         72.3          26.0        25.3        20.5       42.7    45.9          45.3    38.0-             3.8               37.3          43.8    44.3        3 B


                                                                 WETLANDS AND                                                                                                             64123.1     123321              90.1    1381.7      66828.1
                                                            DEEPWATER HABITATS                                                                                                                 2.3          10.8          19.1    IN          2.3


                                                                    AGRI(U[TURE          0             0           0.3         0.3        82ff    71.9          153.9 154.2               74.9 229@1  82244.8             306.9   897.1       83677.9
                                                                                                                   98.2        93.2       285     21.0          19.7    19,2              26.5 15.6         3.2           IS.9    21.2        11

                                        CM
                                                                          URBAN          0             0.1         0           0.1        2.2     0.5           2.7     2.&               2.0  4.8          1.2           6649.4  0.4.        6655.8
                                                                                                       83.7                    83.7       25.7    40.6          23.0    22.5              783  34.5         94,8          8.6     99.5        8.6


                                                                           OTHER         0.9           0.4         0.6;        1.0        244.9   19.3          264.2 266.1               106.1 372.2 3291.1              745.6 153465.6 157874.5
                                        0                                                75.1          44.1        44.0        33.7       68.4    27.2          63.4    63.0              56.7 47.9         12.7          12.1    2.0         1.9


                                                            TOTAL SURFA(E AREA           52.4          453.5       3809.5  4263.0,  1338.6 -43229.1     44567.7      48883.1              15846.164729.2  86770.3         7792.0,155744.8 315036.3
                                                                                         212           13.6        4.6         4.3        14,6    3.2           3.1     2.9               3.8  2.3          12            8.0     2.0         0


                                                                         (HANGE          -0.8          9.8         -59.5       4@1        399.9  -2677.5 -2277.5     -2328.0-             229.1 -2098.9 3092.4            1136.2  -2129.7     0
                                                                                         224.4         39.8        21.1        26.3       42.6    10.4          14.8    14.5              43.9 16.1         15.6          30.2    26.1
                                                                                                                                                                                               lole











































                                                                          PHOTO CREDITS, BACK COVER:                           Bobcat: Larry R. Ditto@                                                      White-toiled deer: George Gentrf
                                                                                                                               Alligator: AX Polmisono                                                      Florida panther: Wendell Metzen"'
                                                                                                                               River offer: Larry R. Ditto@                                                 Great egret: Nancy WebP
                                                                                                                               Fulvous whistling-du(ks: Milton Friend

















                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            to





















                                                                                                                           ........ ..... ....... . .

                                                                                                                                     Ntl





                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       i ab ki









                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        3 6668 00003 504-0