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

Wetlands are, by their very nature, ephemeral and transitional, which makes them challenging to characterize. Yet the need for characterizing wetlands continues to grow, particularly as we develop a better understanding of the wealth of ecosystem services that they provide. Wetland Landscape Characterization: Practical Tools, Methods, and Approaches for Landscape Ecology, Second Edition shows how wetland characterization tools, methods, and approaches can be integrated to more effectively address twenty-first-century wetland issues. A Practical Toolbox for Integrated Wetland Landscape Characterization The book explains how to locate, identify, and map the extent of wetlands to learn more about their importance to society and the larger landscape. It examines jurisdictional, regulatory, and practical applications from the scientific, engineering, and lay perspectives. Fully updated, the second edition reflects an emerging infrastructural, ecosystem goods-and-services perspective to better assist readers who may encounter these concepts and challenges as they assess and characterize wetlands. Examples and case studies illustrate a variety of situations and solutions, highlighting the use of current techniques to assess, inventory, and monitor natural resources under changing conditions. These examples offer lessons and ideas for the issues encountered every day by wetland landscape ecology practitioners. The book also refers readers to additional resources to help them solve specific challenges. New in This Edition Updates of practical geospatial methods More project-driven examples A description of the pitfalls of using ecological data at landscape scales, along with solutions Alternative techniques for a variety of practitioners Linkages between field and landscape ecological practices Online resources for practitioners New illustrations This book helps readers develop the concepts, skills, and understanding of how to best achieve project goals in the rapidly changing disciplines of landscape science and wetland ecology and management. A valuable resource, it provides practical tools, methods, and approaches for conceptualizing, designing, and implementing broad-scale wetland projects that take into account critical societal linkages. Review "The main strengths of the book include its practical geospatial approaches and rich case study examples… . This is an excellent reference book, one of a kind, for a variety of wetland landscape characterization issues."―Professor Wei "Wayne" Ji, University of Missouri–Kansas City, USA "Wetland Landscape Characterization will clearly be an invaluable resource for scientists and professionals involved in wetlands assessment and monitoring. The authors provide an in-depth understanding of traditional-to-contemporary methods of characterizing wetlands, the methods used to integrate field-based and geospatial data, the keys to analysis at multiple scales, and determining the ecological function of wetlands. These topics are brought to life through a wide range of case studies that provide the reader with an invaluable learning tool and significant new insight. Wetland Landscape Characterization is an essential reference for all those involved in wetland ecology."―Stuart E. Marsh, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA "… provides good technical explanations of concepts such as an ‘ecological indicator’ or ‘landscape metrics’, which allows the non-specialist reader to understand the methodology used in assessment of wetland health and habitat risk. I also appreciated the discussion linking ecosystem services to the health of the White River aquatic ecosystems, which drives home the importance of proper wetland management. The concept of the Unified Vulnerability Index (UVI) is presented clearly, providing a novel, yet comprehensive indicator to ascertain in a holistic manner. It is a strength of the material that the pros and cons of the UVI are mentioned in some detail