Using the floristic quality concept to assess created and natural wetlands: Ecological and management implications |
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| Institution: | 1. College of William and Mary, Department of Biology/Environmental Science and Policy Program, Williamsburg, VA 23187, United States;2. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, United States;1. CNRS, UMIFRE 21, Department of Ecology, French Institute of Pondicherry, Pondicherry 605001, India;2. School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom;3. UMR 5059 CBAE, Centre de Bio-Archéologie et d’Ecologie, 34 000 Montpellier, France;4. CIRAD UMR TETIS, Maison de la Télédétection, 500 rue J.F. Breton, Montpellier F-34093, France;1. Amnis Opes Institute and Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oregon State University, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA;2. Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oregon State University, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA;3. Department of Statistics, Oregon State University, 44 Kidder Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;1. Department of Biology, University of Gondar, P.O. Box 196, Gondar, Ethiopia;2. Department of Zoological Sciences, Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries & Aquaculture Stream, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;3. Department of Biology, Bahir Dar University, P. O Box 96, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia;4. Department of Chemistry, University of Gondar, P.O. Box 196, Gondar, Ethiopia;1. University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA;2. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Durham, NH 03824, USA;3. North Carolina State University, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA;4. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA;5. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Knoxville, TN 37922, USA;1. Environment and Climate Change Canada, 4905 Dufferin Street, 2nd Floor, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, Canada;2. Department of Biology and Institute for Great Lakes Research, Central Michigan University, Biosciences 2402, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA;3. SUNY Brockport, 350 New Campus Dr., B45 Lennon Hall, Brockport, NY 14420, USA;4. Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Program, Birds Canada, Box 160 (Courier: 115 Front Road), Port Rowan, Ontario N0E 1M0, Canada |
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| Abstract: | We applied the floristic quality index (FQI) to vegetation data collected across a chronosequence of created wetland (CW) sites in Virginia ranging in age from one to 15 years post-construction. At each site, we also applied FQI to a nearby forested reference wetland (REF). We tested the performance of the index against a selection of community metrics (species richness, diversity, evenness, percent native species) and site attributes (age, soil physiochemical variables). FQI performed better when non-native species (C-value = 0) were removed from the index, and also when calculated within rather than across vegetation layers. A modified, abundance-weighted FQI showed significant correlation with community and environmental variables in the CW herbaceous layer and REF herbaceous and shrub-sapling layers based on Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) ordination output. These results suggest that a “natives only”, layer-based version of the index is most appropriate for our region, and an abundance-weighted FQI may be useful for assessing floristic quality in certain layers. The abundance-weighted format has the advantage of preserving the “heritage” aspect of the species conservatism concept while also entraining the “ecology” aspect of site assessment based on relative abundances of the inhabiting species. FQI did not successfully relate CW sites to REF sites, bringing into question the applicability of the FQI concept in comparing created wetlands to reference wetlands, and by analogy, the use of forested reference wetlands in general to assess vegetation development in created sites. |
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| Keywords: | Floristic quality index Created wetlands Reference wetlands Wetland mitigation Biotic integrity Wetland assessment |
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