Permanent freshwater wetland monitoring in Acadia National Park
Miller KM and Morrell EH. 2016. Permanent freshwater wetland monitoring in Acadia National Park. National Park Service, Northeast Temperate Network
From the abstract: "Starting in 2011, the Northeast Temperate Network (NETN) of the National Park Service has monitored permanent freshwater wetlands in Acadia National Park (NP) using a 3-tiered sampling approach. Level 1 is GIS-based monitoring of landscape condition. Level 2 is a rapid field assessment. Level 3 involves intensive sampling of soil, water chemistry, hydrology and vegetation, and follows methods developed for the Environmental Protection Agency's National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA). NETN currently monitors 40 randomly located sites in Acadia NP using Level 1 and 2 methods. The 10 sites receiving Level 3 monitoring are sentinel sites that were hand-picked to represent best condition for a range of wetland types and sizes in Acadia NP. Sentinel sites are also potential reference sites that are use to characterize the condition of wetlands for NWCA. The overall goal of the NETN monitoring program is to monitor status and trends in wetland condition relative to vegetation, soil, hydrology, and water quality in ACAD. We developed Multi-metric indicators (MMIs) for vegetation, soil, and water chemistry using the EPA NWCA data to assess condition in Acadia NP wetlands. Here we present preliminary results from 5 years of wetland monitoring in Acadia NP."