HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000.11.16 - Wetlands Rating Field Data Formt
Wetlands Rating Field Data Form
Background lnformation:
Name of Rater:?*oate: //16 ac)
Name of wetland (if known):"*)
Government Jurisdiction of wetland:?^nt l-,
Location: 1/4 Section: :.-i, t of l/4 S: _ Section: 16 Township: ZDN Range: lu-)
Sources of lnformation: (Check ail sources that apply)
site visic X uscs ropo Map: A rvwr *.p, ,X Aerial photo: x soits ,u-"y, X_
Other:
-
Describe:
When The Field Data fonn is complete enter Category here:fl
Q.l. High Quality Naturat Weiland
Answer this question if you have adequate information or experience to do so.If not find som@ne with the expertise to answer ilre questions. Then, if the
answer to questions la, lb and lc are all No, contact the Natural Heritage
progriun of DNR.
Is there significant evidence of human+aused changes to topography orhydrology of the wetland as indicated by any of the following conditiors?
consider only changes that may have taken place in the last j decades. The
impacts of changes done earlier have probably been stabilized and the wetland
ecosystem will be close te reaching some new equilibrium that may represent
a high quality wetland.
1a1. Upstream watershed > lTVo impervious.
1a2. Wetland is ditched and water flow is not obstructed.
la3. Wetland has been graded, filled, logged.
1a4. Water in wetland is controlled by dikes, weirs, etc.
la5. Wetland is grazed.
1a6. Other indicators of disturbance Qist below)
la Human caused disturbances.
Circle Answers
Yes: go to Q.2
Yes: go to Q.2
Yes: go to Q.2
No: go to lb.
Y
:go
to Q.2
to Q.2
to Q.2
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lb Are there populations of non-native plants which are currently present,
cover more thanl0vo of the wetland, and appear to be invading native
populations? Briefly describe any non-native plant populations and
Information source(s) :
lc. Is there evidence of human-caused disturbances which have visibly
degraded water quality. Evidence of the degradation of water quality
include: direct (untreated) runoff ftom roads or parking lots; presence,
or historic evidence, of waste dumps; oily sheens; the smell of organic
chemicals; or lifestock use. Briefly describe:
YES: go to Q.2
No: go to lc.
YES: go to Q.2
NO: Possible Cat I
cont:rct DNR"
Q.2. lrreplaceable Ecological Functions:
Does the wetland:
O have at least 114 aseof organic soils deeper than 16 inches
and the wetland is relatively undisnrbed; OR
[IIf the answer is No because the wetland is disturbed briefly describe:
Indicators of disturbance may include:
Wetland has been graded, filled, logged;
- Organic soils on the surface are dried-out for
more than half of the year;
- Wetland receives direct stormwater runoff ftom
urban or agriculurral areas.];
OR
e have a forested class greater than I acrb;
OR
O have characteristics of an eshrarine system;
OR
O have eel grass, floating or non-floating kelp beds?
@rall: goto e.3)
YES go td 2a
YES: Go to 2b
YES: Goto 2c
YES: Go to 2d
2a BogsandFens
Are any of the three foltowing conditions met for the area of organic soil?
2a-1. Are Sphagnum mosses a common ground cover (>3OVo) and the
cover of invasive species (see Table 3) is less than l0%2
Is tlre area of sphagnum mosses and deep organic soils > l/2 aue?
Is the areaofsphagnum mosses anddeeporganic soils l/4-ll2 acre?
2a.2.ls there an area of organic soil which has an emergent class with at least
one species from Table 2, and cover of invasive species is < lovo (see Table 3)
Is the area ofherbaceous ptants and deep organic soits > ltz acre?
Is the area of herbaceous plants and deep organic soils 1/4-ll2 acre?
YES:
YES:
YES:
YES:
NO: Go to2a-3
Category I
Category II
Category I
Category II
NO: Go to2a-3
e\I
,t
.-#
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1r
2a.3. Is trre vegetation a mixtue of only herbaceous plants and sphagnum
mosses with no scrub/shmb or forested classes?
Is the area ofherbaceous plants, Sphagnum, and deep organic
soils > ll2 acle?
Is the area ofherbaceous plants, Sphagnum, and deep organic
soils tl4-ll2 acre?
YES: Category I
YES: Category II
NO: Go to Q.3.
Q.2b. Mature forested wetland.
2b-1. Does 507o of the cover of upper forest canopy consist of evergr@n
trees older than 80 years or deciduous trees older than 50 years?
Notc: TTrc size of tees is often not a measure of age, and size cannot
be used as a surrogate for age (see guidance).
2b.2. Does 50vo ofthecover of forest canopy consist of evergreen nees older
tlran 50 years, AND is tlte structural diversity of the forest high as
characterized by an additional layer of trees 20,-49' tall, shrubs 6, - ZO, ,tall, and a herbaceous groundcover?
2b-3- Does < 25vo of t}l,e areal cover in theherbaceous/groundcover or
the shrub layer consist of invasivdexotic plant species from the list on p. 19?
YES: Category I
NO: Go toab.2
YES: Go to2b.3
NO: Goto Q.3
YES: CategoryI
NO: Go to Q.3
Q2c. Estuarine wetlands.
2c1. Is the wetland listed as National wildlife Refuge, National park,
National Estuary Reserye, Natural Area preserve, State park, or
Educational, Environmental or Scientific Reserves designated underwAc 332-3G75t? .....
2c.2. Is the wefland > 5 aces;
Note: rf an area contains patches of salt tolerant vegetation that arel) less than 600 feet apart and that are separated by mudflats that go
dry on a Mean Low Tide, or
2) sepuated by tidal channels that are less than 100 feet wide;
au the vegetated areas are to be considered togethen in calculating
the wetland area-
or is the wefland l-5 acres; . .
or is ttre wefland < I acre?. . .
YES: Category I
NO: Go to2c-2
YES: Category I
YES: Go to2c.3
YES: Go to2c.4
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wetland meet at least 3 of the following 4 criteria: . . .
- minimum existing evidence of human related disturbance such asdiking, ditching, fiiling, cnrtivation, gruingor the presence of non-
native plant species (see guidance for definition);
- surface water connection with tidat saltwater or tidal fteshwater;
- at lea$ 75vo of thewetland has a 100' buffer of ungrazed pasnrre,
open water, shrub or forest;
- has at least 3 of the following features: low marsh; high marsh; tidal
. channels; lagoon(s);woody debris; or contiguous freshwater wefland.
2c.4. Does the wefland meet all of the four criteria under 2c3. (above)?. .
2c.3. Does the YES: CategoryI
NO: Category U
YES: Category II
NO: Category III
QJd. Fel Grass and Kelp Beds.
2d.1. Are eel grass bedSpresent?. . . . .
N.2. Are tlrere floating or non-floating kelp bed(s) present with greater than
50Vo mac,loalgal coverinthe monthofAugustor September?. . . . . . . . .
YES: CategoryI
NO: go to2d.2
YES: Category I
NO: Category II
Q.3. Category lV weilands.
3a. Is the wetland: less than I acre @CLhydrologically isolated and, .
comprised of one vegetated class that is dominated (> g}vo areal cover)by one species from Table 3 (page t9) or Tabte 4 (pagel})
3b. Is the wetland: less than two acres
and, hydrologically isolated,
with one vegetated class, and > 90vo of areal cover is any combination of
species from Table 3 (page t9)
3c. Is the wetland excavated from upland and a pond smaller than I acrewithout a surface water connection to streams, lakes, rivers, or other
wetland, and has < 0.1 acre of vegetation.
YES:Category IV
Category IV
to 3b
go to 3c
Category IV
go to Q.4
,1 'Y
E
ri
4
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1r
Q.4. Significant habitat value.
Answer all questions and enter data requested.
4a- Total wetland area
Estimate are4 select from choices in the near-right column, and score in the
far column:
Enter acreage of wetland here: acres, and source:_
Circle scores that qualifyacres pQiutl
>200
40- 2N
10-40
5-10
1-5
0.1 -r
< 0.1
6
5
4
3
2@
0
4b. Wetland classes: Circle the wefland classes below that qualify:
Open Water: if the area of open water is > ll4 acre
Aqratic Beds: if the areaof aquatic beds > ll4 acre,
Emergent: if the area of emergent class is > l/4 arr;e,
Scrub-Shnrb: if the area of scrub-shrub class is > l/4 acre,
Forested: if area of forested class is > ll4 aqe,
Add the number of wetland classes, above, that qualify, and then
score according to the columns at right.
e.g. If there are 4 classes (aquatic beds, open water, emergent &
scnrb- shnrb), you would circle 8 points in the far right column.
# ofclasses ffiI
2
3
4
5
.......3
...... .6.......8
. . .... .10
4c. Plant species diversity.
For each wetland class (at right) that qualifies in
4b above, count the num.ber of different plant species
you can find that cover more than SVo of the ground.
You do not have to name them.
Score in column at far right:
e.g. If a wetland has an aquatic bed blass with 3 species,
an emergent class with 4 species and a scmb-shnrb
class with 2 species you would ckcle2,2, and I in the
far column.
Note: Arry plant species with a cover of > SVo
qualifies for points within a class, even those
that are not of that class.
Class
Aquatic Bed
# species in class Points
I
2
3
>3
0
I
2
3
0
1
Emergent I
2-3
4-5
>5 b
Scrub-Shrub I
2
34
>4
0
1
,,
3
1
2
34
>4
0
1
2
J
Forested
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lf thewetlandhas aforestedclass,add l point if eachof the following
classes is present within the forested class and is larger than 1/4 acre:
-trees > 50' talI
-trees 20'- 49'tall
-shrubs.
-herbaceous ground cover.
Also add I point if there is any "open water" or'.aquatic bed" classimmediately next to the forested area (ie. there is no scrub/shrub or
emergent vegetation berween them).
4d. Structural diversity.
YES-I
YES-1
YES-1
YES-1
YES-I
High - 5
Moderate -@
Low-l
None - 0
YES= 1
YES= 1
"ESo
YES= 2
YES= 1
YES= 1
4e. Decide from the diagrams below whether interspersion between
wetland classes is high, moderate, row or none? If you think theamount of interspersion falts in beween the diagrams score accordingiy(i.e. a moderately high amount of insterspersion would score a 4,
while a moderately low amount would score a 2)
none low
moderate moderate
4f. Habitat features.
Answer questions below, circle feanrres that apply, and score to right:
Is there evidence that ttre open or standing water was caused by beaversIs a heron rookery located within 300'?
Are raptor.nest/s {ocated within 300'?
Are there at least 3 standing dead trees (snags) per acre greater than
10" in diamercr at "breast height', (DBH)?.
Are there at least 3 downed logs per acre with a diameter
> 6" for at least l0' in length?
Are there areas (vegetated or unvegetated) within the wetland that areponded for at least 4 months out of the year, and the wefland has notqualified as having an open water class in euestion 4b. ?
low
high
'.\
.)/
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49. Connection to streams. (Score one enswer only.)
49.1. Does the wetland provide habitat for fish at any time of the year AND
does it have a perennial surface water connection to a fish bearing stream.
4g.2 Does the wetland provide fish habitat seasonally AND does it have
a seasonal surface water connection to a fish bearing stream.
4g.3 Does the wetland function to export organic matter ttuough a surface
water connection at all times of the year to a perennial sfieam.
4g.4 Does the wetland function to export organic matter through a surface
water connection to a stream on a seasonal basis?
YES=6
YES =4
YES =4
YES=2
4h. Buffers.
Score the existing buffers on a scale of 1-5 based on the following four descriptions.
If the condition of the buffers do not exactly match the description, score either a
point higher or lower depending on whether the buffers are less or more degraded.
Forest, scnrb, native gnssland or open water buffers are present for
more than l0O'around 95% ottlrccircumference.
Forest, scnrb, native grassland, or open water buffers wider than 100'
for more fianlQ of the wetland circumference, or aforest, scrub,
grasslands, or open water buffers for more than 50' around 95Vo of the
circumference.
Forest, scrub, native grassland, br open water buffers wider than 100'
for more thau 1/4 of the wetland circumference, or a forest, scrub, native
grassland, or open water buffers wider than 50' for more than ll2 otfhe
wetland circumference.
No roads, buildings or paved areas within 100' of the wefland for more than
95Vo of the wetland circumference.
No roads, buildings or paved areas within 25' of the wefland for more
than91%o of the circumference, or
No roads buildings or paved areas within 50' of the wetland for more than
112 of the wetland circurnference.
Paved areas, indusfrial areas or residential construction (with less than 50'
between houses) are less than 25 feet ftom the wetland for more than95Vo
of the circumference of the wetland.
Score = 5
Score = 3
Score = 2
Score = 2
Score
Score = 0
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select the description which best matches the site being evaruated.
-Is the wetland connected to, or part of, a riparian corridor at least 100, wideconnecting two or more wetlands; or, is there an upland connection present >100,wide with good forest or shrub cover (>25vo cover) connecting ii with aSignificant Habitat Area?
- Is the wefland connected to any other Habitat Area with either 1) a forested/shrubcorridor < 100' wide, or 2) a a conidor trat is > 100'wide, but has a low vegetativecover less than 6 feet in height?
-Is the wetland connected to, or a part of, ariparian corridor between 50 _ 100, widewith scrub/shrub or forest cover connection to other weflands?
- Is the wefland connected to any other Habitat Area with narrow conidor (<100)of low vegetation (< 6'in treigb$?
- Is the wefland and its buffer (if the buffer is less than 50,by development (urban, residential with a density greater
4i.Connection to other habitat areas:
wide) complerety isotated
thm 2 / acre, or industrial) ?
YES=5
YES=3
YES= 3
YES=0
YES&
Now add the scores circted (for e.5a _
Is the Total greater than or equal io 22 points?
= Category
YES =
Q.5i above) to get a total.
j- ')R
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l.
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