PARENT SESSION
Symposium 20: Defining and Applying Environmental Indicators in Coastal Ecosystems
Organized by: R Howe and G Niemi
Thursday, August 7. 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, SITCC Chatham Ballroom B.

Plants as environmental indicators in Great Lakes coastal wetlands.

Johnston, Carol¹, Bedford, Barbara², Bourdaghs, Michael³, Brown, Terry³, Frieswyk, Christin⁴, Vaccaro, Lynn², Zedler, Joy⁴, ¹ South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD² Cornell University, Ithaca, NY³ Natural Resources Research Institute, Duluth, MN⁴ University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

ABSTRACT- Coastal wetlands are the focal point of much human activity, both direct and indirect, that threatens their condition and existence. Wetland plants and their assemblages can provide early warning of environmental stress in coastal ecosystems. Plants have the advantage over many faunal indicators that they remain in place, simplifying sampling and increasing the likelihood that the biotic indicator is spatially coincident with in situ stressors. Wetlands and their vegetation have also been extensively mapped, providing a basis for analyzing landscape-scale wetland attributes and their relationship to stressors. Field studies were conducted in 70 coastal wetlands spanning the Great Lakes coast from Duluth, Minnesota to Cape Vincent, New York. Wetlands were sampled from three types based on their dominant water source and connectivity to the lake: lacustrine, riverine, and barrier-protected. Emerging indicators focus on selected species (invasives), assemblages (e.g., biodiversity measures), and landscape characteristics (e.g., interspersion of wetland types).

Key words: Great Lakes, wetlands, stressor, indicator