Office of Natural Lands Management Publications

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Browsing Office of Natural Lands Management Publications by Author "NatureServe"

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    Ecoregional Floristic Quality Assessment Tools for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions: Linking EPA Region 2 (New Jersey and New York) with EPA Regions 1 and 3
    (Trenton, N.J.: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Natural Lands Management, 2021-04-30) Faber-Langendoen, Don; Walz, Kathleen; Hafstad, Jason; Ring, Richard M.; Goad, Rachel; Harkness, Mary; NatureServe
    Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) is a robust, botanically based method for assessing the quality of ecological communities and natural areas. Integral to the method is that each native plant species in a state or region is assigned a Coefficient of Conservatism, or C value, based on its response to stressors. Although FQAs are often completed at the state level, jurisdictional units are not optimal for addressing changes in species behavior across their range. For this reason, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has funded various projects to support development of ecoregional C values. Ecoregional C (“eC”) values were developed for Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic States) in 2012 and in Region 1 (New England) in 2019. But integration of eC values was not complete for ecoregions in region 2 (New Jersey and New York). In this project eC values were assessed for 5559 taxa across 10 ecoregions in EPA Regions 1, 2, and 3. All eC data is posted on Universal FQA by Ecoregion.
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    Enhancing Northeast Wetland Monitoring & Assessment with Ecoregional FQA Metrics
    (Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Natural Lands Management, 2022-09-29) Faber-Langendoen, Don; McIntyre, Patrick; Walz, Kathleen; NatureServe
    Many wetland programs in the northeastern region of the U.S. have as their goal to develop and improve wetland monitoring and assessment methods. A consistent set of tools applicable across the region would greatly facilitate a common understanding of the current condition of wetlands. One of the more common methods is that of Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA). Here we focus on improving the use of two FQA metrics - Mean C and Cover-weighted Mean C metrics for assessing condition of northeast wetlands. Our goal was to provide for a set of metric thresholds (benchmark) ratings of excellent, good, fair, and poor conditions for each major wetland type We piloted our study in New Jersey, then expanded to a nine-state region from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and the six New England states.
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    A Guide to Wetland Types in New Jersey with Ecoregional Floristic Quality Assessment Metrics (v1.3)
    (Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Natural Lands Management, 2023-01) Walz, Kathleen; Faber-Langendoen, Don; Hafstad, Jason; New Jersey. Department of Environmental Protection. Office of Natural Lands Management; NatureServe; McIntyre, Patrick
    This is a report on the wetland types in New Jersey that focuses on four of New Jersey’s major wetland ecosystems - Floodplain and Swamp Forest; Bog & Fen; Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrub Swamp; and Salt Marsh. Within these major ecosystems, wetland types are based on the U.S. National Vegetation Classification (USNVC) hierarchy ecological Group, a mid-scale regional wetland type with distinct hydrologic and floristic composition, important for identification and mapping, as well as for mitigation and restoration efforts. References to finer detailed floristic Alliances and Associations are included within each Group description. Ecoregional Floristic Quality Assessment (eFQA) metrics and condition thresholds (Excellent-Good-Fair-Poor) are presented by Group for use in monitoring and assessment of wetland sites. A key to wetland types and fact sheets for 30 wetland Groups are included to provide information on wetland classification (Group, Alliance, Association), type description (vegetation, soils, hydrology), plant species list by strata with Coefficient of Conservatism (CoC) values, eFQA metric rating thresholds Excellent-Good-Fair-Poor, ecoregion distribution map, and references. The report includes an introduction to the USNVC classification system, FQA and eFQA concepts, a key to USNVC Wetland Groups in New Jersey, and the 30 Wetland Fact Sheets.
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    NatureServe Ecological Integrity Assessment: Protocols for Rapid Field Assessment of Wetlands, v2
    (Arlington, VA: NatureServe, 2016-08) Faber-Langendoen, Don; Nichols, Bill; Walz, Kathleen S.; Rocchio, Joseph F.; Lemly, Joanna; Gilligan, Laurie; NatureServe