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Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Coastal Watersheds of the Eastern United States

Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Coastal Watersheds of the Eastern United States. Susan-Marie Stedman, NOAA Fisheries Service Tom Dahl, US Fish and Wildlife Service. Some Background…. National Wetlands Trends (US FWS) Time Period acres/year net change 1955-1975 -458,000

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Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Coastal Watersheds of the Eastern United States

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  1. Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Coastal Watersheds of the Eastern United States Susan-Marie Stedman, NOAA Fisheries Service Tom Dahl, US Fish and Wildlife Service

  2. Some Background…. National Wetlands Trends (US FWS) • Time Period acres/year net change • 1955-1975 -458,000 • 1973-1983 -290,000 • 1986-1997 -58,550 ------------ “No net loss” • 1998-2004 +32,000

  3. “Coastal” Wetlands Trends Gosselink and Bauman, 1980 (mostly tidal wetlands) • 1922-1954: 19,000 ac/yr loss • 1954-1974: 46,000 ac/yr loss Brady and Flather, 1994 (mostly tidal wetlands) • 1982-1987: 19,000 ac/yr loss Brady and Goebel, 2002 (wetlands in coastal counties) • 1992-1997: 32,600 ac/yr loss

  4. Coastal Wetlands are Important as: Habitat for commercial and recreational fish 98% of Chesapeake Bay commercial landings and 97% in the Gulf of Mexico are estuarine-dependent Habitat for waterfowl majority of black ducks winter on Atlantic coast majority of gadwalls winter along Gulf Coast Protection from coastal storms and floods - $23B/yr Recreation And more………

  5. Defining “Coastal”

  6. Coastal Wetlands are…. • Salt marshes • Brackish marshes • Fresh tidal marshes • Fresh tidal scrub/scrub • Tidal riverine • As well as…. • Non-tidal fresh wetlands

  7. Total coastal drainage area: 212.6 million acres Data segmented by coastline – Great Lks., Atlantic, Gulf Sample plots: 2,265 (48 % of national total) Field verification plots: 824 (36%) National data points vs. Coastal data points

  8. Coastal Wetlands Status 2004

  9. Coastal Wetlands Trends 1998-2004(including Great Lakes) • Average annual net loss of 60,000 acres per year • Freshwater wetlands experienced 82% of that loss • About 70% of the loss was due to development • The Gulf of Mexico experienced the majority of the wetland loss

  10. Gains and Losses by Coastal Region

  11. Agriculture, 3.6% Deepwater, 14.5% Intertidal Wetlands, 0.05% Urban & Rural Development 22.4% OtherDevelopment Activities, 59.4% Attribution of fresh water wetland losses: Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Great Lakes

  12. Gulf Coast – Wetland Change Regions

  13. Coastal development

  14. Coastal development

  15. Attribution of saltwater wetland losses – Atlantic and Gulf Coasts

  16. Atlantic Coast Inundation Regions

  17. Focus on Coastal Areas Coastal watersheds of the eastern coterminous US: • Have 12% of the land area • Have 38% of the wetlands • Have >50% of the people • Support about 70% of the fish landings • Experienced approximately the same average annual net wetland loss from 1998-2004 as the entire coterminous US from 1986-1997

  18. Conclusions: • Although wetland loss has reversed on a national basis, it continues at an alarming rate in coastal areas. • Coastal areas need greater efforts to reverse the trend of continuing wetland loss.

  19. What next? • Can we increase coastal wetland conservation through existing programs? • Do we need new programs focused on coastal wetlands? • How can we quantify coastal wetland trends on the Pacific coasts?

  20. Questions?

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