The Role of Reference Wetlands in Functional Assessment and Mitigation

Compensatory mitigation for damages to wetlands in the United States occurs largely without explicit analysis and replacement of wetland functions. We offer an approach to standardize such analyses and strengthen the connection between ecological principles and policies for wetland resources. By establishing standards from reference wetlands chosen for their high level of sustainable functioning, gains and losses of functions can be quantified for wetlands used in compensatory mitigation. Advantages of a reference wetland approach include (1) making explicit the goals of compensatory mitigation through iden- tification of reference standards from data that typify sustainable conditions in a region, (2) providing templates to which restored and created wetlands can be designed, and (3) establishing a framework whereby a decline in functions resulting from adverse impacts or a recovery of functions following restoration can be estimated both for a single project and over a larger area accumulated over time. To establish reference standards, conditions inherent to highly functioning sites must be identified for classes of wetlands that share similar geomorphic settings. Ecological functions are then identified, and variables used to model the functions are employed in developing reference standards. Variables range from the highest levels of sustainable functioning to the complete absence of functions when a wetland ecosystem is displaced. An example given for wet pine flats in the North Carolina coastal plain illustrates how to determine the loss of a given function for an impacted wetland, how to calculate recovery (gains) in function through compensatory mitigation, and how to use the relationships between the two (loss vs. gain in function) to set minimum replacement ratios of restored to impacted area. In all cases, data from reference wetlands provide the benchmarks for making these estimates and for directing restoration or creation of wetlands toward the standards established for the wetland class. Programs to implement the use of reference wetlands require regional efforts that build upon the knowledge base of existing wetlands and their functioning.