Coastal salt marsh wetlands are unique, valuable, and highly productive ecosystems that provide vital habitat and refuge for fish, shellfish, and wildlife and perform important physical and chemical functions such as shoreline stabilization, sediment trapping, organic productions and export, flood attenuation, and water quality maintenance. The legacy of urban development and human activities in coastal areas has resulted in the direct loss and alteration of a significant portion of this Nation's salt marsh wetlands. While the direct destruction of salt marshes has been dramatically curtailed with regulatory protection, adverse effects from indirect sources such as nonpoint source pollution (including on-site waste disposal and stormwater runoff), oil and other toxic spills, and subsurface water withdrawal continue to degrade these unique systems.

To date, there has been little systematic effort to measure, document, and describe the condition of wetlands-both coastal and inland. To address this, since 1995, CZM has been actively working on projects to advance wetland assessment methods and approaches. CZM also continues to be engaged in volunteer training, stewardship, and education.

Goals

1. To develop and evaluate techniques for assessing the ecological integrity of coastal wetlands in order to:

• Inventory of wetland sites in specific areas.
• Report on wetland condition.
• Identify degraded wetland sites.
• Evaluate restoration potential.
• Monitor restoration response.

2. To transfer techniques to interested parties, with an emphasis on training and assisting volunteers.

3. To convey the assessment methods and results to coastal wetland decision-makers.

Projects
Wetland Assessment Projects

Background
New England Wetlands: Ecology, Functions, and Degradation