Operational Draft Regional Guidebook for the Rapid Assessment of Wetlands in the North Slope Region of Alaska

• Main Authors: Berkowitz,Jacob F, Beane,Nathan R, Philley,Kevin, Ferguson,Matt
• Other Authors: ERDC-EL Vicksburg United States
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Assessment North Slope RegionBiogeochemical cycling Rapid wetland assessmentHabitat; Arctic; north slope; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD1039574; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD1039574

This guidebook describes a rapid approach to assessing wetlands within the Arctic Foothills and Arctic Coastal Plain (North Slope) region of Alaska. This report utilized established approaches to (1) characterize regional wetlands, (2) provide the rationale used to determine assessment scores, (3) describe assessment variables utilized, (4) outline the developed assessment equations, and (5) provide a step-by-step protocol for applying results. The regions remote nature and short growing season limits the time period during which on-site data can be collected. As a result, the developed method allows for a tiered approach utilizing (1) an assessment based upon off-site data (remotely sensed or desktop resources) only or (2) an assessment using a combination of on-site (field data collection) and off-site data collection. On-site data collection may be required at the discretion of USACE. Several scenarios are presented to aid users in conducting the rapid wetland assessment.