Wetlands Ecology and Management

Wetlands ecology and management

WFS 340

Fall Semester 2018

University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Instructor: Dr. Matthew J. Gray (mattjgray@utk.edu) and Chris Graves (cgraves2@utk.edu)

Phone: MG: 974-2740 (office), 865-385-0772 (cell); CG: 828-550-7909

Office: 247 Ellington PSB (MG), 275 Ellington PSB (CG)

Course Goal: To expose students to the basic principles of wetland ecology and management via class lectures, labs, and field experiences.

Required Readings: Handed out in class or emailed.

Recommended Texts: Wetlands, 2007, 4^th edition (ISBN 978-0-471-69967-5) or

Wetlands, 2000, 3^rd edition (ISBN 0-471-29232-X)

By: William J. Mitsch and James G. Gosselink

Wetland Restoration and Construction, 2011 (978-0-9834558-0-6)

By: Thomas Biebighauser

Course Credits: 2 credits

Course Duration: 12 Nov − 6 Dec 2018

Tentative Schedule:

12–16 November:

Monday

Tuesday

Wed

Thursday

Friday

Morning

What is a wetland?

USFWS Wetland Classification
(Gray)

Waterbird ID and Wing Characteristics
(Graves)

FWF 415 (Upland Habitat Management)

E. Willcox

Afternoon

Annual cycle of wetland wildlife (Gray)

Wetland Management (moist-soil management)

TAMP Workshop
(12 – 5:00 pm,
B. English)

19 – 23 November:

Monday

Tuesday

Wed

Thursday

Friday

Morning

LAB PRACTICUM (9:00−10:30)
(156/157 Plant Biotech)

Capacity Estimation
(Lecture, DED Lab Exercise) – Gray

Waterfowl Surveys and Regulations (Graves)

NO CLASS

THANKSGIVING

HOLIDAY!

Afternoon

Surveying Wetlands
(A. Ludwig)
Meet at 11:30

Wetland Management (agriculture, GTRSs) – Gray
Meet at 2:30 pm

Wetland Management Plan Group Exercise
(Gray)

Wetland Values and Threats
(time permitting)

Wetland Restoration & Conservation Programs (Graves)

26 – 30 November:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Morning

Lick Creek Bottoms WMA Field Trip
(8:00 am) – return before
5 pm

Leave for Noxubee NWR (8:00 am)

Noxubee NWR
(wetland management: waterfowl capture; moist-soil, GTRs, field reconnaissance for management plans, hunting)

**Mist netting at night for owls & bats**

Noxubee NWR
(non-game management: RCWs, bats, squirrels)

Leave Noxubee NWR at 9:00 a.m. and return to Knoxville

by 5:00 p.m.

Afternoon

Visit Briefly with Refuge Staff, Watch Video, Set up Camp

3 – 7 December:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Morning

LECTURE EXAM (9:00−11:00)
(260 Brehm)

Work on Management Plans

MANAGEMENT PLANS DUE BY 5:00 PM

Fall Camp is Over – you can volunteer through Sunday, 9 Dec for WFS 340 extra credit.

Afternoon

MANAGEMENT
PLAN MEETINGS
(1:00−5:00)

Academic Assessment:

Full Syllabus

Weights of Academic Assessments and Grading Scale:

The exam, lab practicum, homework assignment, and participation (field trip attendance) will be weighted as follows:

● Lecture Exam: 25% (Mon, 3 December 2018 at 9:00 am, 260 Brehm AS)

● Lab Practicum: 25% (Mon, 19 November 2018 at 9:00 am, 156/157 PBB)

● DED Lab Exercise: 5% (Tuesday, 20 November 2018 )

● Management Plan: 35% (due Thursday, 6 December 2018 by 5:00 pm)

● Participation: 10%

Your course grade will be determined using the following scale:

Grade	Final Weighted Percent	Grade	Final Weighted Percent
A	90–100%	C	70–76%
B+	87–89%	D	60–69%
B	80–86%	F	<60%
C+	77–79%

Attendance:

Attendance is required during the TAMP Workshop (1%), Wetland Surveying Lab (1%), and the field trip to Lick Creek Bottoms WMA (2% of final grade). The field trip to Mississippi is 6% (1.5% for each ½ day; 28-29 Nov) for a total of 10% of your final grade. Attendance at other lectures is not mandatory but strongly recommended.

Extra Credit Opportunities:

Volunteer: You can positively influence your grade as much as 4.5% by volunteering for extra credit. Your volunteer work must be related to wildlife ecology. For every 8 hours of volunteer work, your final grade will be increased by 1.5% up to 4.5% (24 hours total). All volunteering must be completed before Monday, 10 December 2018. A volunteer form (see below) must be filled out by the supervising individual and submitted to Dr. Gray.

VOLUNTEER FORM

Video Competition: You can positively influence your grade up to 4% by creating a <5-min video that highlights experiences in WFS 340 (class, lab, and field). Videos must be in MP4 format and submitted to mgray11@utk.edu and cgraves2@utk.edu using UTK Vault (https://vault.utk.edu) no later than Monday, 10 December 2018. You must agree that your video can be posted via social media if selected. Some examples of videos are on the WFS 340 website. Up to three students can work on and submit a video together. Dr. Gray, Chris and some graduate students will evaluate the videos, and the final grade of the students submitting 1st and 2nd place videos will be increased by 4% and 2%, respectively. Video submissions not receiving 1st or 2nd place will receive 1%.

Course Evaluation: Submit a course evaluation via TNVoice and email a screenshot to Dr. Gray showing completion of the WFS 340 evaluation before midnight, Wednesday, 5 December. Please label the screenshot file as “CourseEvaluation_LASTNAME”. The screenshot needs to show your name in the image. Your final grade will be increased by 0.5%.

Teaching Resources:

Required Species ID

Required TN Anurans

Required Waterbirds

Recommended Readings (Wetlands Edition 3 [below]; Edition 4 see: http://fwf.ag.utk.edu/mgray/wfs340/ReadingList2008.pdf)

•What are Wetlands? Chap 2, Chap 6 (155–164, Hydric Soils), Chap 21 (754–758)

•Wetland Regs & Programs Chap 18, Chap 19 (653–668), Leibowitz et al. (2008)

•Wetland Classification Chap 21 (737–744)

USFWS (Cowardin) Classification System (pages 9-44 if questions after lecture)

•Wetland Losses & Impacts Chap 4 (71–89), Chap 17 (611–625)

•Bottomland Sedimentation Hatchie River Shoals and Valley Plugs (Diehl 2000)

•Wetland Values Chap 16 (571–591)

•Wetland Construction Chap 19 (668–680)

NWRC Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook 13.4.8

Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook for LMRV

•Wetland Restoration (T. Biebighauser Readings)

•Why Should We Build Wetlands?    Chap 1 (7 – 9 pp)

•Locating Drained Wetlands              Chap 2 (10 – 27 pp)

•The Basics of Wetland Restoration Chap 3 (28 – 39 pp)

•Restoration Photos  Website (9 links under “Wetland and Stream Restoration Photo Albums)

•Wetland Management Chap 17 (625–638)

Managing Wetlands for Wildlife (Gray et al. 2013)

Managing Small Impoundments for Wildlife (Gray et al. 2012)

NWRC Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook 13.4.6

NWRC Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook 13.2.1

Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook for the Lower MS River Valley

Flooding Effects on Agricultural Seed (Foster et al. 2010)

Greentree Reservoir Handbook (Fredrickson and Batema 1992; Chaps 1, 2, 5, 6, & 8)

•Duck-energy days TME for Acorns & Other Foods (Kaminski et al. 2003)

(need for assignment) Predicting Seed Yield (Laubhan 1992)

Predicting Seed Yield (Gray et al. 1999a)

New Method to Predict Seed Yield (Gray et al. 1999b)

Scanning Technologies to Predict Seed Yield (Gray et al. 2009)

DEDs in Tennessee Croplands (Foster et al. 2010)

•Wood duck Biology Population Status (Davis 2005)

Wood Duck Brood Ecology (Davis et al. 2002)

Supplemental Resources

USACE Wetland Delineation Manual (1987)

USACE Wetland Delineation Form

TN Hydric Soils List

NRCS Keys to Soil Taxonomy

NRCS Field Indicators of Hydric Soils

USFWS National Hydrophyte List (1996)

USFWS Wetland Status and Trends (2000)

Bottomland Hardwood Guidebook: GTRs (King and Fredrickson 1998)

Shorebird Management Handbook (Helmers 1992)

North American Waterfowl Management Plan (2004)

USFWS Moist-soil Management Guidelines (Strader and Stinson 2005)

PARC Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles

Testing Preparation

Lab Practicum Requirements

Exam Review (not all topics covered)

Podcasts: (MP4 Format)

1. iTunes Instructions: (you must first download iTunes to Listen to Podcasts)

1) Go to http://itunesu.utk.edu

2) Click on "Download iTunes & Quick Time"

3) Click on “Download iTunes Free”

4) Save iTunes to your hard drive and install.

2. Link to iTunes to Listen to Podcasts: Launch Podcasts in iTunes U

Slides: (PDF Format)

Lectures:

“What is a Jurisdictional Wetland?”

“USFWS Wetland Classification”

“Moist-soil and Agriculture Management”

“Green-tree Reservoir Management”

“Wetland Carrying Capacity”

“Wetland Restoration and Conservation Programs: Part I" (Chris Graves)

"Wetland Restoration and Conservation Programs: Part II" (Chris Graves)

"Wetland Restoration and Conservation Programs: Part III" (Chris Graves)

“Wetland Values”

“Wetland Losses & Human Impacts”

Websites (Class)

USFWS Hydrophyte List

USGS Wetland Hydrology Site

USGS Wetland Loss Site

Videos of Louisiana Coastal Wetland Loss

Historical Loss of Louisiana Wetlands

NWRC Waterfowl Management Site

Websites (Wetland Conservation Programs)

Wetland Reserve Program WRP Brochure Tennessee WRP Website

Tennessee Partners Program TPP Brochure