Wetlands Ecology and Management

Wetlands ecology and management

WFS 340

Fall Semester 2015

University of Tennessee-Knoxville

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

Phone: MG: 974-2740 (office), 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: 5−20 Nov, 4 Dec 2015

Tentative Schedule:

2 – 6 November:

Monday

Tuesday

Wed

Thursday

Friday

Morning

Annual Meeting of SEAFWA

(Asheville NC)

Wetland Definition

156/157 PBB

Reptile ID

156/157 PBB

(8:30 - 11:30 am)

Afternoon

Wetland Classification and Waterbird ID
156/7 PBB

TAMP Workshop

(12 - 4:00 pm)
160 PBB

9–13 November:

Monday

Tuesday

Wed

Thursday

Friday

Morning

Wetland Management (moist-soil management & agriculture)
156/7 PBB

Capacity Estimation
Lecture

115 Ellington PSB

Wetlands with Chris Graves (Wetland Restoration and Survey Techniques)

& Wetland
Values
(Podcast)

Human Impacts on Wetlands and West TN Wetland Losses
156/157 PBB

OPEN
(Study for Lab Practicum)

Afternoon

Wetland Management
(above continued and GTRs)
156/7 PBB

Capacity Estimation
Assignment & Lab Exercise
115 Ellington PSB

Waterfowl Regulations & Wetland Conservation Programs
114 Ellington

LAB PRACTICUM (2:00−4:00)
160 PBB

16–20 November:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Morning

Leave for Noxubee NWR (8:00 am)

Noxubee NWR

(moist-soil units, GTRs, aquatic plant management)

MSU Presentations

Meet Drs. Brian Davis

and Rick Kaminski

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

by 5:00 p.m.

OPEN
(Study for Lecture Exam)

Afternoon

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

Noxubee NWR

(non-game management and research)

MSU Entomology Museum

Meet Dr. Richard Brown

LECTURE
EXAM (2:00−4:00)
156/157 PBB

Academic Assessment:

Weights of Academic Assessments and Grading Scale:

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

● Exam: 40% (Friday, 20 November 2015 at 2:00 pm)

● Lab Practicum: 30% (Friday, 13 November 2015 at 2:00 pm)

● DED Assignment: 10% (due Friday, 4 December 2015 by 5:00 pm)

● Management Plan: 10% (due Friday, 4 December 2015 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%

You can positively influence your grade as much as 4.5% by volunteering for extra credit. Your volunteer work however must be related to wetlands or wetland fauna (e.g., amphibians, waterbirds). 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 by 04 December 2015. A volunteer form (see website) must be filled out by the supervising individual, and submitted to Dr. Gray.

VOLUNTEER FORM

Attendance:

Attendance during the Tennessee Amphibian Monitoring Program (TAMP) and Wetland Restoration workshops as well as the 3-day field trip to Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Mississippi will count for 10% of your final grade. You must be present during the workshops and participate in all field trip activities to receive 10% (1.25% for each ½ day; ¼ of the attendance grade for the Wetland Restoration workshop will be a quiz over assigned readings). Attendance at lectures is not mandatory but strongly recommended.

Full Syllabus

Teaching Resources:

Homework Assignment

DED Calculations (link not active yet) (Due: Friday, 4 December 2015)

Handouts

Required TN Anurans

Required Reptiles

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: (MP3 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?” (PDF)

“USFWS Wetland Classification” (PDF)

“Moist-soil and Agriculture Management” (PDF)

“Green-tree Reservoir Management” (PDF)

“Wetland Carrying Capacity” (PDF)

“Wetland Losses & Human Impacts” (PDF)

“Wetland Losses in West Tennessee” (Sonja Oswalt)

“Wetland Values” (PDF, assigned as a podcast)

“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)

“Monitoring Ecological Restoration of Hardwood Bottomlands” (Summers and Gray; not on exam)

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

Conservation Reserve Program (Forested Riparian Buffer Practice) Iowa Brochure