Book Description

This report summarizes the results of our third statewide rotating basin assessment, focusing on wetlands in southeastern Montana. We assessed wetland condition within nine watersheds at multiple spatial scales. We conducted Level 1 GIS analyses that produced: 1) wetland landscape profiles, which summarize information on wetland abundance, type, and extent within a given watershed; and 2) a landscape characterization, which characterizes the anthropogenic stressors such as roads and land uses, as well as general information regarding wetland landscape context, using readily available digital datasets. We carried out Level 2 assessments to provide rapid, field-based assessments of wetland condition based on four attributes: 1) Landscape Context; 2) Vegetation; 3) Physicochemical; and 4) Hydrology. Finally, Level 3 intensive assessments provided detailed information on the structure and composition of wetland vegetation at a subset of sites. This multi-tiered framework allows for the incorporation of multiple scales of assessment, integrating landscape-level information, ambient wetland condition, and site-specific data.