California Rapid Assessment Method for Wetlands - State Water ...
California Rapid Assessment Method for Wetlands - State Water ...
California Rapid Assessment Method for Wetlands - State Water ...
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<strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> <strong>Rapid</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong> <strong>Method</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Wetlands</strong> v. 5.0.2 – Chapter 2<br />
The PSR framework is a simple construct that can help organize the monitoring components of<br />
adaptive management. It can be elaborated to better represent complex systems involving<br />
interactions and nonlinear relations among stressors, states and management responses (e.g.,<br />
Rissik et al. 2005) For the purposes of CRAM the PSR model is simply used to clarify that<br />
CRAM is mainly intended to described state conditions of wetlands.<br />
2.2.2 <strong>Rapid</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong><br />
CRAM embodies the basic assumption of most other rapid assessment methods that ecological<br />
conditions vary predictably along gradients of stress, and that the conditions can be evaluated<br />
based on a fixed set of observable indicators. CRAM metrics were built on this basic<br />
assumption according to the following three criteria common to most wetland rapid assessment<br />
methods (Fennessy et al. 2004):<br />
the method should assess existing conditions (see Section 2.1 above), without regard <strong>for</strong><br />
past, planned, or anticipated future conditions;<br />
the method should be truly rapid, meaning that it requires two people no more than<br />
one half day of fieldwork plus one half day of subsequent data analysis to<br />
complete; and<br />
the method is a site assessment based on field conditions and does not depend largely<br />
on inference from Level 1 data, existing reports, opinions of site managers, etc.<br />
2.2.3 Forcing Functions, Stress, Buffer, and Condition<br />
The condition of a wetland is determined by interactions among internal and external<br />
hydrologic, biologic (biotic), and physical (abiotic) processes (Brinson, 1993). CRAM is based on<br />
a series of assumptions about how these processes interact through space and over time. First,<br />
CRAM assumes that the condition of a wetland is mainly determined by the quantities and<br />
qualities of water and sediment (both mineral and organic) that are either processed on-site or<br />
that are exchanged between the site and its immediate surroundings. Second, the supplies of<br />
water and sediment are ultimately controlled by climate, geology, and land use. Third, geology<br />
and climate govern natural disturbance, whereas land use accounts <strong>for</strong> anthropogenic stress.<br />
Fourth, biota (especially vegetation) tend to mediate the effects of climate, geology, and land use<br />
on the quantity and quality of water and sediment (Figure 2.1). For example, vegetation can<br />
stabilize stream banks and hillsides, entrap sediment, filter pollutants, provide shade that lowers<br />
temperatures, reduce winds, etc. Fifth, stress usually originates outside the wetland, in the<br />
surrounding landscape or encompassing watershed. Sixth, buffers around the wetland can<br />
intercept and otherwise mediate stress (Figure 2.2).<br />
2.2.4 Condition, Ecological Service, and CRAM Scores<br />
Three major assumptions govern how wetlands are scored using CRAM. First, it is assumed that<br />
the societal value of a wetland (i.e., its ecological services) matters more than whatever intrinsic<br />
value it might have in the absence of people. This assumption does not preclude the fact that the<br />
support of biological diversity is a service to society. Second, it is assumed that the value<br />
depends more on the diversity of services than the level of any one service. Third, it is assumed<br />
that the diversity of services increases with structural complexity and size. CRAM there<strong>for</strong>e<br />
favors large, structurally complex examples of each type of wetland.<br />
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