Monitoring and assessment of
wetland hydro-biological |
Highway construction can affect wetland ecosystems in both the hydrologic and biologic realms. Hydrologically, the wetlands may encounter changes in flow, drainage pattern, and sedimentation. Biologically, the affected ecosystem typically reacts to these changes by altering the species diversity. Species sensitive to change may be lost, while more tolerant forms become dominant. Both hydrologic and biologic conditions must be monitored to assess the impact of highway construction.
The focus of this task will be the development of a regional model that will predict the impact of construction on wetland species diversity, relative abundance of dominant taxa, and the performance of uncommon or unique species. This model will be developed for use as a tool in assessing impacts of future highway projects utilizing key indicators and standardized measures of diversity that can be inventoried by consultants or other PENNDOT project personnel. The Assessment of Wetland Indicators is comprised of six tasks:
| Task C-1 | Assessment of Wetland Methodologies |
| Task C-2 | Collection and Assessment of Baseline Data |
| Task C-3 | Field Site Selection and Monitoring Implementation Plan |
| Task C-4 | Field Data Collection |
| Task C-5 | Data Analysis |
| Task C-6 | Impact Assessment and Development of Corridor Planning Framework |