32. Schamberger, M.L., C. Short, and A. Farmer. 1978. Evaluation of wetlands 

 as wildlife habitat. Pages 74-84 in P.E. Greeson, J.R. Clark, and J.E. 

 Clark, eds. Wetlands, functions, and values: the state of our understand- 

 ing. Proceedings of a national symposium on wetlands. Various Federal 

 agencies and the American Water Resources Association, Minneapolis, MN. 



Recent Federal legislation has charged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 with responsibility for evaluating wildlife habitat, including the Wetlands 

 Acquisition Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Endangered Species Act, the 

 National Environmental Policy Act, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, and 

 the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act. This legislative mandate 

 assumes that reliable methods for evaluating habitat exist for describing 

 unfavorable impacts of development on wildlife habitat. 



Schamberger et al . describe the Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP), a 

 methodology developed by the Service for evaluating baseline and postdevelopment 

 or postmanagement conditions of habitat for various habitat types, including 

 wetlands habitat. The basic assumptions underlying the methodology are that 

 habitat value can be quantified, that habitat suitability for all animal species 

 can be objectively determined and quantified, that habitat values can be 

 determined by assessing the suitability of the habitat for a given species, and 

 that habitat quantity and quality is a determinant of the number of animals in 

 a given habitat (area). The Habitat Evaluation Procedures can be used to 

 inventory baseline conditions, list habitat impacts of various management options 

 and alternatives, evaluate alternative sites, and determine mitigation 

 requirements for lost habitat. The economic implications of HEP have begun to 

 be explored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the development of 

 the Habitat Management Evaluation Model (HMEM). This model can incorporate 

 budgetary and cost considerations in a computational format that allows resource 

 managers to assess the cost effectiveness of various habitat management 

 alternatives. 



33. Weller, M.W. 1978. Wetland habitats. Pages 210-234 in P.E. Greeson, J.R. 

 Clark, and J.E. Clark, eds. Wetlands functions and values: the state of 

 our understanding. Proceedings of a national symposium on wetlands. 

 Various Federal agencies and the American Water Resources Association, 

 Minneapolis, MN. 



The author does an excellent job of summarizing recent research results 

 on several subtopics under the general subject heading of wetland provision of 

 wildlife habitat. These topics include wetland formation and biotic communities, 

 the vegetative structures of wetlands, wetland habitat selection by animals, 

 classification of wildlife wetland habitats, the dynamics of wetland habitats, 

 and the wildlife impacts of wetland losses. The most interesting parts of the 

 paper deal with some important management issues, namely, restoration of wetland 

 habitat and management of wetlands for improvement in wildlife habitat. Natural 

 management improvement practices include water level and fire management and 

 control of herbivores. Artificial management techniques include the use of 

 bulldozers, artificial nest sites, vegetation management, and blasting. A 

 critical issue in wetlands restoration efforts is the control of exotic plants. 



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