f- 



This project will establish ecoregion-specif ic bioj-og.c^-. ■ > ^ teria 

 and bioassessment protocols for wetlands and apply thsTj " o Montana 

 wetlands that have been exposed to environmental ccntaa . n ^t ^ on and 

 other stressors. Our approach will follow the one ■ c.- ^-^ 15.^5 e^ied by 

 Sanville (1991) : 



o Wetland classification, 



o Selection of reference sites based on spatial 

 considerations and/or wetland types, 



o Collection of biological data from the reference 

 wetlands, 



o Development of biological measures to analyzf^ che 

 reference sites, 



o Assignment of a range of acceptability to the 

 biological measures, 



o Collection of biological data from impaired wetlands, and 



o Comparison of biological measures from impaired wetlands 

 to the acceptable ranges for those measures derived from 

 reference sites. 



ECORZGIONS AND MONTANA WETLANDS 



Montana includes parts of seven ecoregions that have been proposed 

 by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (Figure 1.) 

 Superimposed on these ecoregions are four major wetlands areas: 



1. Glaciated Plains (Prairie Pothole Region) . This area 

 includes the Noriihern Montana Glaciated Plains Ecoregion 

 and the Northwestern Glaciated Plains Ecoregion in 

 Montana . 



2. Unalaciated Plains . This area includes the Montana 

 portion of the Northwestern Great Plains Ecoregion. 



3. Roclry Mountains . This area includes the Northern Rockies 

 and Middle Rockies Ecoregions in Montana. 



4. Intaraountain Valleys . This area corresponds to the 

 Montana Valley and Foothill Prairies Ecoregion. 



These ecoregions and wetland areas are based on patterns of land 

 use, land-surface form, potential natural vegetation, and soils 

 (OmemiX and Gallant 1987) . 



