Step 7. Characterize the plant community 

 within the area(s) meeting the hydric soil criterion. 

 Visually estimate the percent areal cover of domi- 

 nant species for the entire plant community. {Note: 

 Dominant species are the most abundant species in 

 each stratum, see p. 9.) If dominant species are not 

 obvious, use one of the other onsite methods. Pro- 

 ceed to Step 8 or to another method, as appropri- 

 ate. 



Step 8. Record the indicator status of domi- 

 nant species within each area meeting the hydric 

 soil criterion. Indicator status is obtained from the 

 interagency Federal list of plants occurring in wet- 

 lands for the appropriate geographic region. 

 Record information on an appropriate data form. 

 Proceed to Step 9. 



Step 9. Determine whether wetland is 

 present or additional analysis is required. If the 

 estimated percent areal cover of OBL and FACW 

 species exceeds that of FACU and UPL species, 

 the area is considered wetland and the wetland- 

 nonwetland boundary is the line delineated in Step 

 3. If not, then the point intercept or other sampling 

 procedures should be performed to do a more rig- 

 orous analysis of site characteristics. 



4.11. Plant Community Assessment 

 Procedure 



Step 1. Scan the entire project area, if possi- 

 ble, or walk, if necessary, and identify plant com- 

 munity types present. In identifying communities, 

 pay panicular attention to changes in elevation 

 throughout the site. (CAUTION: In highly variable 

 sites, such as ridge and swale complexes, be sure 

 to stratify properly.) If possible, sketch the approx- 

 imate location of each plant community on a base 

 map, an aerial photograph of the project area, or a 

 county soil survey map and label each community 

 with an appropriate name. (Note: For large homo- 

 geneous wetlands, especially marshes dominated 

 by herbaceous plants and shrub bogs dominated by 

 low-growing shrubs, it is usually not necessary to 

 walk the entire project area. In these cases, one can 

 often see for long distances and many have organic 

 mucky soils that can be extremely difficult to walk 

 on. Forested areas, however, will usually require a 

 walk through the entire project area.) 



In examining the project area, are any significantly 

 ^ disturbed areas observed? If YES, identify their 



limits for they should be evaluated separately for 

 wetiand determination purpose (usually after evalu- 

 ating undismrbed areas). Refer to the section on 

 disturbed areas (p. 50) to evaluate the altered char- 

 acteristic(s) (i.e., vegetation, soils, or hydrology); 

 then return to this method to continue evaluating 

 characteristics not altered. Keep in mind that if at 

 any time during this determination one or more of 

 these three characteristics are found to have been 

 significandy altered, the disturbed area procedures 

 should be followed. If the area is not significantly 

 dismrbed, proceed to Step 2. 



Step 2. Determine whether normal environ- 

 mental conditions are present. Determine whether 

 normal environmental conditions are present for 

 each plant community by considering the follow- 

 ing: 



1) Is the area presently lacking hydrophytic 

 vegetation or hydrologic indicators due to annual, 

 seasonal or long-term fluctuations in precipitation, 

 surface water, or ground-water levels? 



2) Are hydrophytic vegetation indicators 

 lacking due to seasonal fluctuations in temperature 

 (e.g., seasonality of plant growth)? 



If the answer to either of these questions is YES or 

 uncertain, proceed to the section on problem area 

 wetland determinations (p. 55). If the answer to 

 both questions is NO, normal conditions are 

 assumed to be present, so proceed to Step 3. 



Step 3. Select representative observation 

 area(s). Select one or more representative observa- 

 tion areas within each community type. A represen- 

 tative observation area is one in which the apparent 

 characteristics (determined visually) best represent 

 characteristics of the entire community. Mark the 

 approximate location of the observation areas on 

 the base map or photo. Proceed to Step 4. 



Step 4. Characterize each plant community 

 in the project area. Within each plant community 

 identified in Step 1, visually estimate the dominant 

 plant species for each vegetative stratum in the rep- 

 resentative observation areas and record them on an 

 appropriate data form. Vegetative strata may 

 include tree, sapling, shrub, herb, woody vine, 

 and bryophyte strata (see glossary for definitions). 

 A separate form must be completed for each plant 

 community identified for wetland determination 



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