Research Gaps in Assessing Wetlands Functions

In May 1983, 40 recognized wetland scientists and resource managers participated in a workshop sponsored by 15 federal agencies and two private organizations. The purpose of the worshop was to analyze a state-of-the-art methodology for the assessment of wetland functions developed by Paul Admus for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) (Adamus 1983) [see National Wetlands Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 4]. The workshop participants determined that the FWHA methodology is the best existing framework for wetlands evaluation. They further identified research gaps with respect to the four major functional areas of wetlands: hydrology, water quality, food chain support, and habitat (Sather and Stuber, in prep.). It is these gaps that are addressed in this article.