Bioassessment Projects at Penn State

Last Updated: March 2000

Contact Information

Rob Brooks
Penn State University
Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center
301 Forest Resources Laboratory
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 863-1596
Email: rpb2@psu.edu

Denice Heller Wardrop
Penn State University
Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center
301 Forest Resources Laboratory
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 863-1005
Email: dhw110@psu.edu

Purpose(s) of Project

The Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center (CWC) has numerous ongoing projects that involve bioassessment methodology for assessing the integrity of wetlands. The goal of the CWC is to conduct, facilitate, and coordinate interdisciplinary research, monitoring, and training regarding wetlands and related resources, with an emphasis in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states.

The CWC is participating in a variety of wetland research projects that involve biological assessment methods and analysis. These projects include:

• A Bird Community Index of Biotic Integrity for the Mid-Atlantic Highlands.
• A Verified Suitability Index for the Louisiana Waterthrush.
• Amphibian indicator landscape study.
• Macroinvertebrates indicator pilot study.
• Otter and beaver interactions in the Delaware Water Gap.
• Using bioindicators to develop a calibrated index of regional ecological integrity for forested headwater systems.

Other CWC projects that focus on assessment of overall wetland and watershed health include:

• Evaluating and implementing watershed approaches for protecting Pennsylvania's wetlands.
• Watersheds and Wetlands: Large-scale disturbances and small-scale responses.
• Watershed modeling for water quality effects on wetlands.

To learn more about the Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center and the above projects, visit the Center's website.

Also, the CWC has created an online database of wetland site information for the 70 currently monitored sites. For each study site, Penn State includes a photograph and detailed information: watershed location, dominant vegetation class, HGM class, wetland size, years sampled, species of vegetation, soil analysis profile, wildlife community habitat profile, and more! A tour of wetland sites is available on the Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center website.