Summary

Description

Assessment of vegetation structure and composition at each of the Coastal Wetland Elevation Monitoring sites on South Atlantic Geography National Wildlife Refuges. In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service FWS Southeast Region Inventory Monitoring Network collected baseline vegetation data on Coastal Wetland Elevation Monitoring sites located throughout National Wildlife Refuges NWR within the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative SALCC geography. This information will be used to assess vegetation species and community change over time in response to sea level rise and other landscape to local scale environmental perturbations. By tracking species composition and structure trends within a framework of natural vegetation types, managers will be able to make better ecologicallyinformed decisions with regards to the conservation and status of habitat condition on FWS and partner lands.