Changes in the health and extent of wetlands over time are identified by a variety of wetland monitoring activities. Nationally, wetland trends are monitored by the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service and reported periodically in the Status and Trends series, the most recent of which was published in 2006. Changes are monitored primarily through remote sensing.

McFadden Marsh, William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge
(Rick McEwan, The Nature Conservancy)

In Oregon, the most recent comprehensive reports on wetland trends are those in the Oregon State of the Environment Report 2000 (Good 2000; Morlan 2000, see below). The Department of State Lands and the National Wetlands Inventory are also compiling a report entitled "Wetland and land use change in the Willamette Valley, Oregon: 1994 to 2005," due for release in 2010.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Fish and Wildlife Service are collaborating on a National Wetland Condition Assessment that will involve sampling of sites in Oregon by the Department of State Lands and other partners. The assessment will report on the quality of the nations wetlands. Current plans schedule field work in 2011, and publication of the report in 2013.

Sources

Oregon

Good, J.W. 2000. Summary and current status of Oregon's estuarine ecosystems. Pp. 33-44 in: The Oregon State of the Environment Report 2000. 214 pp. Oregon Progress Board, Salem.

Morlan, J.C. 2000. Summary and current status and health of Oregon's freshwater wetlands. Pp. 45-52 in: The Oregon State of the Environment Report 2000. 214 pp. Oregon Progress Board, Salem.

National

A series of periodic reports on the nationwide status and trends of wetlands is available on the National Wetlands Inventory website [PDF file]. These reports document changes in wetlands that have occurred since the 1950s.

Authored by John A. Christy, Wetlands Ecologist, Oregon Biodiversity Information Center and The Wetlands Conservancy (2010)