CWD Wetland Functions & Values 2

Question 1

The Wetland Rapid Assessment Procedure (WRAP) is primarily designed to:

Accepted Answer

Provide a rapid estimate of relative wetland functional capacity for planning purposes

Answer

Determine regulatory jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act

Answer

Classify wetland vegetation communities for ecological restoration projects

Answer

Establish compensatory mitigation ratios for Section 404 permits

Question 2

Phosphorus retention in wetland soils occurs primarily through which mechanism?

Accepted Answer

Adsorption and precipitation with iron, aluminum, and calcium compounds in sediments

Answer

Denitrification by anaerobic bacteria

Answer

Volatilization into the atmosphere as phosphine gas

Answer

Exclusive biological uptake by emergent macrophyte roots

Question 3

Which economic valuation method estimates wetland value by surveying what people are willing to pay to preserve a wetland's services?

Accepted Answer

Contingent valuation method

Answer

Market price method

Answer

Replacement cost method

Answer

Travel cost method

Question 4

Tidal salt marshes and mangrove systems typically exhibit the highest net primary production among wetland types primarily because:

Accepted Answer

Regular tidal flushing delivers nutrient-rich water that promotes high plant growth rates

Answer

They have the longest hydroperiod of any wetland type

Answer

They are geographically isolated from human disturbance allowing unimpeded growth

Answer

Saline conditions eliminate herbivore pressure on vegetation

Question 5

Hydroperiod most directly affects wetland functional processes by controlling:

Accepted Answer

The duration and frequency of anaerobic soil conditions that drive biogeochemical cycling

Answer

The regulatory boundaries used for jurisdictional wetland determination

Answer

The species of trees permitted to grow in a forested wetland

Answer

The amount of compensatory mitigation required for permitted wetland fill

Question 6

Sediment trapping efficiency in a wetland is greatest when:

Accepted Answer

Water flow is slow and vegetation density is high, promoting particle settling

Answer

Water velocity is high and vegetation is sparse, concentrating deposition in channels

Answer

The wetland is deeply flooded year-round to allow continuous particle suspension

Answer

Sediment load consists exclusively of very fine clay particles

Question 7

Which wetland functional assessment approach assigns a Functional Capacity Index (FCI) score from 0 to 1 based on comparisons to reference wetlands of the same class?

Accepted Answer

Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) functional assessment approach

Answer

Wetland Rapid Assessment Procedure (WRAP)

Answer

Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)

Answer

Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA)