New Model Helps Protect Future Wetlands

Jackson State University scientists have developed a model that indicates which wetlands need environmental protection.

Assistant Professor of Biology Hyun Jung Cho and colleagues at the Jackson, Miss., school used data from a survey conducted in Lake Pontchartrain, La., to create a potential Submersed Aquatic Vegetation model. It predicts potential habitat changes in SAV caused by changes in water clarity or shoreface slopes as a result of natural disturbances or restoration efforts.

Often, only the existing SAV beds are considered for conservation efforts, the researchers said. But their new model helps set restoration goals and the assessment of potential beds provides protection of such areas from future degradation.

The study is explained in the December issue of the journal Restoration Ecology.