An understanding of environmental gradients (physical, chemical, hydrological, and biological) is a prerequisite to the accurate delineation of wetland boundaries. Presenting the wide-ranging views of academicians, environmentalists, policy makers, consultants, planners, engineers, hydrologists, biologists, geochemists, ecologists, and conservationists, Wetlands: Environmental Gradients, Boundaries, and Buffers focuses on current topics and research related to wetland delineation; summarizes the main issues of concern; and provides recommendations on research needs.In addition to integrating the most important research and theoretical aspects, this book includes a strong prescriptive component, providing practicing professionals with specific guidance on defining the true dimensions of a wetland area.

1. Introduction 2. Environmental Gradients, Boundaries, and Buffers: An Overview 3. Wetlands and Environmental Gradients 4. Vertical Gradients in Peatlands 5. Urban Intensification and Environmental Sustain Ability: The Maintenance of Infiltration Gradients 6. Root Zone Moisture Gradients Adjacent to a Cedar Swamp in Southern Ontario 7. Adaptive Mechanisms of Plants Occurring in Wetland Gradients 8. Practical Considerations for Wetland Identification and Boundary Delineation 9. Toward the Integration of Wetland Functional Boundaries Into Suburban Landscapes 10. Management Goals and Functional Boundaries of Riparian Forested Wetlands 11. The Use of Avian Fauna in Delineating Wetlands in the Baldwin Wetland Complex, Southern Ontario 12. Temporal Delineation of Wetlands on Gull Point, Presque Isle, Pennsylvania 13. A Comparison of Wetland Boundaries Delineated in the Field to Those Boundaries on Existing State and Federal Wetland Maps in Central New York State 14. Wetland Buffers and Runoff Hydrology 15. Effect of Buffer Strips on Controlling Soil Erosion and Nutrient Losses in Southern Finland 16. Hydrogeological Criteria for Buffer Zones Between Wetlands and Aggregate Extraction Sites 17. The Creams Model for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Buffer Strips in Reducing Sediment Loads to Wetlands 18. The Use of Vegetative Buffer Strips to Protect Wetlands in Southern Ontario 19. Summary of Final Session