Katie Hughes Jacques, M.S. student
Natural Resources: Environmental Conservation

Research Title: Effects of Urbanization and Development on the Spatial Distribution of Wetlands in New Hampshire

Advisor: Drs. Russ Congalton and Kim Babbitt (co-advisors)

Description of Research

This research will evaluate wetland size and distribution for four areas in New Hampshire. The study area extends out from urban centers into rural areas using a 5km wide by 25km long transect. The four urban centers are Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Rochester. The urban areas were chosen from a list of cities in New Hampshire, which are classified using the New Hampshire Minimum Impact Development method, that contain 10000-20000+ housing units (Adapted from the NH MID Partnership). The creation of these transects adds 8 additional towns to the study area, including both suburban and rural areas. The four suburban areas are Hopkinton, Goffstown, Barrington and Hollis. The four rural areas are Henniker, Dunbarton, Brookline and Nottingham.

This study is based on a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis. GIS is a geospatial system that combines digital maps and tabular databases with the ability to manipulate, display, interpret, analyze, model and store spatial data. Using GIS, the spatial distribution of wetlands can be interpreted as well as sizes of wetlands, showing patterns that link urbanization and development to the loss and fragmentation of wetlands.

This research will require the acquisition of National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) GIS data covering the included urban, suburban and rural areas. These data are available through NH GRANIT as supplied by the US Fish and Wildlife Service from 1983. Digital Orthophoto Quads (DOQs) will also be required to aid in the analysis of wetlands for the designated areas. The DOQs used were flown in April of 1998 at a scale of 1:12000 and are panchromatic.

In order to identify the number of existing wetlands and the size for the each transect; hydrography, NWI, DOQ, and political boundary data will be used in combination. The DOQs will be photo interpreted to identify wetlands. Those identified will be marked digitally on the DOQs. The NWI and hydrography data will then be crossed referenced to the DOQs to assess discrepancies. To eliminate discrepancies, fieldwork will be done to confirm if an area is in fact a wetland. A flow chart will be used to determine where these field checks will be conducted. Final maps will be created for each transect in ArcGIS depicting the identified wetlands for analysis.

The results from this study are expected to show a relationship between urbanization and wetland distribution along each transect. It is believed that the level of urbanization does negatively impact the spatial distribution, size, and number of wetlands within New Hampshire.