Soil-Vegetation Correlations in Prairie Potholes of Beadle and Deuel Counties, South Dakota.

Abstract : Federal agencies need definitive criteria to designate wetlands and differentiate them from upland habitats. Definitive criteria would be extremely valuable in the implementation of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the 'Swampbuster' provisions of the 1985 Farm Bill. To this end, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in cooperation with other agencies, has developed a Wetland plant List (WPL) (Reed, 1986) for the United States that rates each species according to its habitat indicator value. Generally, the indicator ratings fall into five categories: (1) Obligate hydrophytes: species always found in wetlands under natural conditions (frequency > 99%). (2) Facultative wetland plants: species usually found in wetlands (67% to 99% frequency). (3) Facultative plants: species sometimes found in wetlands (34% to 66% frequency). (4) Facultative upland plants: species seldom found in wetlands (1% to 33% frequency). (5) Obligate upland plants: species not found in wetlands.