Targeting Wetland Restoration Using GIS

A Geographic Information System-based, landscape-scale procedure was developed for inventorying and prioritizing candidate wetland restoration sites in coastal North Carolina. The procedure was based on the potential ecological significance of the sites throughout a region using fundamental ecological principles to determine the specific wetland functions they might perform within their watersheds. The watersheds used were 5,000 to 50,000 acre hydrologic units delineated by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). The GIS data layers used in this procedure include (1)wetland boundaries and types, (2) soils maps, (3) land use/land cover, (4) hydrography, (5) watershed boundaries, (6) threatened and endangered species occurrences, (7) estuarine primary nursery areas, (8) water quality classifications, (9) NC priority protection areas, and (10) anadromous fish spawning areas.