WETLAND "CLUMPING" (AGGREGATION)

The concept of wetland "clumping", or wetland aggregation, constitutes a fundamental issue of Wetland Banking programs and generally occurs when several small, fragmented wetlands, providing unique and specific benefits to a localized ecosystem, are destroyed and then, through the wetland banking process, their removal is compensated for by the creation of a single larger wetland, perhaps at some distance from those wetland which were removed. This concept of wetland aggregation does not take into account the relatively unique geographic functions that localized wetlands provide to a watershed and the needs of both plant and animal life specific to that habitat. Studies have shown that increasing the distances between the destroyed wetlands and the newly created wetlands has been a major reason for population declines in certain species. Currently, wetland rules are being considered to encourage the development of smaller, more numerous wetlands as part of a more responsive wetland banking mitigation and replacement program. Also see Wetlands (General Definition), Wetlands (COE and EPA), Wetlands (NRCS), Wetlands (USFWS), Wetlands (California), Wetlands (Nevada), Wetlands, Benefits, and Wetlands, Palustrine.