This feature class consists of 411 points, consisting of 386 sites in the Northern Tampa Bay Area and 25 northern sites. Each point generally represents a part of the wetland interior that was visited in each of the past several WHA. Below is a series of descriptions for the attributes contained in this feature class.

Field Alias (Field Name):

Sorted by field name

Acres (Acres): Approximate acreage of the wetland.

2016 Categorical Score (Attribute_Score_2016): The average of the three Categorical Wetland Scores (Hydrology, Vegetation, Soils) from the preceding 2016 WHA.

2016 Categorical Score (Attribute_Score_2020): The average of the three Categorical Wetland Scores (Hydrology, Vegetation, Soils) from the 2020 WHA.

Foliage Thinning (Canopy_Foliage): Canopy Condition, with options for percentages of wetland trees (primarily appropriate species) that appear hydrologically stressed as evidenced by thinned canopy or other signs in tree crowns.

Value of 1 = >50% of wetland trees appear to show signs of stress caused by excessive dryness

Value of 2 = 10-50% of wetland trees appear to show signs of stress caused by excessive dryness

Value of 3 = <10% of wetland trees appear to show signs of stress caused by excessive dryness.

Wetland Affinity Score - Canopy (Canopy_WAS): Wetland Affinity Score for the canopy stratum, which is a weighted average of plant wetland affinity where 1 = all OBL wetland plants and 5 = all UPL upland plants.

Change_04_to_20 (Change_04_to_20): Change in WHA Score between the baseline 2004 WHA and the 2020 WHA. Positive values indicate improvements between 2004 and 2020.

Change_16_to_20 (Change_16_to_20): Change in WHA Score between the preceding 2016 WHA and the 2020 WHA. Positive values indicate improvements between 2004 and 2020.

Disturbance Rating (Dist_Rating_2020): A rating of non-pumping human-caused factors that might affect wetland hydrology. Values of “ND” indicate no apparent alterations; values of “MT” indicate apparent alterations that might affect wetland hydrology; values of “D” indicate obvious alterations that likely have a significant effect on wetland hydrology.

Distance to Surface Water from Edge (Dist_to_SW): Estimated distance from the wetland edge to the nearest surface water within the wetland, in feet.

Within 2ft drawdown contour? (Drawdown2ft): Value of “Yes” indicates the site is within a simulated 2-ft or greater drawdown of the surficial aquifer system due to production by Tampa Bay Water. Value of “No” indicates the site experiences less than 2 ft of surficial aquifer drawdown.

Hydric Soil Verified near Historic Wetland Edge? (Edge_Hydric): This field is notated “Yes” if soils near the historic wetland edge were determined to be hydric. When soils near the historic edge appeared to be non-hydric due to fill or many years of drainage, this field was notated as “No”.

Hydric Soil Indicator – Wetland Edge (Edge_Soil_Indicator): The most prominent observed hydric soil indicator, if any, observed near the wetland edge.

Fallen Trees (Fallen_Trees): Describes proportion of fallen trees. Attempts are made to count trees that appear to have fallen in more recent years (e.g. last 5-10 years).

Value of 1 = >25% of wetland trees have fallen, potentially indicating severe loss loss/erosion.

Value of 2 = 5-25% of wetland trees have fallen, potentially indicating moderate soil loss/erosion.

Value of 3 = <5% of wetland trees have fallen, indicating natural variability.

Field Date (Field_Date): The date that the field evaluation was performed at the site for the 2020 WHA.

Fire Scars (Fire_Scars): Describes the presence of recent fire evidence within the wetland. Choices are “Present”, “None”, and “N/A”.

Fuel Accumulation (Fuel_Accumulation): Describes the amount of vegetation overgrowth or other wetland indicators that might indicate a lengthy period without fire, particularly for wetland types that would historically burn given natural surroundings.

Value of 1 = High Fuel Accumulation, potentially indicating a long period of fire suppression and/or depressed hydrology

Value of 2 = Moderate Fuel Accumulation

Value of 3 = Low Fuel Accumulation, potentially indicating a healthy fire regime and/or healthy hydrology

Wetland Affinity Score - Groundcover (Groundcover_WAS): Wetland Affinity Score for the herbaceous stratum, which is a weighted average of plant wetland affinity where 1 = all OBL wetland plants and 5 = all UPL upland plants.

Current WL relative to HNP (HNP_offset): An estimated vertical offset in decimal feet that represents the vertical distance between the current (i.e. instantaneous) water level and the estimated wetland normal pool elevation at the time of the evaluation. This value is entered after measurement of numerous indicators throughout the site.

2016 Hydrology Score (Hydro_Score_2016): The 2016 Attribute Score for Hydrology assigned only on the basis of hydrologic factors.

2020 Hydrology Score (Hydro_Score_2020): The 2020 Attribute Score for Hydrology assigned only on the basis of hydrologic factors.

Hydrology Comments (Hydrology_Comments): Comments related to the current hydrology of the wetland.

Death of Inappropriate Trees/Shrubs (Inapp_Death): Observed death of inappropriate (especially hydrologically inappropriate) species, indicating wetland recovery. An “N/A” option is provided for systems lacking inappropriate woody species (e.g. marshes or healthy forested wetlands).

Value of 1 = Minimal Death of Inappropriate Woody Plants

Value of 2 = Moderate Death of Inappropriate Woody Plants

Value of 3 = Significant or Near-Total Mortality of Inappropriate Woody Plants

Stress of Inappropriate Trees/Shrubs (Inapp_Stress): Observed stress of inappropriate woody species, indicating wetland recovery. An “N/A” option is provided for systems lacking inappropriate woody species (e.g. marshes or healthy forested wetlands).

Value of 1 = Low Stress of Inappropriate Woody Plants

Value of 2 = Moderate Stress of Inappropriate Woody Plants

Value of 3 = High Stress of Inappropriate Woody Plants

Comments on wetland surroundings (Landscape_Comments): Comments on surrounding land uses that might be relevant to understanding wetland health at the site.

Leaning Trees (LeaningTrees): Describes the amount of trees observed leaning, which may be a sign of soil loss (a wetland impact).

Value of 1 = >25% of wetland trees are leaning, potentially indicating severe loss loss/erosion.

Value of 2 = 5-25% of wetland trees are leaning, potentially indicating moderate soil loss/erosion.

Value of 3 = <5% of wetland trees are leaning, indicating natural variability.

Skipped Soil Sample - Reason (No_Pit): Lists the reason why the evaluator did not conduct soil sampling at the site (if applicable).

% FACW or OBL - Canopy (OBL_FACW_Canopy): Percent cover of OBL or FACW plants in the canopy stratum. Auto-calculated from entered plant cover percentages.

% FACW or OBL - Groundcover (OBL_FACW_Groundcover): Percentage of OBL and FACW species in the Herbaceous stratum. Auto-calculated from entered plant cover percentages.

% FACW or OBL - Subcanopy (OBL_FACW_Subcanopy): Percentage of OBL and FACW species in the shrub strata. Auto-calculated from entered plant cover percentages.

% FACW or OBL - Overall (OBL_FACW_Manual): Percentage of OBL and FACW species for the site overall. Manually selected from a series of ranges by the investigator.

Value of 1 = <50% OBL and FACW species throughout the site.

Value of 2 = 50-75% OBL and FACW species throughout the site.

Value of 3 = >75% OBL and FACW species throughout the site.

Percent Inundation (Pct_Inundation): Estimated percent inundation for the wetland at the time of the evaluation.

Rain Gage (Rain_Gage): The District ID and name of the SWFWMD near-real-time gage that was used to reference the rainfall amounts preceding the evaluation.

6-months Rain (Rain_6Months): Rainfall, in inches, for the 180-day period preceding the evaluation. Retrieved from the closest Near-Real-Time SWFWMD rain gauge for the period ending at midnight before the evaluation.

Month Rain (Rain_Month): Rainfall, in inches, for the 30-day period preceding the evaluation. Retrieved from the closest Near-Real-Time SWFWMD rain gauge for the period ending at midnight before the evaluation.

Week Rain (Rain_Week): Rainfall, in inches, for the 7-day period preceding the evaluation. Retrieved from the closest Near-Real-Time SWFWMD rain gauge for the period ending at midnight before the evaluation.

Root Rot (Root_Rot): Describes the presence of tree root rot within the wetland, sometimes an indicator of poor soil or hydrologic health. This field contains the value “yes” if prominent root rot was observed, and contains a null value if no prominent root rot was observed.

Evaluator(s) (Sci_2020): The last name(s) of the lead scientist(s) for the 2020 evaluation.

Scoring Justifications (Scoring_Comments): Overall comments to justify the assigned WHA score.

Soil Comments (Soil_Comments): Comments on the soil qualities of the wetland.

Soil Condition (Soil_Condition): Describes the soil condition in the wetland out of a set of three categories.

Value of 1 = Seasonally inappropriate fissures or oxidation

Value of 2 = Fissures/oxidation not pronounced, but unseasonably dry

Value of 3 = Moisture or recent hydric soil indicators prominent near soil surface (especially near wetland center); edge/intermediate soils may be dry if evaluation conducted in dry season

Edge Soil Pit Dug? (Soil_Pit): Records whether soil sampling was performed at the site in yes/no format.

2016 Soils Score (Soil_Score_2016): Categorical Wetland Score for the soil aspects of the wetland from the preceding 2016 WHA. A qualitative assignment.

2020 Soils Score (Soil_Score_2020): Categorical Wetland Score for the soil aspects of the wetland. A qualitative assignment.

Soil Subsidence (Soil_Subsidence): Classifies the severity of subsidence on a categorical basis.

• Minor = 1-6 inches

• Moderate = 6-12 inches

• Severe = Greater than 12 inches

• None/Minimal = None observed.

Soil Texture (Soil_Texture): Describes the dominant texture of the soil as observed in the upper 12 inches of the soil profile within the outer 15 feet of the wetland. Choices are “Sand”, “Loam”, and “Clay”.

Wetland Affinity Score - Subcanopy (Subcanopy_WAS): Wetland Affinity Score for the shrub/small tree stratum, which is a weighted average of plant wetland affinity where 1 = all OBL wetland plants and 5 = all UPL upland plants.

Surface Water present in wetland? (SW_present): Lists whether or not surface water was present in the wetland at time of evaluation, in yes/no format.

Total Percent Cover - Canopy (Total_Canopy): Total cover of canopy species.

Total Percent Cover - Groundcover (Total_Groundcover): Total cover of groundcover species.

Total Percent Cover - Subcanopy (Total_Subcanopy): Total cover of shrub and small tree species.

Understory Horizontal Zonation (Understory_Zonation): Describes the zonation of understory vegetation within the wetland from choices of “Normal” or “Abnormal”. Normal zonation is often characterized by transitional species near the edge, mostly emergent and obligate wetland species in the outer deep zone, and deep emergent, submersed, or floating near the center of the wetland. Abnormal zonation is characterized by heavy invasion of species (e.g. woody recruits or facultative wetland species) into a deeper zone/elevation than they should normally appear.

Vegetation Comments (Veg_Comments): Comments on the vegetation aspects of the wetland at the time of the evaluation.

2016 Vegetation Score (Veg_Score_2016): Categorical score of vegetative characteristics only, from the preceding 2016 WHA. A qualitative assignment used to help assign the overall WHA score.

2020 Vegetation Score (Veg_Score_2020): Categorical score of vegetative characteristics only. A qualitative assignment used to help assign the overall WHA score.

Visible Distance from Wetland Interior (ft) (Visib_Dist): Distance viewable from the wetland interior. Helps describe the vegetation density and amount of overgrowth as well as characterize the length of the transect, which was to include observed species beyond the farthest point traveled.

Water Depth at Wetland Edge (WD_Edge): The observed water depth at the wetland edge. Categories include:

• 12+ Inches Below Ground

• 6-12 Inches Below Ground

• 0-6 Inches Below Ground

• 0-6 Inches Above Ground

• 6+ Inches Above Ground

Water Depth in Wetland Interior (WD_Interior): The observed water depth at the wetland edge. Categories include:

• 12+ Inches Below Ground

• 6-12 Inches Below Ground

• 0-6 Inches Below Ground

• 0-6 Inches Above Ground

• 6-12 Inches Above Ground

• 1-2 ft Above Ground

• 2-3 ft Above Ground

• >3 ft Above Ground

Exotic/Weedy Plants (Weedy_Plants): Describes presence of exotic and weedy plants, which can sometimes be an indicator of hydrologic or wetland health changes.

Value of 1 = Weedy plants are abundant throughout the site.

Value of 2 = Weedy plants are present and notable but relatively uncommon throughout the site.

Value of 3 = Weedy plants are rare or absent throughout the site.

Wetland Hydration (Wetland_Hydration): A qualitative rating of wetland hydration on a 3-point scale.

Value of 1 = Severely depressed hydration when compared to seasonal reference conditions.

Value of 2 = Moderately depressed hydration when compared to seasonal reference conditions.

Value of 3 = Appropriate hydration when compared to seasonal reference conditions. This category also includes sites that are excessively hydrated due to artificial changes (e.g. runoff).

Wetland Type (Wetland_Type): A general designation of wetland community type. These were mostly obtained from historic land cover inventories (e.g. 1990s FLUCFCS datasets).

WF Area (WF_Area): The closest and/or most influential Tampa Bay Water wellfield to the site. If the site was determined to be significantly far from wellfield effects, they were designated as “Inter-Wellfield” sites, or “IWF”. This field contains the three-character abbreviation for each wellfield.

WF Full Name (WF_FullName): The closest and/or most influential Tampa Bay Water wellfield to the site. If the site was determined to be significantly far from wellfield effects, they were designated as “Inter-Wellfield” sites, or “IWF”. This field contains the full name for each wellfield.

2016 WHA Score (WHA_Score_2016): The WHA score from the preceding 2016 Assessment. This was available to the investigator at the end of their evaluation to serve as a check and to provide an opportunity to validate whether they felt the wetland had truly changed/not changed.

2020 WHA Score (WHA_Score_2020): The final, official 5-point Wetland Health Score. Assigned qualitatively and not the result of any averages or calculations. 1 represents poorest health while 5 represents reference wetland health.

WHA Wetland ID (WHA_Wet_ID): The unique identification number assigned to each wetland for tracking and analysis purposes, first instituted in the 2004 WHA and previously referred to as the “ID_WEA”.

Wildlife Comments (Wildlife_Comments): Comments regarding wildlife observations, habitat features, or other pertinent factors.

Recent Water Level Indicators (WL_Appropriate): Describes the propriety of recent water level in reference to estimated normal pool. A measure of whether water levels in recent periods are attaining the same levels as reached historically.

Value of 1 = None or at Tree Base

Value of 2 = Present but Indistinct or Abnormally Low

Value of 3 = Distinct at Appropriate Level

Woody Successional Trends (WoodySuccession): Describes the successional trends of woody species observed within the wetland.

• “Rapid change”: indicates hardwood species proliferating at deeper elevations that expected, often combined with lack of cypress recruitment (if applicable).

• “Appears stable or reverting to Historic” indicates hardwood species are limited to shallow elevations or previously encroached to deeper elevations but died back from recovering water levels. If applicable, multiple age classes of cypress (or other appropriate species) trees should be present, indicating the forested community is healthy and self-perpetuating.