In light of extensive human impact on wetlands it is necessary that we develop an effective way to
monitor the effects of impact in order to prevent further destruction. One method is plant community
assessment, specifically Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA), which is common, but can be subjective. In
this case study, we implement FQA, as well as specific morphological and chemical assessment measures
over a two-year period in order to compare two wetlands in the Lake George watershed in the Adirondack
mountains and their response to human impact. While the wetlands studied demonstrated very different
water chemistry profiles makeups, FQA did not reveal substantial differences between plant communities.
However, more specific analyses of plant morphology and tissue chemistry did reveal significant
differences that reflected the level of impact at these two sites. Namely, the simple plant Lemna minor
had consistently shorter roots and Nuphar lutea contained higher amounts of nitrogen in above ground
tissues when growing in an anthropogenically impacted wetland. We suggest that FQA and specific plant
morphology and tissue chemistry measurements be performed concurrently to provide indication of
both long- and short-term effects of human impact in wetland ecosystems.