In order to quantitatively assess the spatial distribution of the various types of wetlands on a functional basis, it will be necessary to compile wetland inventories from wetland sites. There is information available from all regions, but coverage is poor in intermittent wetlands. Information is more comprehensive for permanently inundated wetlands.

Wetland areas are often underestimated. Some estimates of areal extent have been estimated by groups with narrow topical interest (e.g. water fowl). Some of the major gaps, including the Siberian wetlands, are mainly due to lack of access. Wetlands in forested areas are difficult to determine, especially in those areas where the water table is below the surface. In pulsed (riverine or periodic rainfall) systems, wetlands are also underestimated.

INFORMATION BASE FROM FIELD STUDIES-

NOWES- Northern Wetland Studies-- Hudson Bay lowlands [Moore et al., 1994; Roulet et al., 1994; Whiting, 1994]

ABLE 3A - [Blake et al., 1992; Harriss et al., 1992; Shipham et al., 1992]

ABLE 3B - [Harriss et al., 1994; Sandholm et al., 1994; Shipham et al., 1994]

Sallies Fen- [Carroll and Crill, 1997; Melloh and Crill, 1995]

Cape Lookout Bight and White Oak River Floodplain- [Kelley et al., 1990; Kelley et al., 1995]

BOREAS- Boreal N. America Manitoba and Saskatchewan [Sellers et al., 1995]

Alberta boreal wetlands- [Chanton et al., 1997]

N. Florida wetlands- [Happell et al., 1995; Happell and Chanton, 1993]

Virginia wetlands macrophytes- [Whiting and Chanton, 1996]

Northern Minnesota [Dise et al., 1993; Glaser et al., 1997; Verma et al., 1992]

Florida Everglades- [Hines et al., 1993]

Coastal Marshes- [Dacey et al., 1994]

Wetland Inventories

Continental Scale

Europe and North Africa Scott, D.A. 1980 IWRB, Slimbridge, UK

Africa- Burges and Symonens 1987

Hughes and Hughes 1992 IUCN, Gland, Switz.

Neotropics- Scott, D.A. 1986 IWRB, Slimbridge, UK

Asia- Scott, D.A. 1989 IWRB/AWB/IUCN

Oceania- Scott, D.A. 1993 IWRB

Middle East and W Asia- Scott, D.A. in progress IWRB/WI

CIS/former USSR- Prentice, I.C. in progress IWRB/WI

Mediterranean Area ICN/MedWet/IWRB in progress

Ramsar Sites- Frazier, S. Current WI, Slimbridge, UK

Mangroves of Africa EU DG XI

Mangroves of Asia/Pacific UNESCO Program on Mangroves

Burgeons MJ and Symoens JJ (eds) 1987. African wetlands and shallow waterbodies. ORSTOM, Paris

Hughes RH and Hughes S 1992. A directory of African wetlands, UNEP Nairobi, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland & WCMC, Cambridge.

Scott DA 1980 A preliminary inventory of wetlands of international importance for waterfowl in west Europe and northwest Africa. IWRB Special Publication No 2, IWRB, Slimbridge, UK

Scott DA 1989 A directory of Asian wetlands. IUCN, Gland Switzerland and Cambridge, UK

Scott DA 1993 A directory of wetlands in Oceania. IWRB, Slimbridge, Uk and AWB, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Scott DA and Carbonell M 1986. A directory of neotropical wetlands. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland

Frazier S (1996) A directory of wetlands of international importance - an update. Ramsar Convention Bureau, Gland, Switzerland.

National Inventories of Wetlands

Tunisia- Direction General des Forets 1986 Tunis Hollis et al in press UCL, London

Turkey- Env. Foundation of Turkey (EFT), Ankara

Canada- Environment Canada

USA- US Fish and Wildlife Service (Dahl, T. and Wilen, D.) Washington

Portugal- ICN, MedWet, IWRB in press

Spain- Montes and Casado ICONA, Madrid

Italy- Min. of Environment Rome

France- Office Natioanal de la Chasse Paris

Greece- Greek Wetland Centre (Zalidis et al) Thessaloniki

South Africa- Begg, G.; also Cowan G I and Randall R M 1995. South African Wetlands: Our state of knowledge. International Conference on Wetlands and Development.

Begg, G.W., Carser, A. (1988) The wetlands of Natal (Part 3) : the location, status and function of the priority wetlands of Natal. Natal

Town and Regional Planning Commission. Pietermaritzburg. Natal Town and Regional Planning report; v. 73. xix, 256 p.

Begg, G.W., Carser, A. (1988) The Wetlands of Natal (Part 2) : the distribution, extent and status of wetlands in the Mfolozi catchment.

Natal Town and Regional Planning Commision. Pietermaritzburg. Natal Town and Regional Planning report; v. 71.xii, 278 p. : ill., maps.

Sclangor, Malaysia. Unpublished MS. Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism, Pretoria.

Ivory Coast IUCN

Morocco Dakki and Agbani

New Zealand Two separate and different inventory processes

India Ministry of Environment, Delhi

WWF India

UK Estuaries NCC/JNCC/English Nature

Lowland Wet Grass NCC/JNCC/English Nature

Peatland NCC/JNCC/English Nature

Brazil Diegues, Antonio IUCN

Blake, D., D. Hurst, T. Smith, W. Whipple, and e. al, Summertime Measurements of Selected NonMethane Hydrocarbons in the Arctic and Subarctic during the 1988 Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE-3A), J. Geophys. Res., 97, 16559-16588, 1992.

Carroll, P., and P. Crill, Carbon Balance of a temperate poor fen, Glob. Biogeochem. Cyc., 11, 349-356, 1997.

Chanton, J., G. Whiting, N. Blair, C. Lindau, and P. Bollich, Methane emissions from rice: stable isotopes, diurnal variations and CO₂ exchange, Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles, 11, 15-27, 1997.

Dacey, J.W.H., B.G. Drake, and M.J. Klug, Stimulation of methane emission by carbon dioxide enrichment of marsh vegetation, Nature, 370, 47-49, 1994.

Dise, N., E. Gorham, and E. Verry, Environmental Factors Controlling Methane Emissions From Peatlands in Northern Minnesota, JGR-Atmospheres, 98, 10583-10594, 1993.

Glaser, P., D. Siegel, E. Romanowicz, and V. Shen, Regional linkages between raised bogs and the climate, groundwater, and landscape of northwestern Minnesota, Journal of Ecology, 85, 3-16, 1997.

Happell, J., J. Chanton, and W. Showers, Methane Transfer across the water-air interface in stagnant wooded swamps of Florida: Evaluation of mass-transfer coefficients and isotopic fractionalization, Limnology and oceanography, 40, 290-298, 1995.

Happell, J.D., and J.P. Chanton, Carbon remineralization in a North Florida swamp forest: the effects of water level on the pathways and rates of soil organic matter decomposition, Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles, 7, 475-490, 1993.

Harriss, R., S. Wofsy, D. Bartlett, M. Shipham, and e. al, The Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE-3A) - July August 1988, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 16383-16394, 1992.

Harriss, R., S. Wofsy, J. Hoell, R. Bendura, and e. al, The Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE-3B): July-August 1990, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 1635-1643, 1994.

Hines, M., R. Pelletier, and P. Crill, Emissions of sulfur gases from marine and freshwater wetlands of the Florida Everglades: Rates and extrapolation using remote sensing, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 8991-8999, 1993.

Kelley, C., C. Martens, and J. Chanton, Variations in Sedimentary Carbon Remineralization Rates in the White-Oak River Estuary, NC, Limnology and Oceanography, 35, 372-383, 1990.

Kelley, C.A., W. Ussler, and C.S. Martens, Methane dynamics across a tidally flooded riverbank margin, Limnol. and Oceanogr., 40, 1112-1129, 1995.

Melloh, R., and P. Crill, Winter Methane Dynamics Beneath Ice and in Snow in a temperate poor fen, Hydrol. Processes, 9, 947-956, 1995.

Moore, T., A. Heyes, and N. Roulet, Methane emissions from wetlands, southern Hudson Bay lowland, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 1455-1467, 1994.

Roulet, N., A. Jano, C. Kelly, L. Klinger, T. Moore, R. Protz, J. Ritter, and W. Rouse, Role of the Hudson Bay lowland as a source of atmospheric methane, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 1439-1454, 1994.

Sandholm, S., J. Olson, J. Bradshaw, R. Talbot, and e. al, Summertime Partitioning and Budget of NOy Compounds in the Troposphere over Alaska and Canada: (ABLE 3B), J. Geophys. Res., 99, 1837-1861, 1994.

Sellers, P., F. Hall, H. Margolis, and B. Kelly, The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS)- an overview and early results from the 1994 field year, Bull. Am. Meteor. Soc., 76, 1549-1577, 1995.

Shipham, M., A. Bachmeier, D. Cahoon, and E. Browell, Meteorological Overview of the Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE-3A) Flight Series, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 16395-16419, 1992.

Shipham, M., A. Bachmeier, D. Cahoon, G. Gregory, and e. al, A Meteorological Interpretation of the Artic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE 3-B) Flight Series, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 1645-1657, 1994.

Verma, S., F. Ullman, D. Billesbach, R. Clement, and e. al, Eddy correlation measurments of methane flux in a northern peatland, Boundary-Layer Meteor., 58, 289-304, 1992.

Whiting, G., CO2 Exchange in the Hudson Bay Lowlands: Community characteristics and Multispectral properties, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 1519-1528, 1994.

Whiting, G., and J. Chanton, Control of the Diurnal Pattern Of Methane Emission from Emergent Aquatic Macrophytes By Gas Transport Mechanisms, Aquatic Botany, 54, 237-253, 1996.