Abstract
Urbanization poses significant threats to wetland ecosystems, leading to habitat loss, hydrological alterations, and the introduction of invasive species that adversely affect essential ecosystem services. This widespread threat underscores the need to develop a robust management tool for gauging urban wetland health. The Aquatic Condition Index (ACI) has been proposed as a diagnostic tool for monitoring urban wetland health in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ACI evaluates wetland health by incorporating functional indicators (i.e., hydrologic, ecological, and water quality functions) chosen by scientific experts. Gathering the data necessary to generate wetland indicators for the ACI requires substantial financial resources and a high degree of analytical expertise for data collection (e.g., field surveys), thus presenting opportunities for optimizing indicators. Here, we shifted from physical to visual-based assessments (i.e., in the field and using geographic information systems), which refined indicator selection and removed those with low practicality. The refined ACI tool provides results comparable to the original prototype and a rapid and cost-effective solution for long-term urban wetland monitoring and assessments to ensure the sustainability of these core urban features.