Wetland Drainage in the Levant (Lake Hula, Amik Gölü, and el-Azraq Oasis):

Author(s):  
Shoshana Ashkenazi
Keyword(s):  
Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 583
Author(s):  
Sophia Barinova ◽  
Alla Alster

Lake Hula, the core of one of the most extensive wetland complexes in the Eastern Mediterranean, was drained in 1951–1958. However, about 350 hectares of papyrus marshes were allocated in the southwestern part of the previous lake and became the Hula Nature Reserve status, the first of two wetlands in Israel included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. The list of algae and cyanobacteria species of Lake Hula was compiled by us for the first time based on data from publications of 1938–1958, as well as our research in the Hula Nature Reserve, obtained within the framework of the monitoring program for 2007–2013. The list includes 225 species and intraspecies of algae and cyanobacteria belonging to eight phyla. The dynamics of the species richness of algae and cyanobacteria flora for 1938–2013 are shown. Species-bioindicators of water quality have been identified, and the change in their composition by ecological groups for a period of about a hundred years has been shown. Based on the species richness of algae communities, water quality indices were calculated with particular attention to changes in trophic status during the study period. The algae flora of Lake Hula and Hula Nature Reserve was found to be similar, but bioindication has revealed an increase in salinity and organic pollution in recent years.


2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Gutkowski

AbstractSocial scientists commonly know that time is a social construct and a tool for governing by those holding power. Yet,howexactly is time used for governing? This article examines how timescape (embodiment of approaches to time) works in practice as a tool of power by considering multiple networks of time that manifest in al-Batuf/Beit Netofa Valley planning policy. This valley's agriculture, mostly owned by Palestinian-Arab citizens of Israel, is considered by ecologists and officials a unique traditional agriculture landscape and wetland habitat that has become scarce in Israel due to its development and wetland drainage. Assembling separate modes of anthropological inquiry that attend to time as a technique, I show that knowledge, ethics, and time management are not separate spheres of governance but rather interwoven as one timescape tool of governing. Thus, the case of al-Batuf/Beit Netofa elucidates the ways in which time is used for governing in the context of an agricultural-environmental development policy and plan.


Author(s):  
Antanas Lukianas ◽  
Rasa Ruminaitė

The dependence of runoff characteristics of the Lielupe River basin district rivers: the Mūša River, the Levuo River and the Tatula River on the wetland drainage is analysed in the article. The wetland covers 70–89% of the total area in the basins of these rivers. It was established, that drainage of 80–91% of wetland area had not changed the runoff characteristics. The excess of water is removed through the drainage systems most intensively during spring and summer rain floods. The analysis of the runoff of spring flood and summer rain floods revealed that the area of drained land had not changed the runoff characteristics. The tenuous positive or negative relations (coefficients of correlation from ‐0.52 to 0.19) between the area of drained wetland and the runoff characteristics were established. Santrauka Šlapių žemių sausinimo Lietuvoje įtaka upių nuotėkiui iki šiol vertinama nevienareikšmiškai, nes ji gana sudėtinga ir įvairiapusė. Straipsnyje analizuojama Lielupės baseino upių Mūšos, Lėvens ir Tatulos nuotėkio charakteristikų priklausomybė nuo periodiškai šlapių žemių sausinimo drenažo sistema. Šių upių baseinuose periodiškai šlapių mineralinių žemių plotai sudaro 70–89 % viso baseino ploto (pelkės užima tik 3,2–7,5 %). Analizuota sausinimo, nuotėkio bei jo pasiskirstymo per metus kaitos charakteristikos, nuotėkio netolygumo dėsningumai. Tiriant nustatyta, kad per pastaruosius 40 metų nagrinėjamų upių baseinuose nusausintų žemių plotai padidėjo nuo 4–7 % (šlapių žemių fondo) iki 80–91 %. Vandens perteklius iš sausinimo sistemos pasišalina per pavasario potvynius bei vasaros poplūdžius. Analizuojant pavasario potvynių ir vasaros poplūdžių duomenis akivaizdu, kad nusausintų žemių plotas neturi įtakos upių nuotėkio charakteristikų pokyčiui. Tarp nusausintų žemių ploto ir nuotėkio charakteristikų nustatytos labai silpnos teigiamos arba neigiamos sąsajos (koreliacijos koeficientai nuo –0,52 iki 0,19). Резюме Влияние осушения избыточно увлажненных земель на речной сток в Литве до сих пор оценивается неоднозначно, так как это влияние сложно и многообразно. В статье анализируются характеристики изменения речного стока и его внутригодового распределения, закономерности его неравномерности в бассейнах рек Муша, Левуо и Татула (эти реки составляют район речных бассейнов Лелупе), в которых периодически избыточно увлажняемые земли составляют 70−89% от площади бассейнов. Исследованиями установлено, что площади осушенных земель в исследуемых речных бассейнах за последние 40 лет увеличились с 4−7% (от фонда избыточно увлажненных земель) до 80−91%. Несмотря на то, что большая часть избыточно увлажненных земель уже осушена, это не оказывает существенного влияния на речной сток. Избыток влаги осушительными системами наиболее интенсивно удаляется в течение весенних половодий и летних паводков, поэтому изменения речного стока из-за осушения происходят в течение тех же сезонов. При анализе зависимости изменения слоя речного стока в течение весенних половодий и летних паводков (в долях от годового стока) от площади осушения установлено отсутствие корреляционной связи, либо эта связь является слабой (коэффициенты корреляции изменяются от −0,52 до 0,19).


1983 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
J K Bowers

The wetland areas of England are under imminent threat of drainage for agricultural improvement. The immediate cause is the local drainage surveys produced under the Water Act 1973. Problems identified in these surveys are subjected to cost-benefit appraisal. Examination of a selection shows that these appraisals are technically defective and result in an overstatement of the benefits and in an overinvestment in land drainage. The main defects are: first, a failure to assess amenity and conservation losses; second, use of prices that contain a substantial element of income transfer which is not netted out; third, a failure to properly calculate the rate of land conversion—a crucial variable; fourth, the project appraisal period is arbitrarily chosen or treated as a variable; fifth, the use of theoretical rather than expected agricultural yields; sixth, the level of flood protection aimed at is too high for the stated objective; and, last, anticipated flood losses are not deducted.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document