The Challenges of Managing Water for Wetland Ecology, Flood Mitigation and Agriculture in the Upper Lunan Water, an Intensive Arable Catchment in Scotland

The “Water for All” project has aimed to develop a multi-disciplinary science case for adaptive management through a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme in the Lunan Water, a lowland catchment in Scotland. Management needs for high and low flows, standing water levels and flow routing to/from high nature value mesotrophic wetlands were appraised. A key part has been the development of a real time hydrological-hydraulic model of the upper Lunan Water as an aid to management and scenario analysis especially with respect to existing and potential hydraulic structures. This provides better working knowledge and forecast-based simulations of high or low flow situations for catchment management planners, farmers, riparian owners and other local stakeholders. Engagement with local users and residents has included surveying Willingness To Pay (WTP) for hydraulic management as a function of governance mechanisms, development of a catchment management group , and interviews and workshops with riparian and other land-users. The work has highlighted the joys and sorrows of seeking to develop a PES approach and lessons to be learnt in project management, promotion of multiple benefits, catchment-scale water governance and the vices and virtues of “benign neglect”.

Development of a Virtual Wetland Ecological System Using VR 360° Panoramic Technology for Environmental Education

In this study, the VR 360° panoramic technology is used to develop a virtual wetland ecological system for applications in environmental education. The system provides a virtual wetland environment for autonomous exploration, where the user can conduct inquiry-based learning by cardboard VR to obtain essential information and concepts in ecological protection. It contains the learning contents of wetland ecology and creatures in Hsinchu coastal areas, northern Taiwan. To investigate the learning effectiveness of the VR system, we recruited 42 seventh graders as participants and divided them evenly into two groups. The experimental group used the virtual wetland ecological system for learning and the control group learned with conventional teaching materials. The differences of the experimental results indicated: (1) the experimental group showed a high degree of satisfaction after using the virtual wetland ecological system; (2) the learning achievement of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group; (3) the learning motivation of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. The virtual wetland ecological system can enhance the learning effectiveness and learning motivation using low-cost cardboard glasses, so it is a suitable tool for promoting environmental education in remote areas.

Field and numerical study of solute transport under evaporation in a subtropical tidal wetland

<p>Tidal wetlands are critical intertidal ecosystem which accommodates a large range of flora and fauna species. The intertidal subsurface environment is subjected to continuous groundwater-seawater mixing which results in dynamic solute transport in the aquifer and to the ocean. Salt distribution and transport play a vital role in the wetland ecology and near-shore biogeochemical activities. While many field and simulation studies have been presented to characterize the salt distribution in the intertidal beach aquifer under the influence of tidal inundation, salt distribution in the tidal wetland subsurface system yet requires more investigation. Moreover, the impact of evaporation on porewater salt distribution could be essential in subtropical areas with numerous coastal wetlands as evaporation extracts porewater from the soil surface and leaves salt in the surface and wetland root zone. However, this parameter was commonly ignored by previous studies.</p><p>In this study, field monitoring was carried out to map the groundwater level and spatial salt distribution in a subtropical wetland located in Southeastern Queensland, Australia. Two dimensional, variable-density, saturated-unsaturated groundwater flow and solute transport model was used to examine the pore water flow and salt distribution patterns in a cross-shore section of the field site under the influences of the spring-neap tide and evaporation. Field and simulation results consistently showed that salinity is greatly impacted by evaporation and showed different distributions from the saline seawater intrusion patterns displayed by most of the former studies. </p>

Ecological adaptability and population growth tolerance characteristics of Carex cinerascens in response to water level changes in Poyang Lake, China

Water level conditions are the key factors that affect the growth and distribution of wetland plants. Using Carex cinerascens (C. cinerascens) as the study species, we employ indoor simulations and field surveys. Our results show that C. cinerascens can adapt to rhythmic changes in the water level through different adaptation strategies. Compared to that of the control group, plant growth was better with a 0–0.4 cm/d water level rate, and plant growth was in the 42–56 cm range to that a 1.0–1.4 cm/d water level rate. Furthermore, it was observed that 0–0.4 cm/d was the most suitable growth rate, with 0.6–1.0 cm/d and 0–32 cm being the ideal plant tolerance ranges, and increasing to 1.0–1.4 cm/d and 32–56 cm exceeds the plant tolerance threshold. In the middle and late period of the experiment (25–45 d), the ecological characteristics of the plants changed significantly. For example, the root-to-shoot ratio of the plant in the stable water level reached 26.1. In our field observations, plant biomass can be influenced by a variety of environmental factors. The frequency of the species was the largest at an elevation of 15 m, and the growth status of the dominant and companion species of C. cinerascens was weakened with an increase in soil moisture content. The suitable water content for C. cinerascens growth was 27.6–57.3%, the distribution elevation was 12.54–16.59 m, and the optimum elevation was 13.56–15.54 m. The study is expected to provide a reference for wetland ecology research and wetland protection and restoration, a theoretical reference for the coordination of water resource development and utilization of Poyang Lake and ecological protection of important lakes and wetlands, and an important scientific basis for wetland hydrologic regulation, ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation.

STASIUN RISET BEKANTAN PADA LAHAN BASAH

Wetlands are a natural habitat for endemic animals of South Kalimantan, namely proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus). These primates are one indicator in wetlands conservation, but now the status of proboscis monkeys is endangered which means wetlands are naturally also damaged. This makes The Indonesian Proboscis Monkey Friends Foundation worried about the preservation of these primates who are endangered in a side the number of foreign researchers who are interested in proboscis monkeys so it also weakens status proboscis monkeys as endemic animals.The Indonesian Proboscis Monkey Friends Foundation wants the proboscis monkey in South Kalimantan to become an identity in the area along with the wetland ecosystem which is the habitat of proboscis monkeys. Therefore a fundamental problem with the design of the Proboscis Monkey Research Station on Wetlands is how the design of the proboscis research station on wetlands is in harmony with natural conditions around it so that it can become the identity of the region. Settlement the problem was solved through the metabolism-organic method and the visual identity-metaphor method. The metabolism-organic method is the solution to the problem of harmony building with nature, while the visual identity-metaphor method is the solution in the matter of regional identity. Based on the two methods, the concept proposed for this design is the concept of "subject-object interaction" which is realized through the concept of "wetland ecology". This concept of "subject-object interaction and wetland ecology" is a concept that elevates interactions between researchers and wetland organisms such as proboscis monkeys by entering the wetland elements into the design of this research station.

Global patterns of the leaf economics spectrum in wetlands

The leaf economics spectrum (LES) describes consistent correlations among a variety of leaf traits that reflect a gradient from conservative to acquisitive plant strategies. So far, whether the LES holds in wetland plants at a global scale has been unclear. Using data on 365 wetland species from 151 studies, we find that wetland plants in general show a shift within trait space along the same common slope as observed in non-wetland plants, with lower leaf mass per area, higher leaf nitrogen and phosphorus, faster photosynthetic rates, and shorter leaf life span compared to non-wetland plants. We conclude that wetland plants tend to cluster at the acquisitive end of the LES. The presented global quantifications of the LES in wetland plants enhance our understanding of wetland plant strategies in terms of resources acquisition and allocation, and provide a stepping-stone to developing trait-based approaches for wetland ecology.