The value of small,natural and man‐made wetlands for bird diversity in the east Colombian Piedmont

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The importance of being natural in a human‐altered riverscape: role of wetland type in supporting habitat heterogeneity and the functional diversity of vegetation

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Making an impact on UK farmland pond conservation

• 1. It is of vital importance that aquatic conservation is evidence based, and in the field of farmland pond management and restoration evidence was largely lacking until an article published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (AQC) in 2012.
• 2. To examine the influence of farmland pond management on aquatic biodiversity conservation, macrophyte and invertebrate diversity in ponds subject to traditional management involving scrub and occasional sediment removal at different time intervals in the past (0–2, 3–5, 6–10 years since management), were compared with a set of neighbouring, highly terrestrialized ponds that had not been managed for many decades.
• 3. With the exception of Mollusca, significantly higher species diversity was found for managed ponds compared with the late‐succession unmanaged ponds, with invertebrate gamma diversity significantly lower for the late‐succession ponds, compared with all the managed pond categories.
• 4. The AQC article was a key component of the Natural England (UK Government's adviser on the natural environment in England) ‘Freshwater and Wetland Conservation Narrative’ and has helped with integrating pond management into recent great crested newt Triturus cristatus mitigation policy as well as bringing it to the fore in past and evolving agri‐environment policy.
• 5. The AQC article provided the evidence and in turn the confidence for the authors and a number of conservation partners to form a Norfolk Ponds Project. Since 2014, the Project has delivered or facilitated more than 100 pond restorations in Norfolk, eastern England, as well as educating conservation practitioners and farmers on the importance of farmland ponds via various events.
• 6. With good underpinning science it has been possible to achieve considerable impact in the field of farmland pond conservation. This study shows the importance of setting aside time and support for academic staff to translate applied research outputs into practical impact.

     

Land use surrounding wetlands influences urban populations of a freshwater turtle

1. Urbanization is one of the most influential land use changes globally and continues to affect wetland ecosystems and their biota. Freshwater turtles, which rely on both terrestrial and aquatic habitats to complete their life cycles, are one of the most endangered vertebrate groups, with approximately 60% of species threatened. Although habitat alteration caused by urbanization is recognized as one of the main threats to freshwater turtles, there is a paucity of studies quantifying the effects of terrestrial habitat change on turtle populations.
2. The aim of this study was to determine how terrestrial land use change, associated with urbanization, influences the viability of freshwater turtle populations. Thirty‐three wetlands were sampled for the southwestern snake‐necked turtle (Chelodina colliei Gray, 1856) (Chelidae) between October 2016 and February 2017 within a region of continuing urban intensification. Land use and habitat types were classified at the aquatic–terrestrial interface and within a 300‐m band around each wetland. Generalized linear mixed models were used to identify the land use variables that best explained the relative abundance of C. colliei.
3. Turtle abundance and population structure varied widely among wetlands. The percentage of residential land use, and the presence and accessibility of fringing native vegetation, was positively associated with the relative abundance of C. colliei. The association with residential land use may be an artefact of historical land use, whereas the association with native vegetation is probably because adjacent vegetation provides connectivity with suitable nesting sites, and thus facilitates increased recruitment.
4. This study shows how the modification of terrestrial habitat around wetlands may directly influence the population viability of freshwater turtles. Protection and restoration of native vegetation fringing urban wetlands is crucial to support the viability of remnant freshwater turtle populations.

     

Responses of anuran diversity to wetland characteristics and surrounding landscape in the Southern Andean Yungas,Argentina

1. Modification and loss of natural habitats caused by human activities are among the main drivers of biodiversity decline worldwide. To evaluate how land‐use changes affect species diversity at different spatial scales, amphibians represent an excellent group given that their complex life cycle requires both aquatic and terrestrial habitats.
2. In this study, the influence of wetland characteristics and surrounding landscape features on richness and functional diversity of anurans was investigated in 26 natural wetlands in a human‐modified landscape within the Southern Andean Yungas.
3. The analysis was performed at two spatial scales: wetland scale (the breeding pond structure) and the surrounding landscape scale. The classification of the landscape was limited to land uses modified by human activities within concentric circular buffers (radius = 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1 km) centred on each breeding pond.
4. Generalized linear models were applied to investigate the relationship between environmental variables measured at different scales and anuran species richness and functional diversity, respectively.
5. Pond area best explained the observed variation in both diversity measures, which is consistent with other studies on anuran diversity in disturbed landscapes. In contrast to regression models including landscape scale variables only, integrated models (which included variables on both scales) highly improved model fit.
6. Conservation strategies for anuran species diversity in these altered Andean Yungas forests should include efforts to maintain or restore aquatic habitats (e.g. breeding ponds) placed within suitable landscapes.
7. Successful long‐term management will require an understanding of relationships between habitat characteristics at different spatial scales to identify variables that relate to species diversity in such heterogeneous habitats.

     

Wetland habitats of the Sabana de Bogotá Andean Highland Plateau and their birds

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The ecology of the endemic quillwort Isoëtes malinverniana: From basic research to legal and in situ conservation

1. Scientific publications on the conservation of threatened species can drive practical conservation solutions for endangered species. Yet, a posteriori assessment of the impact of such publications is rarely seen in the scientific literature.
2. The impact of two articles published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (AQC) on the conservation of the endangered quillwort Isoëtes malinverniana is assessed. The articles were the result of a 10‐year study on the focal species that eventually led to the first reintroduction of I. malinverniana. The first article described the development of a cost‐effective model for the selection of suitable reintroduction sites for the species. The second article provided a summary of the techniques used to reintroduce the species and included techniques of ex situ propagation, recipient site preparation, planting methods, and monitoring.
3. This article reviews the practical conservation actions for I. malinverniana that followed the publication of two AQC papers and how they may affect research and conservation for other quillworts and aquatic macrophytes.
4. The results were surprising and went well beyond the initial expectations of the authors. Both AQC publications stimulated the conservation of I. malinverniana from different points of view. They contributed by informing scientists and policymakers of the risk of extinction of this species, leading to the establishment of a new protected area in Piedmont (northern Italy).
5. Our published data represent a sound starting point for funding opportunities in the context of the European Union LIFE programme. Further impacts include an expansion of knowledge on oligotrophic habitat management, the assessment of conservation status, and the education of the general public, with the last of these greatly enhanced by the two ex situ collections created in the botanic gardens of Tourin and Pavia. Interestingly, other authors are now using our approach in research and conservation on other endemic and endangered quillworts worldwide.

     

Wetland edges as peak refugia from an introduced piscivore

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Restoring wetland biodiversity using research: Whole‐community facilitation by beaver as framework

• 1. Wetlands are declining worldwide, and there is a great need for their restoration and creation. One natural agent of wetland engineering is beavers, Castor spp., which have returned or are returning to many parts of their former range.
• 2. We initially studied the facilitative effect of the beaver Castor canadensis on a waterbird community consisting of three waders and four ducks in boreal wetlands in southern Finland. Both waterbird species diversity and abundance increased when beavers impounded a pond. Common teal Anas crecca and green sandpiper Tringa ochropus were the species showing the most positive numerical response, but the other five species also increased upon flooding.
• 3. This article evaluates how the results of the study have been used in management, both in theory and practice. The whole‐community facilitation concept has been taken up in numerous articles considering the restorative effects of beavers. It has also been used as ecological background when planning and executing man‐made wetland projects in Finland within both the public and the private sectors.
• 4. Our study and its publication in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems have set a foundation for further evidence‐based management of waterbird communities. As the results show, having beavers as wetland managers is a feasible tool for creating and restoring wetlands for waterbirds and other biota. Moreover, wetland restoration projects are becoming more popular endeavours, owing to an understanding of the diverse benefits of wetlands. Flooding by beavers is used as a model for managers when creating man‐made wetlands; for example, in urban areas where it is difficult to maintain beavers.

     

Local and regional macroinvertebrate diversity in the wetlands of a cleared agricultural landscape in south‐western Victoria,Australia

• 1. Seasonal pasture wetlands are a common freshwater habitat in many agricultural landscapes, but their invertebrate diversity has rarely been examined compared with other freshwater habitats. Few studies have examined the role of seasonal wetlands for regional biodiversity or the pattern of change in assemblage composition across landscapes.
• 2. Invertebrates were sampled from 16 naturally occurring seasonal wetlands and three perennial wetlands in south‐western Victoria, Australia. The wetlands were arranged in three clusters, separated by at least 20 km: two clusters each contained one perennial and four seasonal wetlands surrounded by pasture; the remaining cluster consisted of one perennial wetland and four seasonal wetlands on a property that has not been cleared of native vegetation, and four adjacent seasonal pasture wetlands cleared of native vegetation.
• 3. Presence/absence data showed that seasonal wetlands had fewer taxa than perennial wetlands, but both were taxon rich. Turnover of taxa was high at all three scales, i.e. between samples within a wetland, between wetlands, and between wetland clusters, but each cluster did not have a characteristic assemblage composition. Up to two‐thirds of the invertebrate taxa found in perennial wetlands were also found in seasonal wetlands, showing that seasonal pasture wetlands could provide an expanded area of winter–spring habitat for many taxa.
• 4. Seasonal pasture wetlands contribute to biodiversity in highly managed and depauperate agricultural landscapes. There was little regionalization of the fauna, taxon turnover was high and ranges appeared relatively continuous. Biodiversity in pasture wetlands was comparable to perennial non‐pasture wetlands elsewhere, despite being used for grazing livestock. This suggests that pasture wetlands may have substantial conservation value and should be managed to protect them from threatening processes such as drainage.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Brazilian wetlands: their definition,delineation, and classification for research,sustainable management,and protection

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The characterization and classification of the Black River Upper Morass,Jamaica, using the three‐parameter test of vegetation,soils and hydrology

• 1. The characterization and classification of the Black River Upper Morass was conducted using the criteria of the three‐parameter test for vegetation, soils and hydrology at 14 sites within the study area.
• 2. The Upper Morass exhibited 71% hydrophytic vegetation typical of wetlands (vascular and non‐vascular plants including Cladium jamaicense, Phragmites australis, Typha angustifolia and Sagittaria lancifolia) and 29% vegetation atypical of wetlands.
• 3. The Upper Morass is classified as a Palustrine System with sub‐classes of Aquatic Bed and Persistent Emergent Wetland.
• 4. The presence throughout the Upper Morass of monoculture stands of the invasive species Eichhornia crassipes and Typha domingensis, which are known to invade disturbed or partially drained wetlands, confirmed that the study area was a disturbed ecosystem.
• 5. The Upper Morass exhibited hydric (flood‐water and groundwater) soils, which, in association with its temporarily flooded and saturated wetland hydrology, indicated that it is groundwater‐driven.
• 6. Application of the three‐parameter test indicated a linkage between the functions of the Upper Morass and the Lower Morass, and thus a need for conservation of the Black River Morass System as a single unit rather than two independent wetlands. Two key instruments of conservation will be further detailed ecological assessments and the implementation of a management plan.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the role of the aquatic Natura 2000 network to protect both freshwater European species of community interest and threatened species in a Mediterranean region

1. The European Natura 2000 (N2K) network of protected areas stands out as the main conservation strategy in the European Union to preserve biodiversity under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
2. The management of N2K sites is mainly focused on protecting the biological elements as Special Areas of Conservation for habitats or species listed in the European Habitats Directive, or as Special Protection Areas for birds listed in the European Birds Directive for which the site was designated. It seems urgent, therefore, to discriminate which N2K sites are really providing effective protection for aquatic biodiversity.
3. Although the main objective of N2K is to protect species listed in the Birds and Habitats Directives, the conservation status of threatened species included in the European Red List of the IUCN must also be a concern for the European Union.
4. Focusing on Central Spain as a case study, the aim of this work was to evaluate how far aquatic N2K (i.e. N2K sites designated for the occurrence of freshwater elements) is effective in protecting both those aquatic species in the Directives [referred to here as Species of Community Importance (SCI) and threatened species (TS)].
5. Most of the N2K sites in the study area have been designated using aquatic elements, which means that N2K could theoretically provide appropriate mechanisms to preserve aquatic biodiversity. However, N2K provides a low percentage of overlap with some of the hotspots identified for both TS and SCI. Surprisingly, TS are in general similarly or even better represented than SCI by N2K.
6. N2K may provide good coverage for aquatic biodiversity, mainly by acting as an umbrella for other species, but it could be improved by addressing some spatial gaps, thereby making it more relevant to current challenges such as climate change and other human impacts.

     

Integrating freshwater wetland science into planning for Great Barrier Reef sustainability

1. The paper ‘Biodiversity values of remnant freshwater floodplain lagoons in agricultural catchments: evidence for fish of the Wet Tropics bioregion, northern Australia’, published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems in 2015, has contributed in several ways to the integration of freshwater wetland science within new catchment management policies and practices for Great Barrier Reef (GBR) sustainability.
2. The Tully–Murray biodiversity study developed novel protocols to sample larval, juvenile, and adult fish life‐history stages in floodplain lagoons using a combination of boat‐based backpack electrofishing and fyke netting. In addition, hydrological and hydrodynamic models were applied in a completely new way to quantify the timing, extent, and duration of water connectivity across floodplain streams, cane drains, and wetlands. Combining the two novel approaches enabled an analysis of lagoon fish assemblage patterns in relation to environmental gradients, especially floodplain hydrology, connectivity patterns, and measures related to agricultural land use.
3. In demonstrating the importance of different levels of connectivity for different biodiversity outcomes in freshwater floodplain lagoons of the Tully–Murray catchment, the subject paper established that floodplain connectivity needs to be taken into consideration in wetland management practices.
4. The timing of the subject publication was fortuitous. It coincided with the preparation of the evidence‐based 2017 Scientific Consensus Statement on land‐based water quality impacts on the GBR. As one of the few freshwater wetland ecology publications for the catchments of the GBR at that time, this paper played an important role in demonstrating freshwater wetland values, fish conservation options, and management imperatives to sustain wetland ecological health and services in GBR catchments.
5. By advancing the understanding of factors driving biodiversity patterns, and the importance of connectivity and ecohydrological processes in freshwater floodplain wetlands of the GBR catchment, the Tully–Murray study helped to drive new policy directives for the protection and restoration of catchment, floodplain, and estuary functions, and connectivity, now embedded in the Reef 2050 Long‐Term Sustainability Plan 2018, an overarching strategy for managing the GBR over the next 35 years, and complementary Queensland environmental legislation.

     

Biodiversity value of agricultural drainage ditches: a comparative analysis of the aquatic invertebrate fauna of ditches and small lakes

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Vegetation succession in lakes in the coastal fringe of West Connemara,Ireland

• 1. It is hypothesized that the recent intensification of agricultural practice in the coastal fringe of West Connemara, Ireland, has affected the vegetation of vulnerable ecosystems like lakes and wetlands.
• 2. Lakes and wetlands, arranged in three transects running inland from the coast, were studied to detect an assumed decrease in the effects of eutrophication as a result of a decrease in the intensity in land use.
• 3. The data obtained from the vegetation survey in 1988 were compared with those collected at the same sites in 1975. The data were subjected to various multivariate statistics to detect changes in species composition and relationships between these changes and environmental variables such as pH and orthophosphate concentration in the surface waters.
• 4. Changes in species composition are accompanied by changes in environmental factors; notably a marked increase in orthophosphate level indicating an anthropogenic origin for most of the observed changes in vegetation.
• 5. Changes in species composition have also been used to construct a transition matrix for sites between 1975 and 1988. This has served as a basis for a prognosis on the state of the vegetation at these sites circa 2000. Data have also been grouped to indicate lake-specific patterns in the changes.
• 6. The dynamics of all plant species have been established based on their frequency of disappearance from sites since 1975 and their rate of establishment in new sites in 1988. Special attention has been given to species from the red data list. It is concluded that over the past 13 years species diversity decreased in the whole area, and especially in coastal lakes. Red data list species appeared to be the more vulnerable ones.

     

Evaluating candidate wetlands for the assisted colonization of the western swamp turtle Pseudemydura umbrina in a changing climate: Macro-invertebrate food resources and turtle diet

1. The natural habitat of the western swamp turtle (Pseudemydura umbrina Siebenrock, 1901) – the ephemeral, winter wet swamps north of Perth, Australia – is in danger owing to climate change and habitat fragmentation. The decline in rainfall in this area over the last five decades is predicted to continue, shortening the annual activity period for the turtles and potentially shifting their optimal climate zone to the south.
2. Assisted colonization to wetlands in the cooler far south west of the state is one management response. As a contribution to such a measure, the diversity and abundance of food resources and consumption by turtles were evaluated at two potential and one existing colonization site.
3. Thirty-five captive-bred juvenile P. umbrina were temporarily released into three sites: Moore River Nature Reserve north of Perth (into which the species had already been successfully translocated) and Meerup and East Augusta in the cooler far south of Western Australia.
4. Food resources were assessed using sweep nets to sample invertebrates on two occasions at each wetland. Separate samples were collected for biomass determination and for assessing invertebrate diversity. Feeding by turtles was assessed by stomach flushing.
5. Neither biomass nor biodiversity differed significantly between the southern sites and the reference site north of Perth. Stomach contents varied greatly, from 0 to 62 animals per turtle. The main prey items were beetles, ostracods, isopods and tadpoles.
6. Each candidate wetland provided adequate food resources, indicating that assisted colonization to the cooler south coast of Western Australia has the potential to become a reasonable conservation tool to ensure the long-term survival of P. umbrina.

     

Biodiversity values of remnant freshwater floodplain lagoons in agricultural catchments: evidence for fish of the Wet Tropics bioregion,northern Australia

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Can management practices in rice fields contribute to amphibian conservation in southern Brazilian wetlands?

• 1. Rice field expansion is one of the activities associated with the disappearance of 90% of the wetlands in southern Brazil. Worldwide, rice agriculture has been recognized as having considerable potential value for many aquatic species. Nevertheless, management practices in such systems must be ameliorated and better investigated.
• 2. This study evaluated the potential role of rice fields as refugia for amphibians, and whether different hydrologic management practices after rice cultivation could contribute to wetland amphibian conservation in southern Brazil.
• 3. Six collections were made in six rice fields with different management practices after cultivation (three dry and three flooded) and three natural wetlands. The amphibians were sampled through six random 15‐min visual transects per collection in each rice field and the natural wetlands.
• 4. In total, 2139 anuran individuals were observed in rice fields (798) and Reserva Lake (1341), comprising 12 anuran species distributed among five anuran families. Anuran richness and abundance varied over the rice cultivating cycle, and they were higher in the growing phases than in the fallow phases. The mean anuran richness and abundance was higher in Reserva Lake than in flooded and dry rice fields.
• 5. The different management practices adopted after the harvesting period (presence or lack of surface water) did not influence the anuran richness and abundance. It did, however, influence species composition.
• 6. The difference in species composition between the management practices adopted is an interesting result in terms of biodiversity conservation. Rice producers could maintain part of their agricultural land flooded during the fallow phase as a strategy to preserve a higher diversity of anurans. These results should be taken into consideration in wetland conservation plans in southern Brazil; however, the percentage of each agricultural land that should be kept flooded should be decided by Brazilian agricultural and conservation policies. Such a strategy would reconcile agricultural/economic needs with the conservation of biodiversity in southern Brazil, where more than 90% of wetland systems have already been lost. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.