Conservation and Rehabilitation of Urban Wetlands (original) (raw)
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Assessment of Biodiversity Differences Between Natural and Artificial Wetlands in Cyprus
Despite being a dry country, historically, Cyprus had many wetlands, both freshwater and saline. However, pollution, mosquito management, increased use of water and drainage of wetland areas for agriculture and building, led to the loss of many of the original wetlands. On the other hand, persistent water shortages have led to the construction of more than 100 dams on the island. In this study, the biodiversity of two natural wetlands, Ronnas River and Oroklini Lake, was compared to that of two man-made wetlands, Geçitköy (Panagra) Reservoir and Achna Dam. Baseline ecological surveys of plants, invertebrates and birds were carried out at bi-monthly intervals from February to June 2006. In total, 495 plant species, out of which 22 were endemic, were recorded with Gecitkoy (Panagra) Dam showing the highest plant diversity and Oroklini Lake the lowest. A total of 13 invertebrate orders were recorded, however, no statistical difference was found between the number of orders in artificial and natural wetlands. Furthermore, 18 butterfly species were recorded, with the highest diversity found at Ronnas River on Centaurea sp., Onopordum cyprium, Pistachia sp. and Cistus creticus. Less diversity found at Oroklini Lake and Achna Dam was due to an absence of maquis vegetation in these areas. Moreover, the highest butterfly diversity in all wetlands was observed in February and April, following winter rainfall in February, and increasing temperatures in April. Lower insect numbers and diversity in May were due to windy conditions. A total of 83 bird species were identified, with 32 recorded at Ronnas River, 29 at Oroklini Lake, 25 at Geçitköy (Panagra) Reservoir and 35 at Achna Dam. Most individuals were counted at Achna Dam (1493) and the least at Ronnas River (217). At Oroklini, Geçitköy and Achna, the most abundant species was the Common Coot while most species recorded at Ronnas were terrestrial, with the Common Wood-pigeon being the most abundant species. However the outcome so far is that there is little difference between these two wetlands types in terms of biodiversity richness. This study has demonstrated that artificial wetlands do provide important habitats for flora and fauna and these sites should be managed with biodiversity as well as water resources.
Close to the Madding Crowd: How Resilient are Imperilled Mediterranean Urban Wetlands?
2021
Investigating how Mediterranean wetlands respond to adjacent land use conversion, is an important first step in mitigating the impact of human encroachment and other environmental stressors. We monitored the composition and structure of waterbird assemblages, in a Mediterranean urban marsh, subjected to severe anthropogenic pressures. Remote sensing indicated that in the last two decades Boussedra Pond was subjected to landfill, resulting in a substantial reduction (~ 50%) of the marsh, while due to a lack of urban planning urban built-up and agriculture areas expanded considerably in its surroundings. Seasonal changes in the diversity of waterbirds, including the globally Endangered (EN) White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala and the Near-Threatened (NT) Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca, reflected the importance of the site as a staging and wintering area for many migratory species. The long-term study also suggested that breeding waterbirds species respond differentially to the loss ...
EVALUATION OF OPINIONS RELATED TO THE ENDANGERED NEOPOLIS WETLAND IN NORTH CYPRUS
EURASIA Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 2017
In this paper, the complaints and expectations of people living around the Neopolis wetland, which is an endangered area with international importance in Famagusta, Cyprus, in terms of the present situation of the wetland. For this purpose, 88 people (self-employed, university students over 18 years of age, etc.) who live in the three streets and one main street parallel to the wetland were included in the working group. Open-ended questions were asked to the participants as required by qualitative research approaches. According to the research findings, it is seen that people have complaints about the present situation of the wetland and have expectations from the authorities and residents living there about its protection. It is observed that participants do not have sufficient awareness about the importance, protection and usage of the wetlands. In summary, it is found out that they required education about the environment and the wetland.
Human-Induced Wetland Degradation: A Case Study of Lake Amik (Southern Turkey)
BALWOIS 2008, 2008
.Turkey has more than 250 wetlands covering a total area of approximately 1 million ha. 63 wetlands are of prime importance, among which the former Lake Amik exists. Even though lands of over 1,3 million ha (totally 57%) have been disappeared as a consequence of wetland desiccation, significant efforts were attempted to prevent the decrease in areas of wetlands during the past 15 years. The desiccation of Turkey’s wetlands emerged from various causes such as agricultural activities, growth in industrial and residential areas, road constructions, malaria eradication, flood prevention and etc. Nevertheless, these human interferences have caused crucial environmental degradations. The former Lake Amik’s wetland, which had a total area of 31000 ha in the 1950s prior to desiccation works, is a dramatic example of degraded wetlands in Turkey. The area is located in one of the main routes of migratory birds. In fact, approximately half a million birds follow the Lake Amik migration route. The initial cause of wetland desiccation in the area was the first attempt for cultivation of cotton in the early 1940s. However, despite all high-cost projects carried out to drain this wetland during the last 60 years, desiccation works failed except for the success in the decrease of the number of malaria cases. As a matter of fact, serious unexpected results occurred such as low productivity and salinity in newly obtained farming lands, failure in combating flood, resultant increase in poverty of low-income farmers and disappearance of wetland habitat in the area. In addition, severe deteriorations that took place in water quality and balance of the area have also simultaneously annihilated living wetland organisms. In this study, recent status of wetlands in Turkey and environmental, ecological and economical problems encountered in and around the recently desiccated Lake Amik, one of the most significant wetlands of Turkey, are discussed. Our results reveal that human interference in wetlands may give rise to serious adverse effects on natural life cycle and local welfare. Thus, “the experience of Lake Amik”, which is a remarkable example to degraded wetlands, proves both the non-recyclable damages caused by human interference and the deficiency of technological applications in such environments.
Contemporary Problems of Ecology, 2018
⎯The article analyzes the consequences of one century long human influences on vegetation of the wetland ecosystem, on the example of Pančevački Rit in Belgrade, Serbia. The autochthonous, non-altered ecosystem was formed in the alluvial plain between Danube and Timis River in the formation of connected swamps and bogs with periodically flooded patches. The major transformation of the wetland ecosystem started with the construction of the embankment and dense canal system followed by settlements development, increasing of population density, intensification of agriculture activities etc. The study area transformation factors were identified in the first phase of research, while the second phase includes analyses of their influences on habitat conversion using GIS, with the purpose to preserve fragments of indigenous wetland vegetation, mostly fragile wetland meadows from further degradation.
Inventing Nature within Urban Environments
2016
Over the past 200 years, approximately 50% of Cyprus wetlands disappeared while the remaining few are largely under threat due to urbanization. With over 65% of the Islands population living in cities, draining of wetlands to provide land for housing units and urban infrastructure has become the major cause of wetland loss. Destruction of wetlands eliminated the benefits originally provided by these ecosystems such as ensuring water quality; providing habitat for a wide range of fauna and flora as well as regulating storm water flooding. Preservation of the remaining urban wetlands as well as restoration of the degraded ones will be a crucial task towards communal environmental health improving the quality of the aquatic systems, ensuring Biodiversity, microclimate adaptation, carbon absorption, natural amenity and the formation of recreational spaces. Therefore, urban wetlands have become significantly important for human‐related values in an era of “man over nature”. Wetlands restoration will become the bridging process between human and nature, initiating social benefits, succeeding in local people participation with designing, planning, implementing and monitoring of a rehabilitated ecosystem. The aim of this paper is to explore the presence and absence of wetlands from a scientific and socioeconomic perspective, in order to obtain knowledge of how ecological restoration and rehabilitation can create possibilities of a sustainable development in the area of Aglantzia. Wetland significance is explored as an ecological system by establishing a framework of wetland historical development in Aglantzia compared to impacts of urbanization. Case studies are examined in order to extract methodological tools towards viable applications for the regeneration of Aglantzia’s wetland restoration.
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2008
Wetlands are a crucial component of water resources, providing several ecological functions and services, including flood attenuation, groundwater recharge and water quality maintenance, as well as conservation of biodiversity and provision of recreational activities. In Cyprus, an arid country with scarce water resources, wetlands have been degraded and drained due to the increasing intensity of agricultural production, water pollution, dam construction and the failure of existing national policies to efficiently and effectively manage them. In this paper it is stated that in order to be able to design and implement efficient and effective policies for sustainable wetland management, both the use and the non-use values generated by their several services and functions need to be realized and captured. This paper employs a non-market valuation method, namely a contingent valuation survey, to estimate the economic benefits generated by the Akrotiri wetland in Cyprus. The paper proposes how the results of this survey can be employed to design and implement efficient and effective wetland conservation policies, as a part of integrated water resource management in Cyprus, as required by the European Union's Water Framework Directive.
Landscape Architecture Frontiers, 2013
Wetlands are at the same time among the most productive and the most threatened ecosystems of the world. One of the major threats for wetlands is urbanization. In the urban context there is a long history of associating wetlands with a number of water-related diseases, floods, pollution and poor living conditions. Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a paradigm shift in the attitude towards wetlands: the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has promoted the importance of new concepts of wetland management in order to reduce health hazards by highlighting the many positive wetland values from the perspective of nature conservation. At the same time, engineering has broadly introduced the concept of constructed wetlands and biofilters as a way of effectively trapping and removing the pollution from stormwater runoff, wastewater and polluted river water. Linking the ecological and technical dimensions and integrating them with the high aesthetic and recreational value of urban wetland parks, landscape architecture has developed fascinating concepts demonstrating the high potential of an integrated strategic approach to the recovery and creation of wetlands in the urban context. This paper brings together these different perspectives on urban wetlands and argues by discussing different case-studies how wetlands can take a prominent role in urban ecosystems.
CONSERVATION PREMISES FOR VĂCĂREŞTI URBAN WETLAND
This case-study concerns Văcăreşti area, located in the southern part of Bucharest. It contains one of the largest urban wetlands in Europe, which has been developed mostly naturally within an unfinished man-made lake bed. The existing situation, premises for conservation and integration within the urban green system and scenarios regarding the wetland conservation and enhancement are presented. A previous study (Boc, Ionescu, 2012) on the present situation of the wetland, shows that the natural area is surrounded mostly by a highly urbanized environment. This leads to social and economic pressures on the wetland zone, threatening one the most valuable urban marsh ecosystems. In September 2013, after over a year of research conducted by the Romanian Academy, the Monuments Commission approved to declare Văcăreşti Wetland a protected area. Main Text Based on a previous study (Boc, Ionescu, 2012) a SWOT analysis has been made (Table 1), which shows the main aspects that define the current situation of Văcăreşti Wetland. The examined criteria included economic, social, ecological, political, cultural and urban aspects. The main strengths relate to the high level of biodiversity, high territorial availability (over 200 ha) and untapped economic potential. The weaknesses include: the ignorance of the inhabitants of Bucharest regarding the ecological and social potential of the wetland, water and soil pollution problems, lack of protection and conservation policies and regulations failure. The major opportunities are: European funding lines for environmental projects, creating a social attraction pole at urban level, integration within the urban green network of Bucharest, highlighting the historical and cultural memory of the place. The site is endangered by: funding difficulties due to bureaucracy and corruption, the associations of formal land owners in Văcăreşti which claim their properties located in the area and urban projects which threaten the future of the wetland (Image 1). Following the SWOT analysis five scenarios have been established: 1. Residential Buildings (built area): The scenario in which the area becomes ground for housing estate projects has strong negative implications primarily from an ecological point of view. Regarding the technical aspect it would also be very difficult to implement such a project due to earthwork that should be undertaken leading to high costs. A possible positive aspect would target citizens who owned land which they could recover and exploit it. However, the fate of real estate projects near the site indicates a lack of demand in this regard. 2. Sport and Leisure Park: Transforming the area into a sports facilities complex would primarily have a positive
Water, 2019
Human interventions during the last 70 years have altered the characteristics of the Gialova Lagoon, a coastal wetland that is part of a wider Natura 2000 site. In this study, we explore how human interventions and climate altered the wetland’s hydrological conditions and habitats, leading to changing wetland functions over time. Our interpretations are based on a mixed methodological approach combining conceptual hydrologic models, analysis of aerial photographs, local knowledge, field observations, and GIS (Geographic Information System) analyses. The results show that the combined effects of human interventions and climate have led to increased salinity in the wetland over time. As a result, the fresh and brackish water marshes have gradually been turned into open water or replaced by halophytic vegetation with profound ecological implications. Furthermore, current human activities inside the Natura 2000 area and in the surrounding areas could further impact on the water quantity...