A simple model to quantify the potential trade-off between water level management for ecological benefit and flood risk

Stratford, Charlie; Brewin, Phil; Acreman, Mike; Mountford, Owen

doi:10.1016/j.ecohyd.2015.06.002

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Within this context, a spatio‐temporal monitoring of natural habitats over hundreds of km 2 is needed to meet reporting requirements for the conservation status of European NATURA 2000 sites. To meet this requirement, natural habitats should be identified at the plant community level in order to assess the heritage quality (Berg et al., ), ecosystem services (Lavorel et al., ) and impacts of agricultural practices or water level management on vegetal biodiversity (Dumont et al., ; Stratford, Brewin, Acreman, & Mountford, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping grassland plant communities using a fuzzy approach to address floristic and spectral uncertainty

Rapinel

Rossignol

Hubert‐Moy

et al. 2018

Applied Vegetation Science

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Aims:The mapping and monitoring of natural vegetation is a challenging but important objective for environmental management. Although remote sensing has been used to map plant communities for several years, the maps produced are not sufficiently accurate to meet management requirements. This can be explained by the cumulative effects of floristic and spectral uncertainty. The objective of this study was to accurately map grassland plant communities using a comprehensive fuzzy approach in order to address floristic and spectral uncertainty.Location: Sub-brackish wet grasslands, Marais Poitevin, France. Methods:We first created a compromise typology-floristically and spectrally consistent-to perform fuzzy noise clustering on a joint PCA matrix derived from vegetation relevés and remote sensing data. This typology had two levels, which corresponded to spectral signatures and plant communities, respectively. Second, we mapped grassland plant communities to predict the fuzzy model from the remote sensing data. We applied this approach using (1) a very high spatial resolution multispectral satellite image and a LiDAR-derived Digital Terrain Model acquired on a 73 km 2 wet grassland site and (2) more than 200 relevés collected in the field. Results:The results show that (1) the compromise typology yields significantly higher mapping accuracy than classic phytosociological typology (62% and 26%, respectively); (2) compared to a crisp approach, the fuzzy approach improves mapping accuracy by 17 percentage points and (3) a single plant community can be defined by several (1-4) distinct spectral signatures. Conclusions:The comprehensive fuzzy procedure successfully mapped herbaceous plant communities at the ecosystem scale using inexpensive remote sensing data.Floristic and spectral uncertainty was considered in a fuzzy approach, resulting in the mapping of nine herbaceous plant communities with acceptable accuracy. As the natural habitats were characterized at the plant community level, correspondence with functional properties of the species or with ecosystem services can be easily inferred. These encouraging results open up new ways to meet the requirements for monitoring the conservation status of natural habitats in the EU Habitats Directive.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping grassland plant communities using a fuzzy approach to address floristic and spectral uncertainty

Rapinel

Rossignol

Hubert‐Moy

et al. 2018

Applied Vegetation Science

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“…Our results highlighted the critical influence of hydrology (water depth and duration of the drying events) on Odonata assemblages in agricultural marshland landscapes crossed by ditches. This suggests that ditch water management offers clear possibilities to maintain and possibly promote Odonata diversity (see also Herzon & Helenius, 2008;Stratford et al, 2015). For example, water management can be better designed to prevent drying episodes and hence to meet conservation purposes in anthropogenic aquatic systems (Bogan et al, 2020;Mauchamp et al, 2021;Twisk et al, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How hydrology and landscape shape Odonata assemblages in marshlands crossed by ditches

et al. 2022

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One of the major current ecological challenges is to understand how to reconcile human activities with biodiversity conservation concerns. This issue is particularly relevant in freshwater ecosystems where biodiversity is globally under severe threat. Artificial waterbodies, such as ditch networks, are part of the few remaining wetlands in agricultural landscapes and hence play a crucial role in maintaining aquatic biodiversity in these landscapes. We investigated the responses of adult Odonata assemblages at different spatial scales in a marshland crossed by ditches to two factors expected to be pivotal influences on assemblages. At the local scale, this was mainly the water regime in ditches and, at a broader scale, the composition of the landscape. Both taxonomic alpha and beta diversity, and functional trait composition were considered as response variables. Significant differences were found between the responses of the two Odonata suborders. We showed that Zygoptera species richness decreased and species turnover increased with the duration of drying episodes in ditches. Geographical distances between local assemblages as well as landscape characteristics, notably woodland cover, meadow cover and ditch network length, also significantly shaped the distribution of Zygoptera. For Anisoptera, species richness was not explained by environmental variables and beta diversity was associated only with local conditions; it increased with increasing dissimilarity in water quality and riparian vegetation. We also found evidence of functional trait syndromes (combinations of correlated traits) in Odonata assemblages, but without clear relationships to environmental gradients. This study reveals the structuring role of water regime for Odonata in ditch networks and demonstrates the need to jointly consider environmental variables at different spatial scales to properly understand the distribution of Odonata. Our findings have important conservation implications as the water regime is heavily managed in such ecosystems. Even though the relationship between functional composition and environmental gradients was found to be of limited extent in this study, we discuss how it might provide new insights for Odonata assemblage structure and be useful, locally, for stakeholders and managers. Lastly, we call for further multiscale investigations considering both the taxonomic and functional responses of Odonata assemblages (functional analyses with multiple traits and several species being scarce in this taxonomic group) in other anthropogenic freshwater ecosystems to gather more lessons for their conservation.

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“…Research funded by SDBC helped to lessen this Conflict. Stratford et al (2015) demonstrated that RSPB direct and indirect management of the floodplain only marginally reduced floodplain storage and therefore was not a significant contributor to the 2013/14 floods. Research is likely to also play a role in scaling-up sFRM for instance on the effectiveness/opportunity/acceptability of NBS measures (Dadson et al, 2017;Broadmeadow et al, 2015;Holstead et al, 2014).…”

Section: Floodplain Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 96%

Investigating social processes that underpin local flood risk management action

Bark

Acreman

2020

Environmental Science & Policy

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As climate change erodes current levels of flood protection in the UK and government investment in 'hard' flood risk management (hFRM) is rationed by cost-benefit ratios, the option for many communities at-risk is to implement local 'soft' FRM (sFRM). The frequency of widespread flooding generates an added urgency to understand how to support sFRM. Using a case study and qualitative analysis, we explore social processes (SPs), such as acculturation, that drive stakeholder adaptation to be more flood resilient. We conceptualise the status quo beleaguered by conflict and competition and propose practices of accommodation and cooperation that can support shared objectives and responsibility that strengthen sFRM. Our conceptual model is mapped on a stylised catchment to illustrate how SPs underpin sFRM interventions that join-up the catchment in wholescape thinking. The transferable learning is that there are group behaviours and inclusive practices that can initiate and support local sFRM.

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A simple model to quantify the potential trade-off between water level management for ecological benefit and flood risk

Cited by 6 publications

References 18 publications

Mapping grassland plant communities using a fuzzy approach to address floristic and spectral uncertainty

Mapping grassland plant communities using a fuzzy approach to address floristic and spectral uncertainty

How hydrology and landscape shape Odonata assemblages in marshlands crossed by ditches

Investigating social processes that underpin local flood risk management action

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