Current state of knowledge regarding the world’s wetlands and their future under global climate change: a synthesis

Abstract

Wetlands cover at least 6 % of the Earth’s surface. They play a key role in hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, harbour a large part of the world’s biodiversity, and provide multiple services to humankind. However, pressure in the form of land reclamation, intense resource exploitation, changes in hydrology, and pollution threaten wetlands on all continents. Depending on the region, 30–90 % of the world’s wetlands have already been destroyed or strongly modified in many countries with no sign of abatement. Climate change scenarios predict additional stresses on wetlands, mainly because of changes in hydrology, temperature increases, and a rise in sea level. Yet, intact wetlands play a key role as buffers in the hydrological cycle and as sinks for organic carbon, counteracting the effects of the increase in atmospheric CO2. Eight chapters comprising this volume of Aquatic Sciences analyze the current ecological situation and the use of the wetlands in major regions of the world in the context of global climate change. This final chapter provides a synthesis of the findings and recommendations for the sustainable use and protection of these important ecosystems

Mapping Plant Functional Types in Floodplain Wetlands: An Analysis of C-Band Polarimetric SAR Data from RADARSAT-2

“…These ecosystems feature high biodiversity and are important for society due to flood regulation, habitat provision for fish and wildlife, natural forage provision for cattle, and carbon sequestering, among other factors [2,3]. Floodplain wetlands have been mapped and monitored with optic data in several opportunities (e.g., [4][5][6]).…”

Public Support for Wetland Restoration: What is the Link With Ecosystem Service Values?

“…Our findings are consistent with findings from other scholars who have identified underlying motivations for biodiversity and ES conservation. Studying local motivation for biodiversity conservation, Johansson (2005) identified three personal motives for biodiversity conservation: (a) consideration of human wellbeing and recreation, (b) human survival, and (c) respect for nature. Similarly, Opdam et al (2015) put forward a sociocultural frame, a sustainability frame, and an economic frame.…”

“…Yet, wetland areas suffer vastly from overuse of resources, eutrophication and pollution, disconnection from parent rivers by dike construction, water abstraction for industrial and domestic use, and land reclamation (Junk et al 2012;van Asselen et al 2013). In Europe, 50 % of the wetlands have been converted to urban and agricultural lands (Gumiero et al 2013).…”

Floodplain fish communities in river systems in Bolivia: Current knowledge and addressing future research challenges

“…Despite all taxonomic efforts, the scientific basis for a complete fish classification and understanding of the fish diversity for the Bolivian Amazon basin remains poor. This is mainly attributed to the remoteness of some areas with difficult access, (Junk et al 2013), methods for data collection and monitoring of fish populations and communities that combine multiple techniques for sampling and data analysis are increasingly being used to improve accuracy of their results. New methods and tools have been proposed owing to the lack of a standardized protocol for fish sampling in the region (Anjos & Zuanon 2007).…”