Ecological restoration of small water courses, experiences from Germany and from projects in Beijing

Abstract

From 2009 until 2012 the project "Watershed Management of Forest Land in Beijing, Restoration of Small Water Bodies (SWBR)" was implemented, combining Close to Nature Forest Management and Restoration of Small Water Bodies. The targets were to improve flood control, to enhance the ecological conditions by copying nature and to support the recreational value of small water bodies, all in cooperation with people living there. The efficiency of each project was proofed by comparison of biological and hydro-morphological assessment before the projects started and 2-3 years after they were finished. The results confirmed the ecological improvements of the restored river sections and showed the achievements. Guidelines to assess the biological and hydro-morphological status of rivers were developed and there are plans to introduce them as Beijing Standards. Planning and implementation of measures, based on experiences in Central Europe, will be documented in a handbook.

Impact of Selected Abiotic Components on the Variability of Macrobenthic Community Structure in Small Watercourses

“…The total of 95 taxa were identified, including 49 species belonging to the following classes: Oligochaeta, Bivalvia, Insecta, Gastropoda, Crustacea, and Hirudinea, as well as Enthognatha and Desmospongiae. The observed biodiversity and density of benthic communities as well as biodiversity indices are typical of small watercourses found in Poland [7] and other countries [20][21][22]. It should be stressed that the majority of macrobenthic species encountered in each river are eurytopic: they can dwell within a wide range of environmental parameters, thus they perform poorly in saprobic classification.…”

Effectiveness of soil and water conservation associated with a natural gas pipeline construction project inChina

“…Ideally, after any earth‐disturbance the ecology of the disturbed area should be restored (Binder, Göttle, & Duan, ). Revegetation is the first step in the restoration process, playing an active role in soil and water conservation and making the land once more conducive to biological activity (Ha, Zhu, Ma, & Cao, ).…”

Principles of Ecological Riverfront Design Redefined

“…The ecological improvement of riverfronts can be divided into two types, that is, River Restoration and River Rehabilitation. Restoration has been referred to projects that have a high potential of meeting the natural condition of the river, while River Rehabilitation was speciic to the river that had been urbanized to the extent that there was limited land available to achieve ecological improvements [1]. This indicates that the implementation of River Restoration and Rehabilitation depends on the current condition of the riverfront.…”

“…Planning Principles, on the other hand, focus on the land area where there is a river lowing. This is the phase where the selection of sites is crucial, especially in urban areas, where the land available for ecological improvements is very limited [1]. As most of the urban development has taken place within the loodplain area, planning concerns such as 100-year loodplain and 'blueield' development should not be left out to prevent the site being vulnerable to looding [28].…”