Recent advances in wetland degradation research

Abstract

During the 21st century, economic development, urbanization and global climate change have caused the degradation of wetlands. This global problem has become a major research focus of present wetland science. Wetland degradation was also the main topic of the international wetlands conference held nearly 10 years. Research on wetland degradation has rapidly developed to form a large body of work; however, a unified theoretical framework has yet to emerge. There are still many questions that should be investigated, even if there is no uniform concept of wetland degradation. In China, study of wetland degradation has developed relatively slowly, and there has been a lack of quantitative, in-depth research. In this paper, we discuss the concept of wetland degradation and review the recent advances that have been made in wetlands degradation research in nine areas: wetland degradation standards, degradation characteristics, classification of degradation, degradation process and mechanism, index system for degradation monitoring, index system for degradation assessment, new technology for degradation monitoring, ecological restoration theory and technology of degraded wetlands. We also analyze current problems of wetland degradation in China and propose areas for future research. The findings from research show that the process and mechanism of wetland degradation arise from synergistic impacts of multiple stress factors. This includes climate change impacts on biogeochemical wetland processes, especially the nutrient cycling process, and on hydrological wetland processes at the catchment scale, particularly from rising sea levels. Theory and practice of wetland management for restoration and reconstruction, wetland degradation assessment and monitoring technology, wetland degradation assessment indexes and identification of stress factor intensity thresholds during wetland degradation have all

Transformation of treeless depression wetlands in Central Europe over the last 100 years: Włoszczowa Basin (southern Poland) case study

“…Human impact on the environment has been gradually increasing for thousands of years. However, in the 20th and 21st centuries, anthropogenic pressure impacts, including developments in agriculture and, more recently, climate change, have seriously threatened the stability of wetland ecosystems both regionally and globally (Dayong et al, 2012). The results of these threats are severe wetland degradation and a large reduction in wetland area (Khaledian et al, 2017;Wu et al, 2021).…”

Attenuation of the contribution of groundwater to a wetland caused by groundwater overexploitation

“…Wetland degradation refers to the unreasonable, weakened or even lost structure and function of wetland ecosystems under the influence of unreasonable human activities or adverse natural factors and leads to the degradation of system stability, resilience, productivity and service functions at multiple levels. Wetland degradation includes three important parts: the degradation of organisms, soil and water [1,2] . Among them, water is decisive in maintaining the stability and health of wetland ecosystems [3] .…”

Attenuation of the contribution of groundwater to a wetland caused by groundwater overexploitation

“…Wetland degradation refers to the unreasonable, weakened or even lost structure and function of wetland ecosystems under the influence of unreasonable human activities or adverse natural factors and leads to the degradation of system stability, resilience, productivity and service functions at multiple levels. Wetland degradation includes three important parts: the degradation of organisms, soil and water (Han et al, 2012). Among them, water is decisive in maintaining the stability and health of wetland ecosystems (Zhang et al, 2008).…”