Supposed Effects of Wetland Restoration on Hydrological Conditions and the Provisioning Ecosystem Services—A Model-Based Case Study at a Hungarian Lowland Catchment

Abstract

Climate change and water scarcity increase the vulnerability of crop production and other ecosystem services (ES) in flood-protected lowlands under a continental climate. Restoration of wetlands leads to a higher water-buffering capacity of the landscape, strengthening various ecosystem services, and fostering adaptation to climatic, ecological, and agricultural challenges. Such restoration efforts require extensive land-use change, leading to trade-offs in provisioning and regulating ES. However, knowledge is limited about these situations, especially in the case of lowland areas. Here, we introduce a hydrological analysis in a 243 km2 flood-protected catchment in the Great Hungarian Plain, mapping the potential hydrological effects of water-retention scenarios on groundwater levels. We point out how the simulated groundwater levels will be used for estimating the changes in crop yields and tree growth (provisioning services). The introduced hydrological analysis and preliminary results for crop-yield estimates suggest a significant and scalable capacity for a nature-based hydrological adaptation: the extent of inundated areas could be increased stepwise and water retention could locally compensate dry periods due to the buffering effect of inundated meanders.

Ecological Risks Arising for the Regional Water Resources in Inner Mongolia due to a Large-scale Afforestation Project

“…According to Chinaʹs ecological plan for the next 15 years, in order to achieve carbon neutrality and carbon peak, the national forest coverage rate will reach 26% by 2035, which indicates that China will continue its afforestation program in the future. Therefore, we suggest that: (1) To avoid afforestation in arid and semi-arid areas, so as not to cause a permanent decline in regional water storage capacity; (2) Selecting suitable vegetation according to local conditions is an important prerequisite for promoting ecological restoration and sustainable development [56]; (3) The formulation of an optimized groundwater extraction plan is one of the most effective management strategies to protect and maintain the current ecological environment and ecosystem [57][58][59]; (4) As the climate of the Inner Mongolia Plateau is warmer and wetter, the increase of precipitation in the future may reduce the ecological risks caused by afforestation [31,60].…”

Ecological Risks Arising in the Regional Water Resources in Inner Mongolia Due to a Large-Scale Afforestation Project

“…According to China's ecological plan for the next 15 years, in order to achieve carbon neutrality and carbon peak, the national forest coverage rate will reach 26% by 2035, which indicates that China will continue its afforestation program in the future. Therefore, we suggest (1) avoiding afforestation in arid and semi-arid areas, so as not to cause a permanent decline in regional water storage capacity; (2) selecting suitable vegetation according to local conditions, as this is an important prerequisite for promoting ecological restoration and sustainable development [57]; and (3) developing an optimized groundwater extraction plan since this is one of the most effective management strategies to protect and maintain the current ecological environment and ecosystem [58][59][60]. It should also be noted that as the climate of the Inner Mongolia Plateau is warmer and wetter, the increase in precipitation in the future may reduce the ecological risks caused by afforestation [33,61].…”

Assessment of Ecosystem Services at Different Scales

“…Nine articles were published in this Special Issue. Two papers [20,21] focused solely on the assessment of ESs at a national scale, five [22][23][24][25][26] covered only regional scale assessments, and one paper [27] showed the results of a valuation at two scales (regional and national). There was an article [28] that analyzed the possibility of using the ES concept in environmental impact assessments.…”