Edward Maltby

• BSc(Sheffield). PhD(Bristol)
• Professor at University of Liverpool

This paper reviews some of the key influences that wetlands have had on the development of human society together with the history of wetland use, conservation and management in the context of changing human interactions from prehistoric to modern times. It documents the origins of the Ramsar Convention and the changes in the criteria for defining...

Decisions affecting wetlands historically have been dominated by sectoral viewpoints, for example, drainage to improve agriculture or wildlife conservation. Government policies supporting wetland maintenance, where they existed, have been based largely on traditional conservation arguments. Such a nature conservation ethic has been insufficient alo...

Peatland ecosystems contain one-third of the world's soil carbon store and many have been exposed to drought leading to a loss of carbon. Understanding biogeochemical mechanisms affecting decomposition in peatlands is essential for improving resilience of ecosystem function to predicted climate change. We investigated biogeochemical changes along a...

Decisions affecting wetlands historically have been dominated by sectoral viewpoints, for example, drainage to improve agriculture or wildlife conservation. Government policies supporting wetland maintenance, where they existed, have been based largely on traditional conservation arguments. Such a nature conservation ethic has been insufficient alo...

Wetland functional assessment is commonly conducted based on field observations, and thus, is generally limited to small areas. However, there is often a need for wetland managers to obtain information on wetland functional performance over larger areas. For this purpose, we are proposing a new field-based functional assessment procedure in which w...

Short-term effectiveness of drain-blocking in suppressing enzymic peat decomposition and DOC export

Wetlands in agricultural landscapes offer a number of benefits to the landscape function in which they are set, reducing nutrient runoff, providing additional habitat mosaics and offering various ecosystem services. They require careful planning and maintenance in order to perform their optimum design function over a prolonged period of time. They...

Wetlands have been the focus of conflicts in societal priorities throughout human history, with competing demands for water and land use delivering a range of ecosystem services but contributing to severe degradation and loss. Conservation of wetlands is a relatively recent priority, and it has seen more recent shifts from protection of remaining w...

This paper examines the main ecological variables, constraints and perturbations, which control species richness in the communities and community diversity in the river—marginal wetlands of the Shannon (Eire) and the Torridge (Devon, U.K.). Conducted in the framework of a multidisciplinary research programme of the EC (Functional Analysis of Europe...

Soils are predicted to exhibit significant feedback to global warming via the temperature response of greenhouse gas (GHG) production. However, the temperature response of hydromorphic wetland soils is complicated by confounding factors such as oxygen (O2 ), nitrate (NO3-) and soil carbon (C). We examined the effect of a temperature gradient (2-25...

A high priority topic within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) water quality programme is the mitigation of diffuse rural pollution from agriculture. Wetlands are often cited as being effective at reducing nutrient and sediment loadings to receiving waters. However, the research in this area is inconsistent, and whilst...

On 20 April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which released a US government—estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, was responsible for the death of 11 oil workers and, possibly, for an environmental disaster unparalleled in US history. For 87 consecutive days, the Macondo well continuously released crude oil into...

The study aims to establish denitrification potential of the Northern Arabian Gulf (NAG), as nitrogen critically affects the ocean productivity, obliterates acidity, oxidative capacity and radiative transfer capability of atmosphere. The experimental study was conducted by taking cores from intertidal zones from two different sites in North and Sou...

The Darwin Initiative funded project Tool kits for the Sustainable Management of Ghana's Riverine Biodiversity was a collaboration between the Centre for African Wetlands at the University of Ghana, various units of the University of Ghana and the Ghana Wildlife Society. The project also involved collaborators from Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivo...

The ecosystem approach is a widely accepted framework for natural resource management and has been adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as the primary framework for action under the convention. The ecosystem approach, as defined by the CBD, is underpinned by a set of twelve principles and points of operational guidance that are i...

Ecosystem services are natural assets produced by the environment and utilized by humans -- such as clean air, water, food and materials -- and contribute to social and cultural well-being. This concept, arguably, has been developed further in wetlands than any other ecosystem. Wetlands were historically important in producing the extensive coal de...

The importance of uncertainty analysis has been increasingly recognised, due to the influence of uncertainties in data, models and expert judgements. However, the successful integration of uncertainty analysis into multi-criteria analysis (MCA) has rarely been achieved. This paper analyses uncertainty sources in MCA. General methods of uncertainty...

Despite the multiple benefits of naturally functioning wetlands and floodplains, many have been degraded, lost or converted (for example, by drainage) to other uses designed to deliver specific services incompatible with their original condition (such as crop production). Where wetlands are intact, the major reason has been for nature conservation,...

Introduction - Decision making in the context of climate changeTools for decision making and their basesTransfer of science into policyThe role of Decision Support SystemsConclusions References

Linking biophysical aspects of ecosystems with human benefits through the notion of ecosystem services is essential to assess the trade-offs (ecological, socio-cultural, economic and monetary) involved in the loss of ecosystems and biodiversity in a clear and consistent manner. Any ecosystem assessment should be spatially and temporally explicit at...

All ecosystems are shaped by people, directly or indirectly and all people, rich or poor, rural or urban, depend on the capacity of ecosystems to generate essential ecosystem services. In this sense, people and ecosystems are interdependent social-ecological systems. The ecosystem concept describes the interrelationships between living organisms (p...

Forty-two chapters by international experts from a wide range of disciplines make The Wetlands Handbook the essential tool for those seeking comprehensive understanding of the subject. A departure from more traditional treatises, this text examines freshwater wetland ecosystem science from the fundamentals to issues of management and policy. Introd...

IntroductionDrainage and Restoration of the Mesopotamian MarshesReferences

This paper compares decay rates in natural and disturbed peatlands in the southeastern USA and examines relationships between edaphic factors and decay rates. Cellulose decay rates (as tensile strength loss of cotton fibers) were used to compare decomposition potentials in these peatlands. A 1984 pilot experiment included undisturbed short pocosin...

Foreword Natural England commission a range of reports from external contractors to provide evidence and advice to assist us in delivering our duties. The views in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Natural England.

The aim of this guidance is to provide information to enable peatland restoration projects to develop appropriate monitoring programmes. Degraded peatlands are restored for a wide range of reasons. Restoration objectives can include protecting and enhancing biodiversity, improving water quality, reducing flood risk and protecting cultural heritage...

Wetlands perform functions that deliver benefits to society, often referred to as ecosystem services. These ecosystem services include water supply, flood regulation, water purification, climate regulation, biodiversity, agriculture (e.g. grazing land), and amenity. A functional approach to wetland assessment enables a holistic view to be taken of...

IntroductionDirect Impacts of Climate Change on Aquatic SystemsInteraction between Climate Change and the Hydromorphology of Streams and RiversInteractions between Climate Change and EutrophicationInteractions between Climate Change and AcidificationInteractions between Climate Change and Toxic SubstancesDeveloping Indicators of Climate Change for...

IntroductionRestoration of FunctionsExamples of Wetland RestorationFuture PrioritiesReferences

IntroductionDiversity of the Wetland ResourceFunctions and ValuesFactors Promoting Wetland LossCauses of Loss and DegradationManaging Wetland ResourcesConclusions References

Soil cores from river marginal wetlands in the UK, France and Ireland, sampled and contained within PVC piping, were flooded with nitrate-N enriched water. Half of the cores were sterilized prior to flooding to destroy the denitrifying bacteria. The change in nitrate-N concentration in the floodwater was measured over time. It is argued that the ob...

Soil cores from river marginal wetlands from three sites in the UK (Torridge and Severn catchments), sampled and restrained in PVC piping, were flooded with dilute aqueous potassium nitrate. Half of the cores were sterilized prior to flooding to destroy the denitrifying bacteria. The change in nitrate concentration in the flood-water was measured o...

An equation is developed to permit temperature correction (to some chosen reference temperature) for field-based soil columns that measure the depletion of nitrate in the water column above a soil layer where denitrification occurs. The derivation is based on the assumption that the overall nitrate depletion is diffusion controlled by the nitrate f...

Wetland loss and degradation continues worldwide despite increasing evidence from the scientific community of the significant benefits these diverse ecosystems provide to humans,wildlife and the maintenance of environmental conditions. The impact of this increased knowledge and awareness is confirmed by the unprecedented interest currently in the r...

The main objective of these guidelines is to promote the use of floodplains as natural flood defence measures, while at the same time optimising other compatible functions and values through conservation and restoration. It is intended that these guidelines will be used as a tool primarily by policy-makers and decision-makers who are aware of the p...

Natural riverine environments are dynamic, highly productive, biologically diverse ecosystems, and throughout time humans have endeavoured to harness the benefits they can provide. Their alternative development largely has ignored the multi-functional benefits which riverine environments can supply. This has been the result, in part at least, of a...

Wetlands perform functions that support the generation of ecologically, socially and economically important values. European legislation has increasingly recognised the importance of preserving wetland ecosystems. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) embodies many of the existing directives that have implications for wetlands. The EU funded EVALUWET...

Nitrous oxide (N2O) release and denitrification rates were investigated from the intertidal saltmarsh and mudflats of two European river estuaries, the Couesnon in Normandy, France and the Torridge in Devon, UK. Sediment cores and water were collected from each study site and incubated for 72 h in tidal simulation chambers. Gas samples were collect...

In July 2000 a flood defence embankment protecting abandoned agricultural land in the estuary of the River Torridge, Devon, UK, was breached as part of a managed realignment (MR) project. The objective was to restore the agricultural land, reclaimed from saltmarsh some 200 years previously, to its former habitat. Changes to the soil hydrological re...

1 Analyses are presented of major ion concentrations in surface water samples, and exchangeable cations in peats, collected in November–December 1992 from 16 ombrotrophic bogs in England and Wales and one in Scotland, spanning most of the range from the lowest (Dartmoor, west Wales, west Highlands) to the highest (south Pennines, north Yorkshire) o...

This book presents an interdisciplinary approach for agriculture, hydrology and water quality to work towards an improved understanding of the processes involved and impacts of agriculture on water. This consists 22 chapters divided into 3 sections: (1) agriculture as a potential source of water pollution viz., nitrogen, phosphorus, manures, pestic...

On acid sulphate soil in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, surface water quality in the Melaleuca forest was reported as acceptable for irrigation and domestic use. An experiment was investigate to understand how the organic topsoil layer, clay layer, living Melaleuca cajuputi and Eleocharis dulcis improved the quality of acidic surface water. Undisturb...

Rice production on acid sulphate soil areas of the Mekong Delta of Vietnam often releases acid water at the end of the dry season, when there is a lack of water of a suitable quality and for irrigation. This study was conducted to determine whether land where Melaleuca l (Melaleuca cajuputi) grows could be used as reservoir-filter-sink to improve t...

After living matters, soil horizons, and litter decomposition were considered as the factors affected on surface water quality of the Melaleuca forest (Melaleuca cajuputi) on acid sulphate soil at the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, rainwater, passed through the canopy, and surface runoff water from adjacent rice fields may affect the quality of surface w...

After soil horizons and living matter were considered as factors affecting the quality of surface water in the Melaleuca forest (M. cajuputi) on acid sulphate soil in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, litter decomposition could be another factor affecting water quality. To investigate , a series of experiments mimicking field conditions was conducted to...

Measurements of gas fluxes at the soil surface are useful for determining exchanges of gases between the soil and the atmosphere, but they may not be representative of total gas production below the surface. Here we present an improved technique that enables sampling of soil atmosphere gas from any depth in the soil profile, regardless of soil mois...

Soil cores from river marginal wetlands from the Torridge and Severn catchments in the UK were collected to study rates of soil denitrification at different sites and at two stations (levee and backplain depression) at the river margin. Half the cores were sterilized prior to flooding to destroy the denitrifying bacteria. After flooding and equilib...

Wetlands all over the world have been lost or are threatened in spite of various international agreements and national policies. This is caused by: (1) the public nature of many wetlands products and services; (2) user externalities imposed on other stakeholders; and (3) policy intervention failures that are due to a lack of consistency among gover...

In this experimental study, we simulated the effects of different river flooding regimes on soil nutrient availability, decomposition and plant production in floodplain grasslands. This was done to investigate the influences of soil water contents on nutrient cycling. Water levels were manipulated in mesocosms with intact soil turfs from two French...

The Sweet Track is the oldest known wooden trackway in Europe. Part of the trackway is preserved in situ in a nature reserve under an active system of hydrological management, designed to prevent damage to the monument from desiccation. The English Heritage-funded project, reported here, was established to assess the condition of the monument and t...

Wetland ecosystems perform functions which give rise to goods and services for direct and indirect human use, environmental quality and biodiversity. Yet policies for wetland protection and management, especially in Europe and the developing world, have been based primarily on wildlife criteria and traditional nature conservation approaches. This c...

Interest in the use of buffer zones for the protection of surface water bodies from diffuse agricultural pollution is increasing in the UK. Current protocol for buffer zone location recommends they are established adjacent to the water body, typically in the riparian zones of rivers and streams. In many situations this may be the most efficient loc...

Although soil organic matter decomposition is an important process determining nutrient transformations and availability in wetland ecosystems, few studies have attempted to assess which environmental factors are most important in controlling spatial differences in decomposition rates found along environmental gradients. Relative soil decomposition...

Interest in the use of buffer zones for the protection of surface water bodies from diffuse agricultural pollution is increasing in the UK. Current protocol for buffer zone location recommends they are established adjacent to the water body, typically in the riparian zones of rivers and streams. In many situations this may be the most efficient loc...

Abstract Wetlands provide many important services to human society, but are at the same time ecologically sensitive systems. This explains why,in recent years much,attention has been focused on sustainable management,strategies for wetlands. Both natural and social sciences can jointly contribute to an increased understanding,of relevant processes...

Wetlands all over the world have been lost or are threatened in spite of various international agreements and national policies. This is caused by: (1) the public nature of many wetlands products and services; (2) user externalities imposed on other stakeholders; and (3) policy intervention failures that are due to a lack of consistency among gover...

Distribution of wetland communities and growth characteristics of dominant macrophyte species were studied in the SE and NW parts of the Yucatan Peninsula. Plant, water and soil samples were collected from 40 marshes ranging from permanently flooded to seasonally drying. Marsh soils were identified as either peats, mark or clays with many intergrad...

The need in Europe for a functional approach to wetland assessment and the requirement for a better science base to improve the understanding and quantification of dynamic processes results from the failure of traditional nature conservation criteria to protect wetlands against loss and degradation. The rationale behind the development of the funct...

Current methods of determining critical loads for mineral soils cannot be applied to dystrophic peat. The experiment described here aims to a) investigate how peat responds to increases and decreases in acid deposition and b) calculate a critical load.

Critical loads of acidity for mineral soils can be set according to the capacity of the underlying bedrock to replenish the base cations leached by acid deposition. Unfortunately, this relatively simple approach cannot be applied to peat, one of the most widely occurring soil types in the wetter, western areas of Europe. These organic soils depend...

1 Bryophytes played a dominating role in recolonizing bare surfaces left by severe fires which destroyed the vegetation and variable amounts of peat on parts of the North York Moors in the dry summer of 1976. Ashed peat (AH) was normally first colonised by Ceratodon purpureus, followed by Polytrichum piliferum with dominance later tending to pass t...

We compared process rates related to nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in similar types of wetlands that occurred in Maryland and the Netherlands. Rates of functions were different in wetlands dominated by mineral soils compared to wetlands dominated by peat substrates. Another important finding is that high nitrogen deposition in The Netherlands wa...

Wetlands pose some of today's most contentious, difficult, and politically sensitive environmental questions. Examples are examined to illustrate the two main themes which underpin the concern for wetlands worldwide: a rapidly diminishing resource base and a growing awareness of wetland values. The Everglades is important not only at a national lev...