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Temporary wetlands: challenges and solutions to conserving a ‘disappearing’ ecosystem
... In northeastern North America, 56% of amphibian species use vernal pools to breed, develop, forage, and hibernate (Calhoun and deMaynadier 2008). Vernal pools, which are temporary depressional wetlands, are often excluded from wetland protection guidelines due to their small size and temporary hydrology (Semlitsch and Bodie 1998;Calhoun et al. 2017). Despite the rich biodiversity vernal pools support, current federal wetland regulations under the Clean Water Act in the United States only apply to large wetlands (i.e., > 0.04 ha) that have permanent surface connections to navigable waters (Mushet et al. 2015). ...
... Continued loss and degradation of vernal pools has led to mitigation efforts that include vernal pool creation (i.e., construction of a new pool where it did not formerly exist) and restoration (i.e., rehabilitation of existing vernal pools) (Calhoun et al. 2014;Schlatter, Faist, and Collinge 2016). However, creation and restoration of vernal pools is notoriously difficult because of their seasonal water regime and the need to protect adjacent intact, largely forested post-breeding habitat for biphasic amphibians (Lichko and Calhoun 2003;Semlitsch and Skelley 2008;Calhoun et al. 2017). Conserving and restoring landscapes that contain multiple vernal pools with different hydroperiods connected by high-quality upland forest habitat enables populations to adapt to a changing environment (Calhoun et al. 2017). ...
... However, creation and restoration of vernal pools is notoriously difficult because of their seasonal water regime and the need to protect adjacent intact, largely forested post-breeding habitat for biphasic amphibians (Lichko and Calhoun 2003;Semlitsch and Skelley 2008;Calhoun et al. 2017). Conserving and restoring landscapes that contain multiple vernal pools with different hydroperiods connected by high-quality upland forest habitat enables populations to adapt to a changing environment (Calhoun et al. 2017). Habitat connectivity is especially important to the regional viability of vernal pool-breeding amphibians, such the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) and the North American wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus), which require upland habitat to forage and hibernate but return to natal ponds for breeding (Berven and Grudzien 1990). ...
The decline of biodiversity, particularly among amphibians, is strongly associated with habitat loss and fragmentation. Vernal pools are a critical ecosystem for many pool‐breeding amphibians, but they are often overlooked in wetland protection guidelines. Mitigation efforts include vernal pool creation and restoration, but these efforts have varying success in replacing lost functions. This study investigates the success of created vernal pools through long‐term environmental monitoring of wood frogs and spotted salamanders (2014–2023) and integrates population genetics to assess the local population health of the wood frog. First, we monitored and compared environmental parameters and reproductive success of indicator species between natural and created pools in a Pennsylvania state park. We then used microsatellite loci to assess within‐ and between‐pool measures of genetic diversity, population structuring, and gene flow for wood frogs. We found two carefully designed created pools positively contributed to local amphibian population persistence by maintaining similar measures of genetic diversity as compared to natural pools. On the other hand, one poorly created pool was genetically distinct and acted as a population sink. Although our findings offer valuable insights, they are based on a limited sample and may not fully represent the broader landscape. However, by integrating genetic information into long‐term monitoring datasets, our interdisciplinary approach enhances our understanding of amphibian population dynamics in vernal pool ecosystems. Our findings imply that the most important factors for restoration practitioners to consider when creating or restoring vernal pools are hydroperiod (12–35 weeks), volume (> 50 m³), depth (≥ 30 cm), and surrounding forest land cover (> 60%). These variables are better predictors of indicator species success than pool type (i.e., natural or created). Ultimately, this study emphasizes the need to accompany restoration efforts with long‐term monitoring programs that can be used to make adaptive management decisions in an era of extreme environmental change.
... Although waterbodies with an ice phase can be also considered temporary waters, they were excluded from this study because of their different ecological functioning. Lentic ecosystems have frequent dry periods (Williams et al. 2001, Faustino de Queiroz et al. 2022, characterized by their hydroregime (Vanschoenwinkel et al. 2009, Lukács et al. 2013, Calhoun et al. 2017. The hydroperiod length is strongly relevant to biological functioning (Williams 2006). ...
... According to the Ramsar Convention (2013), wetlands is a common term that includes marshes, peatland and fens, ponds, pools, ditches, lakes, ponds, lagoons, floodplains, estuaries, or coastal zones. These terms are more frequently associated waterbodies found in temperate regions of Oceania, North America, and Europe, although waterbodies located in regions with reduced seasonality have not been considered (Brinson and Malvárez 2002, Williams 2006, Calhoun et al. 2017, but see Rzóska 1961, Batzer and. ...
... Land use change is one of the most important drivers of increased loads of nutrients and organic matter in aquatic ecosystems (Trolle et al. 2019). Threatened by pesticide and fertilizer contamination, salinization, invasive species, and habitat alteration and loss (Cañedo-Argüelles et al. 2016, Calhoun et al. 2017, temporary waters are particularly vulnerable to climate change because of their isolation and short hydroperiod. Moreover, these shallow ecosystems are susceptible to drastic hydroperiods; permanent ponds can become semipermanent, seasonal, or intermittent while temporary ponds can easily be modified to be permanent (Gómez-Rodríguez et al. 2010;Arenas-Sánchez et al. 2016, Boix et al. 2020. ...
Temporary lentic waters, those which alternate wet and dry periods, are globally distributed and highly prevalent on Earth and can be classified according to their hydroperiod. We used a scientometric perspective, to summarize the knowledge about temporary lentic ecosystems in 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries. We conducted a topic search in Web of Science (WoS) using various keyword combinations of hydroperiod type (temporary, ephemeral, intermittent, episodic and seasonal), type of aquatic lentic ecosystem (wetland, pond, pool, lake and lagoon) and the name of the country. Final searches and screenings provided 608 publications. To analyze the data, we used two qualitative approaches. We generated word clouds to ascertain the primary research topics concerning temporary lentic waters in Latin America. In addition, we constructed a bipartite network to visualize the geographical distribution of publications by topics. Knowledge gaps observed were geographical, encompassing disparities between and within countries, and thematic, as certain topics have received limited attention. Moreover, we detected a terminology gap: a lack of consensus about the terms used that are associated with temporary waters and a collaborative gap: the study of temporary waters has historically been fragmented in Latin America. Finally, we attempted to unravel the potential factors contributing to these knowledge gaps. By revealing major gaps in understanding the structure and functioning of temporary water bodies in the region, our study provides a valuable tool for identifying pertinent research areas to be explored in the future.
... Vernal pools are small, temporary wetlands that are hydrologically isolated and fill up with water each spring to form pools that a variety of amphibians and invertebrates depend on for habitat and reproduction (Karraker and Gibbs 2009;Calhoun and deMaynadier 2008). The temporary nature of vernal pools keeps them free of fish and reduces the populations of other predators, providing feeding and resting places for amphibians and allowing them to breed with greater success (Calhoun et al. 2017;Rothenberger and Baranovic 2021;Hofmeister et al. 2022;Luymes and Chow-Fraser Samantha R. Kurkowski srkurkow@mtu.edu 1.6 kg P annually from vernal pools into the surrounding forests (Capps et al. 2015). ...
... Although vernal pools are vital to forests and wildlife, management and conservation of these features is lacking due to their temporary nature, small size, and the extent to which they are integrated into the forest matrix (Calhoun et al. 2003). The wide inter-annual variability in hydrologic conditions also makes it difficult to locate them, as pools may not always be inundated in spring, especially during dry years, and they are typically dry in the summer (Calhoun et al. 2017). These challenges will become increasingly difficult as climate change alters precipitation patterns and droughts become more frequent (Cartwright et al. 2022). ...
... Considering the forest surrounding vernal pools as well as the pools themselves is equally important in maintaining functional vernal pools, as amphibians and other vernal pool users spend most of their life in the upland leaf litter after mating, and canopy cover helps vernal pools persist longer into the summer by reducing evaporation rates (Richter et al. 2013;Gibbons 2003). Without proper protection, vernal pools are vulnerable to land use changes, climate change, forestry and agricultural operations, and urbanization (Preisser et al. 2000;Burne and Griffin 2005;Calhoun et al. 2017). ...
Vernal pools are small, ephemeral wetlands that become inundated each spring and provide many ecosystem services, including providing critical habitat to amphibians and invertebrates as their temporary nature keeps them free of fish. We collected data on vernal pool characteristics throughout five Great Lakes National Parks: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Isle Royale National Park, and Voyagers National Parks. Our goals were to characterize and assess how vernal pools vary within and across the five national parks, and determine which characteristics are most correlated with the presence of vernal pool indicator species. We sampled 139 pools during spring of 2021 and 2022 where we collected data on pool characteristics related to hydrology, soils, vegetation, geomorphology, and indicator species. We found that vernal pool substrate and forest type does vary between the different parks. Many vernal pool qualities are driven by the type of substrate they occur on and overstory canopy species and amount of tree cover. We also created a classification system that most highly correlated to indicator species presence and can be used in remote sensing products, resulting in a three-class system based on overstory species composition: Deciduous, Coniferous, and Open. Indicator species were more likely to occur in pools with either a deciduous or open canopy than pools with a coniferous canopy. This information can be used to inform land managers within the Great Lakes of vernal pool characteristics they can expect, and which pools are hotspots for indicator species.
... In defining ponds in legal acts, apart from taking into account the surface, depth and persistence because of the practicality of protection, it is first necessary to consider their uniqueness. This must be founded on a scientific basis with regard to the importance and vulnerability of these sensitive habitats, as confirmed by many scientific studies (Oertli et al., 2002;Gaston et al., 2005;Mazerolle et al., 2006;EPCN, 2008;Céréghino et al., 2014;Rosset et al., 2014;Bagella et al., 2016;Janssen et al., 2016;Speybroeck et al., 2016;Vesi c, Blaženči c &Šinžar-Sekuli c, 2016;Calhoun et al., 2017;Deacon, Samways & Pryke, 2018;Hill et al., 2018;Damnjanovi c, 2019;Magnus & Rannap, 2019). A summary of the significance and fragility of pond habitats is given in the Supporting Information S1 ...
... With regard to catchment integrity, the importance of hydrology is often neglected. Despite much interest in management, the protection of ponds as pondscapes has not been achieved to date (Saunders, Meeuwig & Vincent, 2002;Calhoun et al., 2017). There are no international standard protocols for the design and management of ponds, as the focus is primarily on species and population conservation, and is determined by economic, cultural and political factors (Saunders, Meeuwig & Vincent, 2002;Golubovi c, Grabovac & Popovi c, 2017). ...
... In Asia, the situation regarding pond protection differs from region to region. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, for example, there is an umbrella law -A Water Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan Despite the extreme importance of ponds for unique biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, and the fact that they are under threat, their inadequate legal protection and the insufficient exploration of their extent and distribution are recognized (Downing et al., 2006;Céréghino et al., 2014;Janssen et al., 2016;Calhoun et al., 2017;Hunter et al., 2017;Richardson et al., 2022). Such small water bodies are not sufficiently or adequately safeguarded under international legislation, and receive little protection under regional or local laws and policies (Williams et al., 2004;EPCN, 2008;Boix et al., 2012;Céréghino et al., 2014;Bagella et al., 2016;Janssen et al., 2016;Oertli, 2018). ...
Ponds, the most numerous freshwater habitats globally, are becoming increasingly recognized as being important for rare, endemic and endangered species, owing to the high levels of biodiversity they support and their role in ecosystem services. However, they remain largely overlooked and widely excluded from policies that might protect them. Even though their size and permanence are highly important for their legal protection, these two characteristics are not precisely and universally defined in theory and in international legal documents.
International legislative frameworks do not seem to provide global, comprehensive, or detailed protection of ponds as significant and widespread habitats. On the contrary, they safeguard only fragmentary small water bodies – either by protecting certain types or only those that are parts of larger protected areas. Also, pondscapes are not specifically recognized as forms in need of legal protection.
In this paper, the complexity of the legal protection of ponds is presented, followed by recommendations. These should be transformed into legal norms, and given their number and complexity be presented within a single, unique convention that would specifically address the protection of ponds globally. This type of protection would be the most effective legal tool.
... In addition to common water quality problems faced by permanent wetlands, such as eutrophication and brownification (Broyer 2009;Dudgeon 2010;Blanchet et al. 2022), temporary wetlands are also in danger of disappearing completely due to climate change and drainage (Curado et al. 2011;Ruhí et al. 2012b;Remm et al. 2015;Death et al. 2016;Evans et al. 2017;Montgomery et al. 2018;James et al. 2019;Mitchell et al. 2022). Their small size and/or temporality render them easily overlooked (Semlitsch and Bodie 1998;Martin et al. 2012;Calhoun 2014Calhoun , 2017. Until recently, they have hence been globally disregarded in nature conservation regulations (with some exceptions e.g. ...
... Creating wetlands without prior consideration regarding the ecological requirements of the targeted organisms may lead to unsuccessful management actions (Wheeler et al. 2002;Piczak et al. 2023). A detailed beforehand study of the entire area, including the historical and current state of vernal pools, is necessary when planning mitigation projects (Calhoun et al. 2017). One challenging task is the ability to create/recreate the hydrology of temporary wetlands. ...
Temporary wetlands have mostly been disregarded in freshwater habitat regulation (with noticeable exceptions such as turloughs) leading to their global degradation despite their high value in terms of diverse ecosystem services. Wetland creation may be used to mitigate this habitat loss. In this review, we compiled information on the ecological features of temporary wetlands based on 45 scientific publications. We identified seven types of natural temporary wetlands to be emulated in wetland construction and their restoration in the Northern Hemisphere, with hydroperiod lengths ranging from less than one month in ephemeral ponds to multi-year floods. We highlight the biodiversity associated with various hydroperiods, and show that different organisms use different temporary wetland types. We give examples of how temporary wetland creation has been used for biodiversity enhancement and list characteristics of created temporary wetlands. Colonization of the newly created temporary wetlands by aquatic macroinvertebrates and amphibians was rapid, but species compositions differed from reference sites. Finally, we provide management recommendations for creating temporary wetlands to support high biodiversity. We highlight the importance of hydroperiod management, creating banks with gradual slopes, enhancing macrophyte vegetation and fish absence to promote biodiversity in created temporary wetlands. Monitoring and ongoing management practices are discussed as tools for ensuring management targets in the long term. For example, performing partial or full drawdowns at temporary wetlands with long multi-year hydroperiods are discussed. On the landscape level, we recommend planning a network of well-connected heterogeneous wetlands with different hydroperiods to enhance colonization and dispersal, and thereby biodiversity.
... A spatially explicit inventory is essential to manage temporary wetlands on a landscape scale effectively [8,18]. Atmospheric conditions, the spatial resolution of the sensor being used [19], the cryptic nature of wetlands, and their short hydroperiods can limit the remote detection of small wetlands, as explained above. ...
... In conclusion, wetland inventories still need to be improved in many regions worldwide (e.g., China, South America, and Russia); additionally, small and ephemeral wetlands are often ignored or not identified in those areas where inventories have already been conducted [17,18]. Their small size, short hydroperiod, or severe disturbance-most of them has been transformed into farmland-make these ponds undetectable by most remote sensing systems. ...
Mediterranean temporary ponds are a priority habitat according to the Natura 2000 network of the European Union, and complete inventories of these ecosystems are therefore needed. Their small size, short hydroperiod, or severe disturbance make these ponds undetectable by most remote sensing systems. Here we show, for the first time, that the distributed hydrologic model IBER+ detects ephemeral and even extinct wetlands by fully exploiting the available digital elevation model and resolving many microtopographic features at drainage basin scales of about 1000 km2. This paper aims to implement a methodology for siting flood-prone areas that can potentially host a temporary wetland, validating the results with historical orthophotos and existing wetlands inventories. Our model succeeds in dryland endorheic catchments of the Upper Guadalquivir Basin: it has detected 89% of the previously catalogued wetlands and found four new unknown wetlands. In addition, we have found that 24% of the detected wetlands have disappeared because of global change. Subsequently, environmental managers could use the proposed methodology to locate wetlands quickly and cheaply. Finding wetlands would help monitor their conservation and restore them if needed.
... In turn, most species are unable to live in permanent water bodies as they are highly susceptible to fish predation (Vanschoenwinkel et al., 2013). However, during recent decades many temporary pools were destroyed due to wetland drainage, river channelization and conversion of river floodplains into arable fields or permanent water bodies (Calhoun et al., 2017;Eder et al., 2014). Due to the loss of temporary pools, large branchiopods are currently among the most threatened organisms (Gołdyn et al., 2019). ...
... Common Frog (Rana temporaria) uses woodlots as a terrestrial habitat to spend adult stages (Boissinot et al. 2019) and forages in agricultural fields (Garcia-Padron, 2021). Natural areas such as forest patches and wetlands within agricultural landscapes are also important for various amphibian species (Calhoun et al. 2017;Goldspiel et al. 2019). Different amphibian species associated with agriculture land are known to disperse into the nearby habitats (Mazerolle 2004;Miaud and Sanuy 2005;Daversa et al. 2012;Searcy et al. 2018;Shine et al. 2021). ...
Information on responses of amphibian species to short term changes or disturbance in their habitats, such as agricultural activities is scarce. We conducted the present study to see if the movement of amphibians differ in accordance with snout-vent length, seasons (pre-harvesting, post-harvesting and during harvest) and availability of other nearby habitats (open space, wetlands, forest) around croplands. Of the studied two toad species, Duttaphrynus stomaticus (0–86 m, 6.02 ± 0.93 m) showed highest movement followed by D. bengalensis (0–65, 4.34 ± 0.75). Among frog species, Minervarya pierrei showed highest movement (3–20, 9.18 ± 1.13), Euphlyctis spp. (0-7.5, 1.25 ± 0.20), and Microhyla nilphamariensis (0–9, 3 ± 0.68). Our data on movement (pooled for seasons and habitats) revealed that the movements in the studied species were statistically alike. We found statistically significant difference in the distance covered by D. bengalensis, D. stomaticus, and Euphlyctis spp. among the studied habitats. Our results showed statistically significant difference in the distance covered by D. stomaticus during the three seasons with higher movement during the harvesting season. We found statistically significant effect of season on the movement of D. stomaticus, of habitats on D. bengalensis movement and of snout-vent length on Euphlyctis spp. movement while none of the studied variable had any effect on the movement of M. pierrei and M. nilphamariensis. Our findings show that anuran species from these families move to different nearby habitats, such as uncultivated land, forest patch, and wetlands, within the landscape in response to any disturbance or degradation such as harvesting of the crops.
... Therefore, for seasonal wetlands that are intensively managed, determining optimal t-OM input is critical to balance the tradeoff. In natural ecosystems, with widespread rising temperature and shifting precipitation regimes under climate change, shallow temporary freshwater ecosystems might become more prevalent: with perennial streams turning into intermittent ones, permanent wetlands becoming seasonal, and intense floods temporarily submerging vast areas of lands (Hirabayashi et al. 2013;Calhoun et al. 2017;Hammond et al. 2021). As these ecosystems alternate between aquatic and terrestrial phases, they are critical in linking terrestrial, freshwater, and atmospheric carbon pools. ...
Studies of terrestrial support of aquatic food webs have focused primarily on terrestrial organic matter (t‐OM) directly used by animal and microbial consumers. However, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) released from t‐OM might also support aquatic primary producers, a key resource for zooplankton and upper trophic levels. Using 2‐yr ¹³C measurements of algae, zooplankton, terrestrial detritus, sediments, dissolved and particulate organic matter from six seasonal wetlands, we found that in January when algal concentration was low, zooplankton used t‐OM directly or heterotrophic microbes that decompose t‐OM, but in March and May zooplankton was mainly supported by algae as their basal resources, and the algae used DIC derived from the mineralization and methanogenesis of t‐OM, suggesting the DIC pathway of terrestrial support of aquatic food webs. The decomposition of abundant t‐OM from both bed sediments and water column caused high concentrations of DIC. Despite uptake by algae, about half of DIC produced in January and March ended up as emissions to the atmosphere in the form of CO2. This finding revealed the dual roles of t‐OM in maintaining the productivity and stability of aquatic food webs and in contributing to global carbon emissions. This duality poses challenges for simultaneously mitigating carbon emissions and conserving biological communities in seasonal wetlands. Finally, wide seasonal differences in δ¹³C in DIC (−12.4‰ to 6.7‰) were observed, mainly driven by air–water CO2 exchange and photosynthesis, suggesting that ¹³C may be a powerful tool to investigate carbon cycling in shallow, temporary freshwater ecosystems that are widespread but understudied.
... Despite their immense value, over half of the world's wetlands have disappeared in recent decades due to drainage and filling [8]. The surrounding landscape of the remaining wetlands is undergoing significant changes, which may adversely affect their condition and functionality [9]. Therefore, it is essential to develop rapid methods for identifying, extracting, analyzing, and evaluating ...
Given global climate change and rapid land cover changes due to human activities, accurately identifying, extracting, and monitoring the long-term evolution of wetland resources is profoundly significant, particularly in areas with fragile ecological conditions. Gansu Province, located in northwest China, contains all wetland types except coastal wetlands. The complexity of its wetland types has resulted in a lack of accurate and comprehensive information on wetland changes. Using Gansu Province as a case study, we employed the GEE platform and Landsat time-series satellite data, combining high-quality sample datasets with feature-optimized multi-source feature sets. The random forest algorithm was utilized to create wetland classification maps for Gansu Province across eight periods from 1987 to 2020 at a 30 m resolution and to quantify changes in wetland area and type. The results showed that the wetland mapping method achieved robust classification results, with an average overall accuracy (OA) of 96.0% and a kappa coefficient of 0.954 across all years. The marsh type exhibited the highest average user accuracy (UA) and producer accuracy (PA), at 96.4% and 95.2%, respectively. Multi-source feature aggregation and feature optimization effectively improve classification accuracy. Topographic and seasonal features were identified as the most important for wetland extraction, while textural features were the least important. By 2020, the total wetland area in Gansu Province was 10,575.49 km2, a decrease of 4536.86 km2 compared to 1987. The area of marshes decreased the most, primarily converting into grasslands and forests. River, lake, and constructed wetland types generally exhibited an increasing trend with fluctuations. This study provides technical support for wetland ecological protection in Gansu Province and offers a reference for wetland mapping, monitoring, and sustainable development in arid and semi-arid regions.
... Because of their size, lack of permanent connections to regulated waterbodies, and the difficulty of locating them remotely and in the field, vernal pools are often overlooked by wetland regulations and may receive little protection under current laws. Classification systems operating at local to national scales can enable wetland identification and protection (e.g., Junk et al. 2014;Melly et al. 2017;Ollis et al. 2013), but methodology and data availability may confound identification of significant wetlands (Robertson and Fitzsimons 2004;Calhoun et al. 2017), however "significance" is defined. Prevention of wetland loss and degradation and science-based advice and guidance are two of several focus areas of the Ramsar Convention for global wetland protection (Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 2022). ...
Vernal pools—small seasonal wetlands—provide critical breeding habitat for many species but are under-protected in environmental regulation. Because vernal pools are not rare in the northeastern United States, regulatory emphasis is typically placed on protecting “significant” vernal pools yet scientific criteria for determining thresholds for conservation significance remain poorly developed. We used an evidence-based approach to identify thresholds of pool significance based on populations of breeding amphibians in five ecoregions and across urbanization gradients of New York State, where a recent revision to wetland law allows regulation based on amphibian productivity. We combined existing population survey data with new surveys to yield a dataset of 587 pools for estimating statistical distributions of productivity of two indicator species: spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) and wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). Spotted salamander egg mass counts were significantly lower in highly developed landscapes. Larger pools were generally more productive for both species yet no single habitat feature reliably predicted high egg mass counts. Pool incidence and productivity also varied regionally: the Hudson-Mohawk region hosted the most known vernal pools and highest egg mass counts and the Lake Plain region the fewest known pools. Our dataset yielded threshold options for guiding pool protection that varied by the proportion of pools targeted. We suggest a lower standard for protecting pools in high-development areas and that presence of other pool-breeding indicator species could also qualify pools for significance. These recommendations can guide regulators in affording protection critical to small wetland habitats specific to regional and landscape contexts.
... The use of aquatic invertebrates as a measure of water quality is important during ecological monitoring studies (Arimoro & Ikomi 2009: Calhoun et al., 2017. Invertebrates provide an index of environmental change due to their short life cycles and high sensitivity to pollutants (Anderson et al. 2013;Gaufin 1973;Rinne 1990). ...
Aquatic invertebrate community composition was sampled over 10 months in ephemeral and permanent pools along the upper segment of an ephemeral stream in Central Texas. A total of 67 total taxa were documented during this study. The highest numbers of taxa by total count found during the study were Hyalella, Chironomidae, Physa, and Caenis with total counts ranging from 1957 to 7437 individuals. Taxa with total moderate counts ranging between 209 and 856 individuals were Oligochaeta, Helobdella, Corbicula, Cyclopoida, Planorbis, and Berosus. Twelve different functional feeding groups were observed with collector-gathers-shredder accounting for 29.1%. The Pollution Tolerance Level was highest from 6 to 9 and peaked at 8 for both permanent and ephemeral pools indicating poor water quality. Based on the Hilsenhoff Family Biotic Index (FBI), the FBI was estimated to 7.47 and 7.53 for permanent and ephemeral pools, respectively, indicating poor water quality high in organic matter. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) taxa were represented by 5.3 and 18.2% of the total counts in permanent and ephemeral pools, respectively. All other taxa, excluding EPT taxa, represented 94.7 and 81.8% of the total counts in permanent and ephemeral pools, respectively. Our results indicate the runoff from adjacent urban areas resulted in reduced water quality within the pools based on aquatic invertebrate taxa. With reduced protection of ephemeral streams under the 2023 Supreme Court WOTUS decision, water quality and biodiversity will continue to decline and impact perennial river water quality longitudinally during flow events.
... Being temporary and typically small these temporary ecosystems are very fragile and extremely vulnerable to environmental change since they are mainly filled each spring by snowmelt or rain. Thus, changes in precipitation or temperature will affect their water level and quality in turn affecting their functioning and biodiversity (Lowe et al. 2015;Calhoun et al. 2017;Parra et al. 2021). These seasonal temporary wetlands are important breeding habitats for amphibians such as newts (Gómez-Rodríguez et al. 2009) due to the absence of predatory fish and the subsequent abundance of invertebrate prey (Compton et al. 2007). ...
Amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates, facing multiple ecological stressors eg landscape degradation and habitat loss causing their rapid decline. Smooth newts (Lissotriton vulgaris) are semi-aquatic amphibians widely distributed in Europe. In landscapes newts have high demand of terrestrial and aquatic habitat types due to both habitats being essential to complete their life cycle. In boreal forests, forestry activities contribute to the decreasing number of wetlands, thus potentially affecting amphibian populations. In addition, water quality in the remaining wetlands is under multiple pressures: from eutrophication to the recently observed brownification phenomenon which is characterized by an increase in surface water color towards a yellow-brown hue. This latter process is mainly driven by increasing amount of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and dissolved iron (Fe) from terrestrial to aquatic environment and the declining deposit of atmospheric sulfur. Brownification has direct and indirect ecological effects on aquatic and semi-aquatic species. The attenuation of sunlight penetration by DOM affects eg primary production altering biological communities. While brownification may provide some benefits such as reducing harmful UV radiation, it can also pose challenges for species relying on visual cues, such as amphibians. Newts use visual cues for hunting and also in sexual selection. The effects of brownification to amphibians are not yet well understood, my thesis aims to partly fill up this gap of knowledge by investigating if the water color might drive morphological or colorimetric patterns of the smooth newts and addressing the effect of forest practices on newts dispersal. Data was gathered during summer 2023 in southern Finland. Passive sampling methods were used to trap smooth newts during the breeding season. Water color was measured at the different capture sites. The newts were brought to the laboratory to measure their morphological characteristics including size and colorimetric variables under anesthesia. The effects of forest practices were modeled by using MaxEnt and open-source data. Increase of water color was negatively correlated to Male newts Fulton index which indicates the newts body index. In addition, other responses varied between habitat types: male newts had less belly dots and also their tails hue peak wavelength in UV spectral range had positive relationship with water color in temporary wetlands but not in permanent. Whereas female newts belly hue in total spectral range had positive relationship with water color in temporary habitats but not in permanent. Forest age did not seem to contribute towards newts dispersal. Thus, newts respond more towards water color in temporary wetlands emphasizing the importance of these unique habitats for newts morphological diversity. More research is needed to fully understand the effects of brownification, especially during the early development of newts in the breeding ponds.
... Statistics indicate that between 60 and 70% of all global wetlands have been lost due to agricultural drainage and urbanization (Davidson 2014); (Kačergytė et al. 2021). These vital yet fragile spaces continue to face pressures jeopardizing ecological balance and water quality (Calhoun et al. 2017). Wetland eutrophication is becoming an increasingly common environmental issue (Ogashawara et al. 2021). ...
In arid regions, water is a scarce and invaluable resource. Moreover, with urban expansions and socioeconomic changes, its quality has become a matter of significance and an indicator of environmental preservation. The objective of this study was to shed light on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on three wetlands in Oran, western Algeria (Lake of Dayet Oum Rhalez (DORh), Lake of Dhayat Morasli (DMo), and Lake of Sidi Chahmi (SCh)). Three parameters, namely, the chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a), trophic state index (TSI), and Secchi depth (SD), were selected and calculated for the period from 2019–2022. The results showed that, except for DORh, the Chl-a concentration decreased from 41.73 µg/l to 21.01 µg/l for DMo and from 42.82 µg/l to 23.08 µg/l for SCh between 2019 and 2021. The TSI decreased from 5.67 to 5.32 for DORh, from 5.95 to 5.36 for DMo, and from 5.32 to 4.12 for SCh. These results are also validated by the SD values, with an improvement in water transparency from 1.16 m to 2.61 m for DORh, from 1.31 m to 2.75 m for DMo, and from 1.4 m to 2.07 m for SCh. This reduction in biological activity justifies the impact of the applied lockdown on the improvement of water quality. Additionally, despite this improvement, the overall health of the three studied wetlands remains concerning (eutrophic ecological characteristics), and water quality is often mediocre. This study, in its entirety, can contribute to better decision-making and targeted actions for the preservation of these ecosystems.
... Unfortunately, agriculture, human development, and silvicultural practices have degraded these ecosystems by altering wetland fire regimes and hydrology (Kirkman et al. 1996;Brinson and Malvárez 2002;Stuber et al. 2016;Calhoun et al. 2017), which has contributed to regional amphibian declines (Enge et al. 2014;Klaus and Noss 2016). Without periodic fire, herbaceous wetlands can experience woody encroachment and transition to alternative stable states such as woody dominated shrub bogs, forested wetlands, or to more terrestrial conditions, often to the detriment of at-risk flora and fauna (Fig. 1b;Russell et al. 1999;Liner et al. 2008;Martin and Kirkman 2009;De Steven and Harrison 2022). ...
Herbaceous isolated wetlands in the North American Southeastern Coastal Plain are important breeding sites for many imperiled amphibians. However, most are degraded from alterations to historic fire disturbance and hydrologic regimes. Without fire, encroaching woody vegetation can transition wetlands to more terrestrial conditions and negatively impact amphibian breeding habitat, yet few studies have experimentally tested the efficacy, cost, or temporal requirement of current methods to restore herbaceous wetland vegetation. Here, we tested the interaction of manipulating wetland canopy and leaf litter/duff to promote herbaceous vegetation within one year (i.e., one breeding season) in degraded herbaceous wetlands in South Carolina. We assessed plant response via herbaceous cover, composition, and species similarity to the wetland seed bank and then related treatment performance to treatment cost. Removing trees combined with burning, disturbing, or removing duff significantly increased herbaceous cover and proportions of wetland plants and graminoids. Removing trees alone did not improve herbaceous cover compared to closed-canopy controls, and manipulating duff alone had limited positive effects on plant cover and composition. The most expensive yet effective treatment was Tree Removal-Duff Removal, while Tree Removal-Duff Disturbance was the most cost-effective. At a minimum, we recommend removing trees and burning to kickstart herbaceous recovery. Promisingly, comparisons of our data with previous seed bank studies from these same wetlands indicate there was limited seed bank attrition during 30 years of woody encroachment. Results from this study should aid practitioners in choosing wetland restoration techniques to better conserve at-risk species in the Southeastern Coastal Plain.
... Part of biodiversity in supporting the Wetland Framework and its strength are not well known; in any case, the values advertised by numerous Wetland Frameworks to human society are amazingly vital. In spite of the fact that it is troublesome to assess, the full life back work of Wetlands may be especially noteworthy, as Wetland comprises an assorted run of marine, coastal, estuarine and freshwater living spaces [60,61]. In order to ensure and preserve Wetlands within the Indian setting, there are different arrangements and programs in place. ...
This article dives into the usage of nature in cities to solve today's problems. This research focuses on the systematic conservation of urban wildlife. How the cities can be interlinked with the wildlife and the current scenarios which happen in the present condition of the cities. We deal with classification of the urban ecosystem and also the new habitats for the wildlife population and the factors that affect the same. The six main areas in which urban wildlife management challenges now exist are also covered. We get the chance to study more about the new term of synurbization and the factors and conditions for the same and some examples also. Further, the research focuses on the habitat management techniques and the examples happening in different areas in the world.Another major topic which is dealt in this study is the wetlands of India. Wetlands of kerala are also studied along with their respective policies and strategies for the protection of wetlands. National strategy for wetland protection and the methods used for the monitoring and protection of wetlands are also included.Human activities and human interventions are the major factors that contribute to the depletion of wildlife and the wetlands therefore habitat conservation is also dealt with in this study. This study helps us to understand the importance of protection and prevention of wildlife in urban areas and the conservation of wildlife in different zones of our cities and urges us to understand the factors responsible for the urban development without affecting the ecosystem.
... The availability of heterogeneous ponds differing in structural, physicochemical and biotic characteristics therefore furnishes diverse habitat that meets the breeding requirements of numerous species. Unfortunately, even though temporary ponds are essential to the reproduction of temperate amphibians, their conservation has largely been neglected, and they are disappearing worldwide (Grillas et al., 2004;Zacharias and Zamparas, 2010;Calhoun et al., 2017;Parra et al., 2021). This alarming pattern is affecting the persistence of amphibian species and other taxa. ...
The success of amphibian conservation efforts is highly dependent on the preservation of amphibian breeding habitats. Doñana National Park contains an abundance of ponds with heterogeneous characteristics, which has historically favoured its amphibian community. However, most of the park’s ponds are groundwater dependent, and aquifer overexploitation outside the park is leading to shorter hydroperiods and even desiccation in the pond network. This problem has been exacerbated by the scarcity of rain over the last decade. In 2021-2022, we surveyed the occurrence of the park’s 11 amphibian species, with a view to comparing our findings with those from the last previous survey in 2003-2004. We mapped the species occurrence within the park for the two survey periods. While all 11 amphibian species could still be found in Doñana, their occurrence had decreased across the board. In 2003-2004, 6 species were present across more than 50% of the sampling area. In contrast, 18 years later, such was the case for only two species ( Pelophylax perezi and Hyla meridionalis ). Declines were greatest for Epidalea calamita , followed by Pelobates cultripes , Triturus pygmaeus , and Lissotriton boscai . The mean number of species per sampling unit (i.e., grid cell) dropped from 4.3 to 3.1. To preserve Doñana’s amphibian community, it is important to restore the park’s pond network, which implies reducing regional groundwater overexploitation.
... Wetlands are dynamic ecosystems that act as natural connectors between upland and aquatic systems, maintain biodiversity at regional and landscape scales, and are increasingly threatened by human land-use transformation and degradation (Calhoun et al. 2017;Schofield et al. 2018). In the last four decades, the estimated wetland losses are around 60% in Latin America and worldwide (Landgrave and Moreno-Casasola 2012). ...
Despite wetlands are increasingly threatened by human land-use transformation and degradation, there is a lack of rapid, low-cost, and effective methods to assess and manage risks. Here we demonstrate and propose the use of ad-hoc consultation and directional surveys to assess the wetland risk severity, probability, and consequences for three Southern Mexico Ramsar sites. We compiled wetland functionalities and risks from the scientific literature and Ramsar Information Sheet for each of the 41 Southern Mexico Ramsar sites, then we create a list of relevant wetland functions and risks. To reduce variables (functions and risks) as well as to choose the focal sites, we used principal components analysis (PCAs). To prioritize risks based on the experts' opinions (96 regional wetland scientists) we applied Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) procedures. Our findings indicate climate change and drought as high risk for all studied wetlands. Agriculture and livestock were highly significant to the Pantanos de Centla coastal wetand area while María Eugenia highland wetlands have been more affected by urbanization and wastewater effluents. This methodology proved to be a cost-effective and timely approach to inform first-steps to decision-makers on risk identification, wetland management, and conservation planning at landscape-scale. This approach could mitigate the lack of funds designated to conservation and risk analysis for wetlands, which is a further issue in several developing countries, including Mexico.
... They are habitats of high diversity (Zacharias and Zamparas, 2010;Céréghino et al., 2014) and provide important ecosystem functions (e.g., stepping stones) and services (e.g., nutrient retention, hydrological regulation) (Céréghino et al., 2014;van Meter and Basu, 2015). Nonetheless, they are disappearing worldwide, owing to increasing humandriven pressures, including climate change (Rhazi et al., 2012;Calhoun et al., 2017;Oertli, 2018;Lefebvre et al., 2019;Parra et al., 2021). ...
Mediterranean Temporary ponds (MTPs) are suffering severe alterations in their hydrological and salinity regime through global change, and restoration or conservation of these habitats is a priority. However, there is little information that can be used as a scientific basis for restoration.
We studied the taxonomic and functional diversity of zooplankton communities in a set of 96 ponds in Doñana, Spain during four consecutive hydroperiods after their creation. We examined the differences across hydroperiods in alpha and beta diversity (and its turnover and nestedness components) of the rotifer, cladoceran and copepod community, as well as the influence of local environmental variables including the proximity to natural wetlands.
There was no general increase in diversity indices after the first two hydroperiods. We found that shorter hydroperiods significantly reduced taxonomic diversity, but increased the contribution to functional beta diversity through turnover. Shorter hydroperiods also reduced community complexity, with long-term effects. Conductivity was the most important predictor of zooplankton alpha and beta diversity, but the direction of its effects changed between hydroperiods. The distance from a natural source of colonists, and pond depth, were key during the early stage of community assembly and after a hydrological perturbation.
Our results suggest that new restoration projects for MTPs should focus on increasing local environmental heterogeneity and on reducing vulnerability to salinization.
The use of functional approaches in monitoring studies can improve our understanding of mechanisms and processes affecting zooplankton community assembly under dynamic hydrological regimes. This in turn can help us predict the consequences of management and restoration policies for biodiversity conservation in MTPs.
... These habitats include floodplains that may be closely associated with semi-permanent and permanent bodies of water, dry riverbeds that periodically become raging rivers, or completely isolated from permanent bodies of water and includes small rainwater pools that may exist for only a few weeks out of the year (Polačik & Podrabsky, 2015). Nevertheless, temporary wetlands play important role to enhance biodiversity and provide aesthetic, biogeochemical, and hydrologic functions (Calhoun et al., 2016). In fact, some fish species have evolved to stay in seasonal habitats, even require the periodic drying of their seasonal habitat and there is a relationship between the species composition with seasonal changes (Wolter & Bischoff, 2001;Okogwu, 2010;Tang et al., 2018). ...
Ephemeral waters, the temporary aquatic environment become an interesting habitat to explore extremophile organism, include phytoplankton. Furthermore, the waters have an acidic condition or low pH that impact to metabolisms, community structure, and diversity of phytoplankton. This study was conducted on June until August 2022 in Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Archipelago Province, Indonesia. We analyzed the phytoplankton presence at acidic ephemeral waters to indicated their potential as primary producer in food web, bioindicator, and ecological succession agent. This study was conducted by exploration method of phytoplankton diversity. The research observed and found five class and twelve genera that consist of class Chlorophyceae (genera Enteromorpha, Ankistrodesmus, Prasiola, Pleurococcus, and Coleochaete), class Rhodophyceae (genera Lemanea), class Diatoms (genera Diatoma, Synedra, and Navicula), class Xanthophyceae (genera Ophiocytium), and class Cyanobacteria (genera Oscillatoria and Anabaena). The class Chlorophyceae, genera Enteromorpha were the highest community at the both of acidic waters and they could survive at pH 3.52 + 0.5 to 3.71 + 0.8.AbstrakPerairan ephemeral, lingkungan perairan musiman menjadi suatu habitat yang menarik untuk mengeksplorasi organisme ekstremofil, termasuk fitoplankton. Lebih jauh lagi, perairan tersebut memiliki kondisi asam atau pH rendah yang berdampak pada metabolisme, struktur komunitas, dan diversitas fitoplankton. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada Juni hingga Agustus 2022 di Kabupaten Bangka, Provinsi Kepulauan Bangka Belitung, Indonesia. Kami menganalisis keberadaan fitoplankton di perairan ephemeral asam untuk mengindikasikan potensi fitoplankton sebagai produsen utama, bioindikator dan agen suksesi lingkungan. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan dengan metode eksplorasi diversitas fitoplankton. Penelitian ini mengobservasi dan menemukan lima kelas dan dua belas genus yang terdiri atas kelas Chlorophyceae (genus Enteromorpha, Ankistrodesmus, Prasiola, Pleurococcus, dan Coleochaete), kelas Rhodophyceae (genus Lemanea), kelas Diatoms (genus Diatoma, Synedra, dan Navicula), kelas Xanthophyceae (genus Ophiocytium), dan kelas Cyanobacteria (genus Oscillatoria dan Anabaena). Kelas Chlorophyceae, genus Enteromorpha adalah komunitas tertinggi pada kedua perairan asam dan mampu bertahan pada pH 3.52 + 0.5 to 3.71 + 0.8.
... However, wetlands face various challenges worldwide, including urbanization, land conversion for agriculture and infrastructure development, shifts in temperature and rainfall, etc. These challenges have led to a significant decline in wetland areas over the past century (Davidson, 2014;Calhoun et al., 2017), making the sustainability of these ecosystems a considerable concern. ...
The Anzali Wetland, located in the Guilan Province of Iran, is a vital ecosystem with significant ecological value. However, it faces numerous environmental challenges due to pollution, habitat degradation, and unsustainable resource use. This paper aims to assess the awareness and perceptions of local communities regarding the Anzali Wetland, Iran, and its management and how these factors might influence the implementation of the CEPA program. A quantitative survey based on a structured questionnaire was designed and administered to local communities within the wetland’s watershed. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results indicate that local communities have limited knowledge about the wetland, often associating it solely with Anzali Lagoon. Despite this lack of awareness, most participants recognize the wetland’s importance in conserving wildlife. Further, participants identified domestic and industrial wastewater pollution as the most significant threat to the wetland. Additionally, education at the school level, the Internet, and virtual networks were perceived as effective means of raising awareness among the local population. The study highlights the importance of increasing public participation and interaction among different social groups to enhance awareness of the wetland’s value and environmental issues. It also emphasizes the need for coordinated efforts among stakeholders in wetland management and policy-making, including government agencies and civil organizations. By examining the significance of public awareness in the Iranian context, the study provides unique insights into wetland conservation efforts in a specific geographical and ecological setting. Furthermore, by considering the perceptions and opinions of these stakeholders, the study offers a holistic understanding of the diverse perspectives and interests related to wetland conservation, which adds depth and richness to the analysis.
... It is well known that floodplain wetlands have become a rare and vulnerable ecosystem, with negative consequences for biodiversity; indeed, reclamation works aimed at rapid water drainage radically alter the natural connectivity between surface water and groundwater (e.g., WARD et al., 1999;AMOROS & BORNETTE, 2002; VAN DIGGELEN et al., 2006;CALHOUN et al. 2017). New approaches are being tested, for example, by partial preservation of flood zones referred to as "washlands" (e.g., MORRIS et al., 2004) or by implementing a so-called "sustainable management" of flood events (e.g., WERRITY, 2006;WINGFIELD et al., 2019). ...
... Other issues, such as insufficient legislative policy, conflicts of interest, and insufficient funding, contributed significantly to the overall complexities of wetland management. According to Calhoun et al. (2017), one significant challenge was the lack of coordination and communication among different stakeholders involved in wetland management. Additionally, these multiple gaps are linked to the absence of a specific institution responsible for the management of these highly vulnerable ecosystems. ...
Wetland ecosystems and the fisheries that depend on them are vital to the survival of million individuals in poor nations. Although this habitat is contracting because of heavy pressure brought on by the expansion of the population and the increase of human activity in Cameroon. Yet it is crucial to evaluate the management practices used to ensure its durability. In this study, we look into wetland stakeholders' perspectives. Therefore, it is important to assess the management to make a strategic suggestion for the formulation of a national strategy. Totaling, 277 individuals were interviewed from the Rio del Rey, Ebogo, Barombi, and the Cameroonian portion of Ntem wetlands, and Dschang's municipal lake. The samples were taken utilizing a structured questionnaire between 4 February and 20 July 2001, when fishing was at its peak. Results show that 95.6% of management actors believe that this ecosystem is significant and valuable (χ 2 =21.965; ddl = 15; P=0.015); furthermore, the results show that 86.7% of respondents are unaware of any laws or other legal instruments that are currently in effect. From one site to another, there were substantial differences in how local management committees were seen (χ 2 =27.29; P<0.05). Additionally, various institutional issues discussed include the following: weak institutional cooperation (28%)> inadequate legislative policy (24%)> conflicts of interest (21%)> inadequate funding (18%)> lack of political will on the part of the authorities (6%%)> inadequately qualified people (3%). The study also shows that Cameroon's wetland suffers from a lack of adequate restrictions. Consequently, it is essential to implement wetland management strategy.
... Mountains, also called the world's "water towers," provide vital resources to a significant portion of the global population as a result of their high biodiversity at genetic, species, and ecosystem levels, and half of human population is dependent on mountain resources for various reasons and largely due to water needs (Egan & Price, 2017;Körner & Ohsawa, 2005). However, according to recent studied, high mountain ecosystems are more sensitive to climate change and will be more affected (Acuña et al., 2017;Beniston, 1994;Bolpagni et al., 2013;Calhoun et al., 2017;Cramer et al., 2018;Guisan et al., 1995;Kienast et al., 1998;Theurillat & Guisan, 2001). In relation to this, in the twentieth century, high-temperature averages were monitored in mountainous ecosystems due to global warming (Egan & Price, 2017). ...
Ephemeral streams are important habitats that support biodiversity, especially in mountainous ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions, and are among those that will be most affected by global climate change. This study aimed to examine the trends in plant species diversity of ephemeral stream beds and their relationship with environmental variables (aspect, elevation, soil) in the eastern Mediterranean region.
For this purpose, 40 sample plots were applied in the valley cross sections of the ephemeral stream beds (valley bottom, side and ridge) on two main slopes (north and south) in 2019. The abundance values of plant species were determined and the number of individuals in each sample plot was counted. In addition, soil samples were taken at a depth of 0–30 cm and analyzed. With the data obtained, the importance value index of all species was calculated, and the diversity and species richness of the sample plots were determined.
A total of 130 plant taxa were identified in the study area. The most dominant species were Astragalus kurdicus (IVI value: 25.97), Helichrysum plicatum (21.94), Taeniatherum caput-medusae subsp. crinitum (15.51), Hordeum bulbosum (15.33), Bromus erectus (15.32), and Minuartia juniperina (14.14). Both plant richness and endemism rate showed a significant relationship with increasing elevation. Plant diversity values of south-facing slopes were higher (2.23) than those of north-facing slopes (2.21). In addition, we found that phosphorus is an important factor in the distribution of plant species along the ephemeral stream beds, and as the amount of phosphorus increases, species richness and diversity also increase.
... Inland ephemeral wetlands support a high level of biodiversity and provide valuable habitat for endemic and rare species (Capon 2003;Deil 2005). Despite their ecological, social, and economic significance, the quality and number of ephemeral wetlands is threatened by intensive anthropogenic pressures resulting in their rapid disappearance (Deil 2005;Calhoun et al. 2017). The driving factors of climate change and human population growth have tremendous potential for altering rainfall and runoff patterns. ...
Ephemeral wetlands are important ecologically but are often jurisdictionally complex and under-studied. Forms of local knowledge, including local ecological knowledge (LEK) and farmer knowledge, are increasingly recognised as able to complement other scientific knowledge for planning and management. This paper contributes to the discussion on the value and potential use of local knowledge by considering the Cowal system, an ephemeral wetland in dryland Australia. The Cowal system’s hydrological regime is highly variable, with drying and wetting cycles influenced by distant rainfall events. There is limited historical scientific data available for the system. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with local landholders who privately own the land within the Cowal system. The aggregated results showcase their knowledge and understanding of the ecological functions of the Cowal system, highlight some current ephemeral wetland management activities and indicate their concerns for the future. LEK is shown to be a valuable source of historical and planning data. For example, their combined memories and family records of the Cowal system provide the only historical record of the timeline of the wetland’s filling and drying, and support their concerns about the alteration of the natural hydrological regime because of developments in the catchment area. The research suggests that LEK should be actively sought by scientists, managers, and planners of wetlands, especially where baseline and systems information is scant.
... These freshwater ecosystems are characterized by fluctuating hydrology, switching between dry and wet states in response to seasonally varying rainfall and evapotranspiration rates. Like other globally distributed wetland types, seasonal wetlands are disappearing (Dahl 2014;Davidson 2014;Calhoun et al. 2017;Evans et al. 2017) and those that remain are at landscape scales. For this reason, they experience direct and indirect effects of agricultural management (Swain et al. 2013), which may affect wetland size, shape, and connectivity (Johnston and McIntyre 2019), as well as plant community structure and species composition (Teuber et al. 2013;Medley et al. 2015;Boughton et al. 2016; Moges et al. 2017). ...
... The hydrology of seasonal pools, ponds, wet meadows, and flooded grasslands depends on the amount of precipitation; therefore, a decrease in accumulated rain determines the shortening of hydroperiods. Most of these ecosystems act as reservoirs of desiccation-tolerant species that are well adapted to the dry and wet phases (Williams 1997(Williams , 1998Calhoun et al. 2017; Thorat and Nath 2018). Small lentic environments such as potholes, wet meadows, and pools can support a great variety of both invertebrate and vertebrate species that avoid large permanent systems due to the presence of large predators (Wellborn et al. 1996;Heino et al. 2015). ...
Herbivores in wetlands are key organisms that shape the structure and composition of wetland plant communities (algae and vascular plants). The detritus produced by herbivory contributes to nutrient cycling and provides important resources for other organisms in the ecosystem. Due to their importance we decided to survey a set of 12 seasonal wetlands located in Andean Patagonian forests. We registered biotic and abiotic variables of each wetland and the diversity and abundance of herbivores. We found two groups of wetlands: short and long hydroperiod. Despite this, the structure of the communities was not related with hydroperiod length as well as the abundance and species composition. In particular, the abundance of herbivores was explained by chlorophyll, pH, dissolved oxygen, among others. Their diversity and abundance was (in decreasing order): rotifers, copepods, cladocerans, caddisflies, and amphibians. Probably the species found in these wetlands are well adapted to different hydroperiod regimens and even in short hydroperiods can complete their life cycle. The results found here do not match with the model of hydroperiod gradient, however other variables not measured here such as diversity and abundance of aquatic plants or predation by invertebrates could impact the composition and abundance of herbivores in these wetlands.
... about 59% less than that from the totally centralized system. This is caused by the recycling usage of gray water for irrigation, as well as greater nutrient retention and purification in more ditches and ponds through such processes as sedimentation, plant uptake, and microorganism consumption 31,32 . The wider variability of gray WF compared to green and blue WF is due to the uncertainty of the nutrient retention capability of ditches and ponds. ...
Rice farming threatens freshwater resources, while also being increasingly vulnerable to drought due to climate change. Rice farming needs to become more sustainable and resilient to climate change by improving irrigation drainage systems. Small water bodies, used to store drainage water and supply irrigation in traditional rice farming systems have gradually been abandoned in recent decades. This has resulted in a higher water footprint (WF) associated with rice farming due to increased freshwater usage and wastewater release, also leaving rice production more vulnerable to extreme weather events. Here, we propose how protecting and reactivating small water bodies for rice irri- gation and drainage can decrease rice production WF in China by 30%, save 9% of China’s freshwater consumption, increase irrigation self-sufficiency from 3% to 31%, and alleviate yield loss in dry years by 2–3%. These findings show that redesigning rice irrigation drainage systems can help meet water scarcity challenges posed by climate change.
... In the 21st century, as satellite remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies continue to evolve, they have proven to be invaluable tools in wetland distribution research. These technologies provide cost-effective solutions for monitoring shifts in wetland landscapes and contribute significantly to their effective management [18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Numerous researchers are currently employing technology and wetland landscape ecology methods to investigate the evolutionary features of the wetland landscape pattern and the climate response to wetland changes. ...
Wetlands are vital ecosystems in the Tibetan plateau that play a crucial role in water conservation, flood storage, and biodiversity maintenance. They are sensitive to climate change and typically have high ecological and environmental quality levels due to minimal human disturbance. This study aimed to quantify landscape pattern changes within Nagqu Hangcuo National Wetland Park (NNWP) and identify the impact of climate on wetland change. Using remote sensing data from six periods (1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015), dynamic change analysis, landscape pattern analysis, and correlation analysis were employed to determine the evolutionary features of the wetland landscape and explore their relationship with climatic factors. The results showed that the total wetland area increased from 15.11 km2 in 1990 to 15.23 km2 in 2015. The meadow area increased the most among landscape types, primarily converted from swamps. The frag-mentation of NNWP’s landscape increased while diversity decreased and shape became more complex over 25 years. Meadows were more sensitive to climatic factors than other landscape types with correlation coefficients between wetland separation and sunshine duration being more significant than other climatic factors. Therefore, it is imperative to monitor landscape pattern changes and the effects of climate change to better protect wetland parks through long-term planning, suitable mechanisms, and advanced technology.
... Without clear definitions of what delineates these smaller habitat features, it is even more challenging to create public awareness, enact legislation, and enforce protection [15]. Furthermore, regulatory frameworks tend to focus on larger habitats, and protections for individual habitat features such as temporary water bodies and ancient and/or veteran trees are inconsistent and tend to lack rigor. ...
Loss of insect biodiversity is widespread, and in forests habitat loss is one of the major drivers responsible. Integrative forest management must consider the preservation and promotion of key habitat features that provide essential microhabitats and resources to conserve biodiversity alongside ecosystem functions and services.
... Wetlands can vary greatly in extent over seasonal timescales (Davidson et al., 2018). Temporary or ephemeral wetlands, that is wetlands where surface water largely disappears annually or with an undefined pattern, perform a range of biological, biogeochemical and hydrological functions within the landscape (Allen et al., 2020;Calhoun et al., 2017;Zedler, 2003). The cyclical drying and rewetting plays an important role in enhancing biodiversity and provides a habitat for many protected flora and fauna. ...
Characterizing ephemeral karstic wetlands through hydrological modelling is key for sustainable protection of their ecosystems and to understand and mitigate the impact of flooding events. UISCEmod is a new open-source software for modelling water level time series, focused on ephemeral karstic wetlands, that requires minimal input information. UISCEmod contains both experimental and lumped hydrological models, and the calibration process is automated following a Bayesian approach. The main outputs of UISCEmod include volume, stage, inflow and outflow model time series, calibrated model parameters, and the associated uncertainties. UISCEmod was evaluated at 16 representative sites in Ireland obtaining Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE) above 0.85 for both stage and volume time series for most of the sites, showing its potential for covering the need for a simple, pragmatic, and flexible framework for modelling water levels in ephemeral karstic wetlands with relatively limited input data requirements.
... These freshwater ecosystems are characterized by fluctuating hydrology, switching between dry and wet states in response to seasonally varying rainfall and evapotranspiration rates. Like other globally distributed wetland types, seasonal wetlands are disappearing (Dahl 2014;Davidson 2014;Calhoun et al. 2017;Evans et al. 2017) and those that remain are at landscape scales. For this reason, they experience direct and indirect effects of agricultural management (Swain et al. 2013), which may affect wetland size, shape, and connectivity (Johnston and McIntyre 2019), as well as plant community structure and species composition (Teuber et al. 2013;Medley et al. 2015;Boughton et al. 2016; Moges et al. 2017). ...
Seasonally inundated wetlands are threatened ecosystems worldwide and increasingly important targets for wetland restoration programs. However, restoring such ecosystems is difficult, as it requires mimicking the historical shifts between dry and flooded states. In this study, we evaluate the responses of agriculturally impacted seasonal wetlands to pasture-scale hydrological restoration. We selected 15 seasonal wetlands in central Florida (10 within restoration easements and five in unrestored pastures) and excluded cattle from five of the restored wetlands. We monitored each wetland from 2011 to 2016 to document potential changes in water levels, plant species richness, beta diversity, floristic quality, and cover of obligate wetland species. Vegetation responses to restoration were gradual and subtle, becoming detectable only five years following restoration. By 2016, restored wetlands had significantly lower cover of facultative upland species and higher cover of obligate wetland species. Species richness was higher in unrestored wetlands due to the presence of many facultative upland species. Beta diversity within wetlands and floristic quality based on coefficient of conservatism were not affected by restoration. We did not find strong effects of cattle exclusion on post-restoration diversity metrics, but we observed a large increase in the native grass, Panicum hemitomon Schult. This study showed mixed outcomes when measured against the goals of restoring wetland communities. It also highlighted the need for more active restoration approaches to regain historical communities or promote target species (e.g. Coleataenia abscissa (Swallen) LeBlond). We emphasize the need for costly restoration activities to be coupled with long-term monitoring to assess success.
... In all models, the fractions representing shared effects were generally large. Although both groups of variables significantly influence the spatial patterns of snail assemblages, the climatic variables appeared to explain the variation more effectively than did the local environmental variables ( (Calhoun et al., 2017;Hotaling et al., 2017;Stenert et al., 2020). Plain. ...
A central goal of community ecology and biogeography involves understanding the spatial patterns of organisms and their underlying mechanisms. Understanding how the structure of wetland biomes vary throughout geographical or climatic gradients has critical implications for the ecological restoration and management of wetlands. However, the geographical patterns of snails in freshwater wetlands and the relative contributions of climatic and local environment variables remain poorly elucidated.
We investigated 126 freshwater wetlands across four ecoregions (Da Xing'an Mountains, Songnen Plain, Sanjiang Plain and Changbai Mountains) in Northeast China, and collected 105578 individual snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) belonging to 17 families, 34 genera and 64 species.
Overall, snail richness and functional alpha diversity was higher in the wetlands of the Sanjiang Plain than the other three regions. Multivariate analyses results revealed that the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic structures of snail assemblages differed significantly across the four regions. Higher taxonomic dissimilarities, as well as functional and phylogenetic dissimilarities existed between the wetlands of the Songnen Plain and the other three regions.
The variations in taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic structures of snail assemblages were predominantly explained by climatic variables rather than by local environmental variables. For taxonomic structure, salinity explained the greatest variation among all variables, whereas precipitation seasonality explained the greatest variation for functional and phylogenetic structure.
Considering extant patterns in assemblage structure and its predictors, aggravated salinization and seasonality of precipitation are expected to act as powerful factors shaping future assemblages. Also, climate‐related factors cause changes and spatial distribution of invertebrate assemblages of freshwater wetlands should be considered to formulate differentiated strategy for biodiversity conservation.
... On the other hand, combining empirical information about landscape structure and species dispersal abilities with theoretical simulations may represent a straightforward approach to guiding management decisions (Brooker et al., 1999;Haddad et al., 2017b;Resasco et al., 2017). Landscapes in general, and particularly pondscapes, are in a threatening scenario due to global change and human activities (Wood et al., 2003;Calhoun et al., 2017;Hill et al., 2021). The present contribution attempts to advance those landscape features that may support biodiversity and should be explicitly considered both for understanding the ecological mechanisms and preserving biodiversity. ...
The spatial isolation gradient of communities and the gradient in the species dispersal ability are recognized as determinants of biodiversity in metacommunities. In spite of this, mean field models, spatially explicit models, and experiments were mainly focused on idealized spatial arrangements of communities leaving aside the combining role of dispersal and isolation gradients in metacommunity processes. Consequently, we have an incipient understanding of the role of the real spatial arrangement of communities on biodiversity patterns. We focus on six metacommunities for which confident information about the spatial arrangement of water bodies is available. Using coalescent metacommunity models and null models that randomize the location of water bodies, we estimated the potential effect of the landscape on biodiversity and its dependence on species dispersal ability. At extremely low or high dispersal abilities, the location of ponds does not influence diversity because different communities are equally affected by the low or high incoming dispersal. At intermediate dispersal abilities, peripheral communities present a much lower richness and higher beta diversity than central communities. Moreover, metacommunities from real landscapes host more biodiversity than randomized landscapes, a result that is determined by the heterogeneity in the geographic isolation of communities. In a dispersal gradient, mass effects systematically increase the local richness and decrease beta diversity. However, the spatial arrangement of patches only has a large importance in metacommunity processes at intermediate dispersal abilities, which ensures access to central locations but limits dispersal in isolated communities. The ongoing reduction in spatial extent and simplification of the landscape may consequently undermine the metacommunity processes that support biodiversity, something that should be explicitly considered in preserving and restoring strategies.
Land-use change is one of the main drivers of global biodiversity loss, significantly affecting ecosystems. Small water bodies, such as ponds, are particularly vulnerable to these changes; these alterations can create new ecological conditions that affect species behaviors and interactions, particularly predator–prey dynamics. By causing unequal rates of phenological shifts among interacting species, land-use change can potentially disrupt ecological interactions. This study explores the spatiotemporal dynamics of anuran larvae communities and their potential predatory insects in temporary ponds within native forest and rural areas in the subtropical montane forest of Jujuy, Argentina. We conducted weekly surveys to characterize species diversity using diversity profiles based on Hill numbers and beta diversity partitioning method. We explored and compared species phenological patterns using circular statistical analyses. Results showed a slight impoverishment of tadpole communities in the rural habitat, while the predatory insects assemblages remained relatively unchanged. Rural land use influenced the phenology of anuran larvae and predatory insects, primarily through water availability variations. Understanding predator–prey interactions in modified environments is crucial for assessing and mitigating global biodiversity crises and ecosystem transformations. This study underscores the importance of natural predators in shaping ecosystems and influencing prey dominance under changing environmental conditions.
Este capítulo aborda detalhes ambientais sobre a área de ocorrência dos Banhados dos Campos do Planalto das Araucárias, onde se explica o conceito teórico, legal e empírico do ecossistema, destacando seus aspectos peculiares. Além disso, inclui informação sobre os tipos de solos hidromórficos, vegetação e avifauna associada aos banhados, ressaltando espécies ameaçadas, endêmicas. Destaca-se também a existência de legislação governamental de proteção a desse ecossistema bem como as ameaças que colocam os banhados em uma situação frágil, particularmente por estarem em áreas de novas fronteiras agrícolas do Sul do Brasil. O capítulo é particularmente importante por propor a inserção desse ecossistema no Sistema Nacional de Classificação de Áreas Úmidas, em uma nova categoria a ser criada como “Banhados dos Campos do Planalto das Araucárias”, e aborda o estado da arte da pesquisa sobre os banhados de altitude do Sul do Brasil, as principais lacunas no seu conhecimento e potenciais ações prioritárias para sua conservação. A informação apresentada aqui é relevante não somente para cientistas, como também para estudantes e para tomadores de decisão na escala local, regional e nacional.
Palavras-chave: Campos de Cima da Serra, Paisagem Aquática, Solos Hidromórficos
Lakeshore buffer zones serve as transitional areas between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, playing a crucial role in intercepting non-point source pollutants, purifying river and lake water, and maintaining ecological system dynamics. This study focuses on the vegetation of the lakeshore buffer zone in Songhua Lake, the largest artificial lake in Northeast China. The nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollutant contents and accumulation characteristics of herbaceous plants were investigated and analyzed in different regions and with different species. The study results indicate that there were no significant differences in N and P content, N: P ratio, and average accumulation among vegetation in the near-water, middle, and far lakeshores of the buffer area. The herbaceous plants with the highest N and P content and N: P ratios were Artemisia sieversiana, Sium suave, and Artemisia sieversiana, respectively. Purus frumentum planted in the middle lakeshore accumulated the highest amounts of N and P, reaching 87.97 g plant−1 and 3.86 g plant−1, respectively. The aboveground parts of plants showed significantly higher accumulation of N and P compared to the underground parts. The average enrichment coefficient for aboveground parts and underground parts for N were 4.83 and 4.35, respectively, all exceeding 1. However, their capability to enrich P was relatively weak, with only the aboveground parts of F − 3 showing some enrichment ability. Among herbaceous plants, Artemisia sieversiana and Sium suave exhibited the strongest capability for transporting N and P from underground to aboveground. Overall, harvesting aboveground biomass for the ecological removal of N and P in the study area appears feasible. Biomass is a critical factor influencing the nutrient interception capacity of vegetation, with Purus frumentum identified as an optimal restoration plant for sustainable management practices, and Artemisia sieversiana and Sium suave have the potential for rapid remediation.
Giant ostracods in the subfamily Mytilocypridinae are an important component of the biota of Australian salt lakes, which are predominantly temporary, and often located in remote arid areas. Mytilocypridines produce desiccation-resistant eggs to persist in these habitats during unfavourable conditions. In this study, we used mytilocypridine eggs collected from sediments in salt lakes in Western Australia to analyse aspects of the ecology of these ostracods. We conducted two rehydration trials, where sediment was collected from dry lakes or the dry margins of lakes, rehydrated in a laboratory setting, and selected mytilocypridine species hatched and raised in cultures. The first trial found that the eggs of mytilocypridine species were unevenly distributed in a dry lake and could be hatched even after 27 months of dry storage with no discernible loss of viability. The second trial assessed the capacity of selected mytilocypridines to hatch and develop into adults under different salinity treatments. One species, Australocypris insularis, hatched and developed across a very wide salinity range (0–100 g/L). Egg/sediment samples provide a means for testing species’ tolerance to physical and chemical variables throughout their entire life cycle, as well as for surveying the mytilocypridines in remote lakes that rarely hold water.
Understanding the spatial patterns of plant diversity across vernal pool complexes remains challenging, as plant communities change rapidly in time and concurrent collection of relevant data for modeling remain logistically elusive. In the absence of coupled ecohydrological data, we demonstrate that the application of drone-mounted light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems to vernal pools enables estimation of species richness using hydrological proxies and spatial modeling. Parameters related to hydrologic connectivity, soil moisture, and hydroperiod describe substantial variation in species richness patterns (r2 = 0.28 ± 0.03) across vernal pool complexes. Converging factors, such as proximity to areas of hydrologic connectivity with low surface roughness, tend to promote forb richness but describe less of the variation in grasses. Estimates of species richness are accurate to within 2-3 species using models derived from UAV-LiDAR, providing an approximation of potential biodiversity hotspots in lieu of in-situ surveys.
Understanding the spatial patterns of plant diversity across vernal pool complexes remains challenging, as plant communities change rapidly in time and concurrent collection of relevant data for modeling remain logistically elusive. In the absence of coupled ecohydrological data, we demonstrate that the application of drone-mounted light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems to vernal pools enables estimation of species richness using hydrological proxies and spatial modeling. Parameters related to hydrologic connectivity, soil moisture, and hydroperiod describe substantial variation in species richness patterns (r2 = 0.28 ± 0.03) across vernal pool complexes. Converging factors, such as proximity to areas of hydrologic connectivity with low surface roughness, tend to promote forb richness but describe less of the variation in grasses. Estimates of species richness are accurate to within 2-3 species using models derived from UAV-LiDAR, providing an approximation of potential biodiversity hotspots in lieu of in-situ surveys.
This chapter provides a definition of the wetland types where the aquatic macrophytes described in this Atlas occur. There are also wetlands where plant species occur that are not considered aquatic macrophytes within the context of this Atlas, e.g., intertidal estuarine and marine wetlands. The chapter also mentions some of the main human interference impacts on macrophyte diversity in different wetland types.
Microbial extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are an important component in sediment ecology. However, most research is highly skewed towards the northern hemisphere and in more permanent systems. This paper investigates EPS (i.e., carbohydrates and proteins) dynamics in arid Austral zone temporary pans sediments. Colorimetric methods and sequence–based metagenomics techniques were employed in a series of small temporary pan ecosystems characterised by alternating wet and dry hydroperiods. Microbial community patterns of distribution were evaluated between seasons (hot–wet and cool–dry) and across depths (and inferred inundation period) based on estimated elevation. Carbohydrates generally occurred in relatively higher proportions than proteins; the carbohydrate:protein ratio was 2.8:1 and 1.6:1 for the dry and wet season respectively, suggesting that EPS found in these systems was largely diatom produced. The wet– hydroperiods Carbohydrate mean 102 μg/g; Protein mean 65 μg/g supported more EPS production as compared to the dry– hydroperiods (Carbohydrate mean 73 μg/g; Protein mean 26 μg/g). A total of 15,042 Unique Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) were allocated to 51 bacterial phyla and 1127 genera. The most abundant genera had commonality in high temperature tolerance, with Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria in high abundances. Microbial communities were more distinct between seasons compared to within seasons which further suggested that the observed metagenome functions could be seasonally driven. This study's findings implied that there were high levels of denitrification by mostly nitric oxide reductase and nitrite reductase enzymes. EPS production was high in the hot–wet season as compared to relatively lower rates of nitrification in the cool–dry season by ammonia monooxygenases. Both EPS quantities and metagenome functions were highly associated with availability of water, with high rates being mainly associated with wet– hydroperiods compared to dry– hydroperiods. These data suggest that extended dry periods threaten microbially mediated processes in temporary wetlands, with implications to loss of biodiversity by desiccation.
Habitat restoration and creation within human-altered landscapes can buffer the impacts of climate change on wildlife. The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a coal surface mine reclamation practice that enhances reforestation through soil decompaction and the planting of native trees. Recently, wetland creation has been coupled with FRA to increase habitat available for wildlife, including amphibians. Our objective was to evaluate the response of pond-breeding amphibians to the FRA by comparing species occupancy, richness, and abundance across two FRA age-classes (2–5-year and 8–11-year reclaimed forests), traditionally reclaimed sites that were left to naturally regenerate after mining, and in mature, unmined forests in the Monongahela National Forest (West Virginia, USA). We found that species richness and occupancy estimates did not differ across treatment types. Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) and Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) had the greatest estimated abundances in wetlands in the older FRA treatment. Additionally, larger wetlands had greater abundances of Eastern Newts, Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus), and Green Frogs (L. clamitans) compared to smaller wetlands. Our results suggest that wetland creation and reforestation increases the number of breeding sites and promotes microhabitat and microclimate conditions that likely maximize the resilience of pond-breeding amphibians to anticipated climate changes in the study area.
Aim
A pervasive negative relationship between the species richness of an assemblage and the mean global range size of the species it contains has recently been identified. Here, we test for an effect of habitat patch size on the mean landscape‐scale incidence (estimating local range size) of constituent species independent of variation in richness.
Location
Global.
Time Period
Contemporary.
Major Taxa Studied
Various.
Methods
We devised a new standardized patch‐scale metric, Mean Species Landscape‐scale Incidences per Patch (MSLIP). Positive values indicate a patch contains more widespread (high‐incidence) species than expected relative to their frequency in the landscape; negative values indicate the presence of more narrow‐range (low‐incidence) species. For 202 metacommunity datasets (archipelagos, habitat islands and fragments) we regressed MSLIP on patch size, testing four hypotheses: (i) no effect (zero slope), (ii) more widespread species in smaller patches (negative slope), (iii) more narrow‐range species in smaller patches (positive slope), (iv) a composite effect (curvilinear/unimodal).
Results
There was a generally negative curvilinear relationship between MSLIP and patch size, consistent with smaller and larger patches respectively containing more high‐ and low‐incidence species than expected. At intermediate patch sizes, mean species incidence approximates that of the overall landscape. Relative richness mediated this relationship; species‐rich sites of any size increasingly favoured low‐incidence species, species‐poor sites high‐incidence species. Results were consistent for taxonomic groups, and metacommunity types, except aquatic habitat islands.
Main Conclusions
The dependence of mean species incidence on both patch size and relative richness has implications for biodiversity and community assembly theory, or when seeking to understand ecological processes sensitive to species composition (e.g., ecosystem functioning, trophic web structures). We propose the ‘patch size where the MSLIP regression intersects zero’ as a benchmark distinguishing smaller from larger patches, with the expectation small patches preferentially support more high‐incidence and large patches more low‐incidence species.
The structure, function, and dynamics of Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems are profoundly influenced by the frequency and duration that they are inundated with water. A diverse array of natural and human engineered systems experience temporally variable inundation whereby they fluctuate between inundated and non-inundated states. Variable inundation spans from extreme flooding and droughts to predictable sub-daily cycles. Variably inundated ecosystems (VIEs) include hillslopes, non-perennial streams, wetlands, floodplains, temporary ponds, tidal systems, storm-impacted coastal zones, and human engineered systems. VIEs are diverse in terms of inundation regimes, water chemistry and flow velocity, soil and sediment properties, vegetation, and many other properties. The spatial and temporal scales of variable inundation are vast, ranging from sub-meter to whole landscapes and from sub-hourly to multi-decadal. The broad range of system types and scales makes it challenging to predict the hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology, and physical evolution of VIEs. Despite all experiencing the loss and gain of an overlying water column, VIEs are rarely considered together in conceptual, theoretical, modeling, or measurement frameworks/approaches. Studying VIEs together has the potential to generate mechanistic understanding that is transferable across a much broader range of environmental conditions, relative to knowledge generated by studying any one VIE type. We postulate that enhanced transferability will be important for predicting VIE function under future, potentially non-analog, environmental conditions. Here we aim to catalyze cross-VIE science that studies drivers and impacts of variable inundation across Earth’s VIEs. To this end, we complement expert mini-reviews of eight major VIE systems with overviews of VIE-relevant methods and challenges associated with scale. We conclude with perspectives on how cross-VIE science can derive transferable understanding via a ‘continuum approach’ in which the impacts of variable inundation are studied across multi-dimensional environmental space.
Natural wetlands in urbanised areas provide practical services, including flood control and amenity values such as views, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities. But cities also construct wetlands to improve flood control and ecosystem services, the value of which might change property prices. This paper reports the analyses of property prices that provide estimates of wetlands' localised amenity values in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. A major challenge is that the selection of sites for wetlands’ construction is not random; amenity value is potentially confounded by property and neighbourhood characteristics that vary across space and over time. We use a combination of repeat‐sales models, difference‐in‐differences and matching models to control for unobserved heterogeneity in property and neighbourhood characteristics. The results indicate that local benefit from constructed wetlands ranges from about 5% to 9% depending on the location of the property in areas adjacent to the wetlands or in a larger catchment of interest. Our results have a causal interpretation if the selection criteria are applied uniformly across Auckland and are valuable in assessing the benefits of constructed wetlands.
Vernal pools are small temporary wetlands occurring in shallow depressions usually filled with precipitation in autumn and winter. They will dry seasonally, which makes them fishless ponds devoid of large aquatic predators. These ephemeral ponds are less studied compared to other freshwater ecosystems, such as lakes, although they are considered biodiversity hotspots. The aim was to study the use of vernal pools by birds and bats and compare this to permanent wetlands. We expected higher bat activity and bird abundance in vernal pools than permanent wetlands, and that is related to the spatial and temporal fluctuations of the emerging flying insects. However, no difference in bird abundance, diversity or community was found between the habitats. Regarding bats, the activity of Myotis spp was generally higher at lakes than vernal pools, while the activity of Eptesicus nilssonii increased during the study period regardless of habitat type. No relationship was found between the emergence of insects and the occurrence of bird and bats. Although, vernal pools were not more attractive habitats compared to lakes, they still form an important, largely neglected, diverse habitat type within the boreal landscape.
Hexapods in the Mediterranean Basin are very diverse in terms of species and biological traits, and have been used in both fundamental and applied research. The chapter covers different aspects of the biology and ecology of Hexapods, with special emphasis on those subjects that are relevant in the Mediterranean context. Moreover, it includes a taxonomic key for Entognatha (springtails) at species level and Insecta at order level. The biology and ecology of Hexapods is separated into two different sections: aquatic or semiaquatic springtails and aquatic insects. The second section includes the topics like origin of endemicity, singular aquatic habitats, biological traits, dispersal strategies, metacommunities dynamics, their role in food webs, their response to disturbances, their use in biological assessment of water quality, and known alien aquatic Hexapods. Conservation and management of aquatic Hexapods in the Mediterranean Basin represent a challenge because of their high biodiversity, with adapted species to the hydrological characteristics imposed by the Mediterranean climate, and the fact that aquatic habitats are under intense human pressures.
Accurate, unbiased wetland inventories are critical to monitor and protect wetlands from future harm or land conversion. However, most wetland inventories are constructed through manual image interpretation or automated classification of multi-band imagery and are biased towards wetlands that are easy to directly detect in aerial and satellite imagery. Wetlands that are obscured by forest canopy, that occur ephemerally, and that have no visible standing water are, therefore, often missing from wetland maps. To aid in the detection of these cryptic wetlands, we developed the Wetland Intrinsic Potential (WIP) tool, based on a wetland-indicator framework commonly used on the ground to detect wetlands through the presence of hydrophytic vegetation, hydrology, and hydric soils. Our tool uses a random forest model with spatially explicit input variables that represent all three wetland indicators, including novel multi-scale topographic indicators that represent the processes that drive wetland formation, to derive a map of wetland probability. With the ability to include multi-scale topographic indicators that help identify cryptic wetlands, the WIP tool can identify areas conducive to wetland formation while providing a flexible approach that can be adapted to diverse landscapes. For a study area in the Hoh River watershed in western Washington, USA, classification of the output probability with a threshold of 0.5 provided an overall accuracy of 91.97 %. Compared to the National Wetlands Inventory, the classified WIP tool output identified over 2 times the wetland area and reduced errors of omission from 47.5 % to 14.1 % but increased errors of commission from 1.9 % to 10.5 %. The WIP tool is implemented as an ArcGIS toolbox using a combination of R and Python scripts.
The widespread acceleration of freshwater salinisation due to human activities, such as pollution , resource extraction and urbanisation coupled with climate change, poses a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems. Limited work has been directed towards salinisation effects in temporary wetland systems. These systems are characterised by unique crustacean communities reliant on dormant egg production. We assessed salinisation effects on temporary wetland crustacean communities from semi-arid pans in the Khakhea-Bray Transboundary Aquifer region of South Africa using a laboratory-based approach. Sediment from pans containing crustacean resting eggs was exposed to water with varying salinities (0-10 ppt), and emergent hatchlings were assessed over a 30-day hydroperiod. At salinities of 2.5 ppt and above, there were significant decreases in emergent taxa richness and abundance. Spinicaudata and Ostracoda were the most sensitive taxa to high salini-ties. Cladocera, Copepoda, Notostraca and Anostraca hatchlings had shallower decreases with salinity, but hatchability still fell rapidly. There was a limited effect on community hatching phenology dynamics from salinity, with all taxa showing reduced hatch-ability over time overall, with the exception of Cla-docera which exhibited a clear unimodal response, peaking around 20 days post-inundation. This suggests that the main impact of salinisation in these systems will be reductions in hatching success and hence reduced recruitment, leading to changes in predation pressures, food web structure and functioning of these ecosystems, with implications for associated ecosystem services.
Playas are the dominant wetland type on the Southern High Plains of Texas and capture runoff during periods of heavy rainfall. Observing the hydrologic functions of playa is important to evaluate their ecological services, which include encouragement of species biodiversity and recharge of the underlying High Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer. Ten pairs of playas were chosen in 10 counties on the Texas Southern High Plains. Each pair included 1 playa surrounded by natural grassland (not in the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Conservation Reserve Program) and 1 playa surrounded by cultivated cropland. Instrumentation at each playa allowed calculation of changes in free water evaporation and water stored over time during the hydroperiods, defined as continuous durations of surface water storage in the playa basins, caused by one or more rainfall events that generated sufficient runoff flows to reach and fill the playas. A water budget model calculated daily infiltration flux through the playa bottoms. Six cropland playas and 3 grassland playas had significant hydroperiods with associated consistent instrumentation operation during the 6-year study across the years 2005 to 2011. The average observed infiltration flux rates were approximately 10 millimeters/day (range 2 to 20 millimeters/day) and 3 millimeters/day (range 1 to 5 millimeters/day) for the cropland and grassland playas, respectively. The preliminary results may be influenced by the presence of eroded sediments from the surrounding cropland, but more runoff events are needed to differentiate between the impacts of playa floor soils and variations in rainfall and playa watershed characteristics that contribute to the hydroperiods. Citation: Ganesan G, Rainwater K, Gitz D, Hall N, Zartman R, Hudnall W, Smith L. 2016. Comparison of infiltration flux in playa lakes n grassland and cropland basins, Southern High Plains of Texas. Texas Water Journal. 7(1):25-39. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v7i1.7007.
Effective natural resource policy depends on knowing what is needed to sustain a resource and building the capacity to identify, develop, and implement flexible policies. This retrospective case study applies resilience concepts to a 16-year citizen science program and vernal pool regulatory development process in Maine, USA. We describe how citizen science improved adaptive capacities for innovative and effective policies to regulate vernal pools. We identified two core program elements that allowed people to act within narrow windows of opportunity for policy transformation, including (1) the simultaneous generation of useful, credible scientific knowledge and construction of networks among diverse institutions, and (2) the formation of diverse leadership that promoted individual and collective abilities to identify problems and propose policy solutions. If citizen science program leaders want to promote social-ecological systems resilience and natural resource policies as outcomes, we recommend they create a system for internal project evaluation, publish scientific studies using citizen science data, pursue resources for program sustainability, and plan for leadership diversity and informal networks to foster adaptive governance.
Given the complexity and multiplicity of goals in natural resource governance, it is not surprising that policy debates are often characterized by contention and competition. Yet at times adversaries join together to collaborate to find creative solutions not easily achieved in polarizing forums. We employed qualitative interviews and a quantitative network analysis to investigate a collaborative network that formed to develop a resolution to a challenging natural resource management problem, the conservation of vernal pools. We found that power had become distributed among members, trust had formed across core interests, and social learning had resulted in shared understanding and joint solutions. Furthermore, institutions such as who and when new members joined, norms of inclusion and openness, and the use of small working groups helped create the observed patterns of power, trust, and learning.
Geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs), those surrounded by uplands, exchange materials, energy, and organisms with other elements in hydrological and habitat networks, contributing to landscape functions, such as flow generation, nutrient and sediment retention, and biodiversity support. GIWs constitute most of the wetlands in many North American landscapes, provide a disproportionately large fraction of wetland edges where many functions are enhanced, and form complexes with other water bodies to create spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the timing, flow paths, and magnitude of network connectivity. These attributes signal a critical role for GIWs in sustaining a portfolio of landscape functions, but legal protections remain weak despite preferential loss from many landscapes. GIWs lack persistent surface water connections, but this condition does not imply the absence of hydrological, biogeochemical, and biological exchanges with nearby and downstream waters. Although hydrological and biogeochemical connectivity is often episodic or slow (e.g., via groundwater), hydrologic continuity and limited evaporative solute enrichment suggest both flow generation and solute and sediment retention. Similarly, whereas biological connectivity usually requires overland dispersal, numerous organisms, including many rare or threatened species, use both GIWs and downstream waters at different times or life stages, suggesting that GIWs are critical elements of landscape habitat mosaics. Indeed, weaker hydrologic connectivity with downstream waters and constrained biological connectivity with other landscape elements are precisely what enhances some GIW functions and enables others. Based on analysis of wetland geography and synthesis of wetland functions, we argue that sustaining landscape functions requires conserving the entire continuum of wetland connectivity, including GIWs.
Linderiella baetica n. sp. (Anostraca, Chirocephalidae), is described from a temperate Mediterranean climate, episodic temporary fresh water body in Puerto Real (Cádiz, South Spain). Linderiella baetica n. sp. is characterized by the display of the shape of the basomedial outgrowth on the male second antenna, margin structure of praepipods, structure of medial margin of en do pod, penis basal projections, horn-like process on the inner side of the female antenna, female genital somites and of a combination of morphological features involving egg morphology. The study includes a morphological analysis using optical and scanning electron microscopes. Based on the diff erential diagnosis, a dichotomous key for males, females and resting eggs to Linderiella species is proposed. The diagnosis is complemented with phenology of the species and accompanying fauna and aquatic vegetation, and physico-chemical evolution of water along monitoring. © Publications Scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris.
Earth’s climate is changing, and by the end of the 21st century in Europe, average temperatures are likely to have risen by at least 2 °C, and more likely 4 °C, with associated effects on patterns of precipitation and the frequency of extreme weather events. Attention among policy-makers is divided about how to minimise the change, how to mitigate its effects, how to maintain the natural resources on which societies depend and how to adapt human societies to the changes. Natural systems are still seen, through a long tradition of conservation management that is largely species-based, as amenable to adaptive management, and biodiversity, mostly perceived as the richness of plant and vertebrate communities, often forms a focus for planning. We argue that prediction of particular species changes will be possible only in a minority of cases but that prediction of trends in general structure and operation of four generic freshwater ecosystems (erosive rivers, depositional floodplain rivers, shallow lakes and deep lakes) in three broad zones of Europe (Mediterranean, Central and Arctic-Boreal) is practicable. Maintenance and rehabilitation of ecological structures and operations will inevitably and incidentally embrace restoration of appropriate levels of species biodiversity. Using expert judgement, based on an extensive literature, we have outlined, primarily for lay policy makers, the pristine features of these systems, their states under current human impacts, how these states are likely to alter with a warming of 2 °C to 4 °C and what might be done to mitigate this. We have avoided technical terms in the interests of communication, and although we have included full referencing as in academic papers, we have eliminated degrees of detail that could confuse broad policy-making.
We explore the category “geographically isolated wetlands” (GIWs; i.e., wetlands completely surrounded by uplands at the local scale) as used in the wetland sciences. As currently used, the GIW category (1) hampers scientific efforts by obscuring important hydrological and ecological differences among multiple wetland functional types, (2) aggregates wetlands in a manner not reflective of regulatory and management information needs, (3) implies wetlands so described are in some way “isolated,” an often incorrect implication, (4) is inconsistent with more broadly used and accepted concepts of “geographic isolation,” and (5) has injected unnecessary confusion into scientific investigations and discussions. Instead, we suggest other wetland classification systems offer more informative alternatives. For example, hydrogeomorphic (HGM) classes based on well-established scientific definitions account for wetland functional diversity thereby facilitating explorations into questions of connectivity without an a priori designation of “isolation.” Additionally, an HGM-type approach could be used in combination with terms reflective of current regulatory or policymaking needs. For those rare cases in which the condition of being surrounded by uplands is the relevant distinguishing characteristic, use of terminology that does not unnecessarily imply isolation (e.g., “upland embedded wetlands”) would help alleviate much confusion caused by the “geographically isolated wetlands” misnomer.
Genetic pollution of a native species through hybridization with an invasive species poses an insidious conservation threat. To expose genetic pollution, molecular methods employing multilocus data are required. We present a case study of genetic pollution via hybridization of a native crested newt species, Triturus cristatus, by the invasive Triturus carnifex on the Veluwe in the Netherlands. We sequenced 50 nuclear markers by next generation sequencing and one mitochondrial marker by Sanger sequencing for four populations from the native range of both parent species and eleven ponds on the Veluwe. We use three population genetic approaches (HIest, BAPS and Structure) to determine the genetic composition of the Veluwe newts based on all nuclear markers, a subset of 18 diagnostic markers and the complementary 32 non-diagnostic markers, with and without parental populations. BAPS underestimates genetic pollution, whereas Structure is comparatively accurate compared to HIest, although Structure’s relative advantage decreases with the diagnosticity of the markers. Data simulation confirms these findings. Genetic composition of the Veluwe ponds ranges from completely native, via different degrees of genetic admixture, to completely invasive. The observed hybrid zone appears to be bimodal, suggesting negative selection against hybrids. A genetic footprint of the native species is present in invasive populations, evidencing that the invasive locally replaced the native species. Genetic pollution is currently confined to a small area, but the possibility of further expansion cannot be excluded. Removal of genetic pollution will not be easy. We emphasize the need for legal guidance to manage genetic pollution.
Quantifying spatial and temporal heterogeneity in ecosystem processes presents a challenge for con-serving ecosystem function across landscapes. In particular, many ecosystems contain small features that play larger roles in ecosystem processes than their size would indicate; thus, they may represent ''hotspots'' of activity relative to their surroundings. Biogeochemical hotspots are characterized as small features within a landscape that show comparatively high chemical reaction rates. In northeastern forests in North America, vernal pools are abundant, small features that typically fill in spring with snow melt and precipitation and dry by the end of summer. Ephemeral flooding alters soil moisture and the depth of the soil's oxic/anoxic boundary, which may affect biogeochemical processes. We studied the ef-fects of vernal pools on leaf-litter decomposition rates, soil enzyme activity, and denitrification in vernal pools to assess whether they function as bio-geochemical hotspots. Our results indicate that seasonal inundation enhanced leaf-litter decompo-sition, denitrification, and enzyme activity in vernal pools relative to adjacent forest sites. Leaves in sea-sonally flooded areas decomposed faster than leaves in terra firme forest sites. Flooding also influenced the C, N, and P stoichiometry of decomposing leaf litter and explained the variance in microbial extracellular enzyme activity for phosphatase, b-D-glucosidase, and b-N-acetylglucosaminidase. Addi-tionally, denitrification rates were enhanced by seasonal flooding across all of the study pools. Col-lectively, these data suggest that vernal pool eco-systems may function as hotspots of leaf-litter decomposition and denitrification and play a signif-icant role in decomposition and nutrient dynamics relative to their size.
Vernal pools provide critical breeding habitat for amphibians adapted to temporary waters, but they seldom receive the same level of protection as permanent wetlands. In response to continued degradation and loss of pools, man-agers often attempt to mitigate losses through pool creation or restoration. However, mitigation efforts often fail to provide suitable aquatic habitat for vernal pool amphibians. We review the literature on pool creation in northeastern and central North America, highlighting how and why constructed pools often fail to support amphibian-related objectives. We recom-mend that practitioners consider the complex ecology of pool ecosystems and the historical and current distribution of pools and other wetlands in their local context before designing pool mitigation projects. Using vernal pool creation as a mitigation option should be a last resort (i.e., when elimination of natural pools is unavoidable). Monitoring should be target-specific and conducted for at least 5 years. Topographic, geologic, and other local factors affecting pool hydrology and ecology vary regionally; pool creation remains an imperfect science that will only advance by documenting failures and successes. We recommend an adaptive management approach to vernal pool creation in which the effectiveness of techniques is evaluated and refined based on research.
A detailed redescription of Chirocephalus tauricus Pesta, 1921 is provided, and two new fairy shrimp taxa belonging to the “diaphanus” and “bairdi” groups (Brtek, 1995), Chirocephalus algidus sp. nov. and C. brteki sp. nov., are described and discussed. The new species were collected in Turkey, respectively from Alagöl, a temporary pool close to the glacial Lake Karagöl on Mount Bolkar, Taurus, 3100 m a.s.l. (border of Nigde province), and from Lake Alan Gölü, 600 m a.s.l., a shallow lake on the border of Izmir province, close to the village of Bozalan. A number of morphological features (related to the first antenna, mandibles, first maxilla and some notopods) are also illustrated and discussed in relation to their taxonomic and phylogenetic importance.
Small natural features (SNFs), landscape elements that influence species persistence and ecological functioning on a much larger scale than one would expect from their size, can also offer a greater rate of return on conservation investment compared to that of larger natural features or more broad-based conservation. However, their size and perceived lack of significance also makes them more vulnerable to threats and destruction. We examine the management of SNFs and conservation of the associated ecosystem services they generate from an economics perspective. Using the economic concept of market failure, we identify three key themes that explain prevailing threats to SNFs and characterize impediments to and opportunities for SNF management: (1) the degree to which benefits derived from the feature spillover, beyond the feature itself (spatially and temporally); (2) the availability and quality of information about the feature and those who most directly influence its management; and (3) the existence and enforcement of property rights and legal standing of the feature. We argue that the efficacy of alternative SNF management approaches is highly case dependent and relies on four key components: (1) the specific ecosystem services of interest; (2) the amount of redundancy of the SNF on the landscape and the level of connectivity required by the SNF in order to provide ecosystem services; (3) the particular market failures that need correcting and their scope and extent; and (4) the magnitude and distribution of management costs.
Temporary streams and rivers support biodiversity and provide valuable goods and services, especially in arid and semi-arid landscapes. However, temporary streams and rivers are being degraded at alarming rates owing to development, hydromorphological alteration, and disposal of waste water, among other stressors, and pressure will likely increase under global change. Here we propose that it is key to manage temporary streams and rivers as a unique ecohydrological type and not as a permanent waterway or a terrestrial ecosystem. Nevertheless, two challenges hinder this goal. First, data availability on intermittent low regimes and associated biotas is currently scarce. As a consequence, flow-ecology relationships in temporary waterways are largely unknown, and appropriate metrics to define and monitor their ecological status are missing. Second, the ecological and social values of temporary streams and rivers are often underestimated, being regarded as secondary ecosystems relative to permanent waterways. To conserve temporary streams and rivers, ecologists need to define them as unique ecosystems and conservation targets, and practitioners need to systematically collect biological and hydrological data in these ecosystems. Innovative approaches at the intersection of ecology, citizen science, and management, can also contribute to their management and conservation by: i) mapping them, ii) informing people about their ecological values, iii) safeguarding them from further human threats, iv) preserving their flow regime when managing reservoirs, wastewater treatment plants, and water abstraction activities, and v) restoring physically-degraded temporary reaches (e.g. due to gravel mining and off-road use) or reaches that have lost historical flows due to increasing drought severity, diversions, and groundwater overuse.
Rocky outcrops are geological features that encompass a wide variety of physical environments, including escarp-ments, overhangs, cliffs, tors, boulder-heaps and insular domes (inselbergs). They support high levels of species diversity and endemism, and provide stable micro-climates for thousands of years. They provide critical breeding sites for many top order mammalian and avian predators; nesting sites for colonial species such as seabirds, bats and swifts and ecological refuges for ancient lineages. Rock overhangs and caves also provide important insights into our ecological past where they contain the remains of extinct species. Because rocky environments are generally less fertile, steep-sided and less accessible than the surrounding landscape, they are typically less prone to human disturbances. Nonetheless, many rocky outcrops, particularly in commodity production landscapes, face a variety of threats including soil compaction and erosion caused by livestock; nutrient enrichment and weed invasion ; introduced predators; and physical damage caused by recreational and quarrying activities. Even rocky outcrops in seemingly pristine environments may be affected by altered fire regimes, air pollution (including acid rain) and potentially climate change. In agricultural landscapes, various approaches have been taken to conserve rocky outcrops, including land acquisition for conservation, fencing from livestock and private land conservation agreements with landholders. In more intact landscapes, targeted actions to conserve rock-dwelling fauna include limiting human access to critical breeding sites, baiting to reduce pressure from introduced predators, restoring rock microhabitat and translocation of endangered species. Future management actions will need to involve better inventory of the biophysical attributes and fine-scale mapping to improve the awareness of these small natural features.
In this chapter, we perform a comparison of the invertebrate assemblages of the 15 wetland types included in the book using nine faunal groups (mollusks, leeches, large branchiopods, malacostracans, odonates, the so-called EPT taxa (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera), hemipterans, coleopterans, and dipterans). Family level was used in order to avoid some biogeographic biases and because it is the lowest taxon that was reliably reported by authors across all habitats. Tables comparing assemblage composition of each wetland type were provided for each fauna group. Richness patterns of the nine analyzed taxonomic groups clearly distinguished between high- and low-richness wetland types. Additionally, we proposed some conceptual models in order to explain how the Pool of Taxa available to colonize specific wetland types are determined by biogeography, climate, and habitat history, and how environmental factors operate filter the taxa present in a wetland type (i.e., hydroregime, wetland size, predation, etc.).
Ecological relationships and processes vary across species’ geographic distributions, life stages and spatial, and temporal scales. Montane landscapes are characterized by low wetland densities, rugged topographies, and cold climates. Consequently, aquatic-dependent and low-vagility ectothermic species (e.g., pool-breeding amphibians) may exhibit unique ecological associations in montane landscapes. We evaluated the relative importance of breeding- and landscape-scale features associated with spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) and wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) wetland occupancy in Maine's Upper Montane-Alpine Zone ecoregion, and we determined whether models performed better when the inclusive landscape-scale covariates were estimated with topography-weighted or circular buffers. We surveyed 135 potential breeding sites during May 2013–June 2014 and evaluated environmental relationships with multi-season implicit dynamics occupancy models. Breeding site occupancy by both species was influenced solely by breeding-scale habitat features. Spotted salamander occupancy probabilities increased with previous or current beaver (Castor canadensis) presence, and models generally were better supported when the inclusive landscape-scale covariates were estimated with topography-weighted rather than circular buffers. Wood frog occupancy probabilities increased with site area and percent shallows, but neither buffer type was better supported than the other. Model rank order and support varied between buffer types, but model inferences did not. Our results suggest pool-breeding amphibian conservation in montane Maine include measures to maintain beaver populations and large wetlands with proportionally large areas of shallows ≤1-m deep. Inconsistencies between our study and previous studies substantiate the value of region-specific research for augmenting species’ conservation management plans and suggest the application of out-of-region inferences may promote ineffective conservation.
Intermittent surface connectivity can influence aquatic systems, since chemical and biotic movements are often associated with water flow. Although often referred to as fill and spill, wetlands also fill and merge. We examined the effects of these connection types on water levels, ion concentrations, and biotic communities of eight prairie pothole wetlands between 1979 and 2015. Fill and spill caused pulsed surface water connections that were limited to periods following spring snow melt. In contrast, two wetlands connected through fill and merge experienced a nearly continuous, 20-year surface water connection and had completely coincident water levels. Fill and spill led to minimal convergence in dissolved ions and macroinvertebrate composition, while these constituents converged under fill and merge. The primary factor determining differences in response was duration of the surface water connection between wetland pairs. Our findings suggest that investigations into the effects of intermittent surface water connections should not consider these connections generically, but need to address the specific types of connections. In particular, fill and spill promotes external water exports while fill and merge favors internal storage. The behaviors of such intermittent connections will likely be accentuated under a future with more frequent and severe climate extremes.
‘The Right to be Forgotten’ is a topical and contentious issue, with various consultations and debates, such as those noted in The Guardian examining the issue. The Law Society has added its muscle to the debate, hosting a public debate on 15 October 2014 on the subject. The debate was chaired by Peter Wright, managing director of specialist media firm Digital Law UK. On the panel were Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of freedom of expression organization Index on Censorship, Mark Stephens CBE, partner at Howard Kennedy FSI LLP, Jonathan Bamford, head of strategic liaison at the Information Commissioner’s Office and Stewart Room, Partner at Price Waterhouse Coopers Legal LLP.
Mediterranean temporary ponds are present in five biogeographical regions, which are characterized by hot dry summers and cool mild winters. These ponds host high levels of biodiversity and endemism. More than 200 families and 630 genera of invertebrates have been reported, including iconic large branchiopods. Mediterranean climates show strong temporal variability, reflected in large intra- and inter-annual changes in pond hydroperiod that drive patterns in invertebrate communities. Consequently, community dynamics are more temporally variable than in cold-temperate temporary ponds. Globally, temporary pond conservation has been neglected and many ponds have already been lost despite the presence of legal protections and high ecological importance. Future biodiversity protection requires mosaics of ponds with diverse hydroperiods, preserving natural hydroregimes.KeywordsInvertebrates, temporary ponds, Mediterranean regions, seasonal succession, life‑histories, predation, conservation