Does the implementation of environmental flows improve wetland ecosystem services and biodiversity? A literature review

Environmental flow releases are a tool for wetland restoration, but there has been no systematic evaluation of their success. We systematically assessed 102 published studies from a wide range of wetland ecosystems across the globe to determine whether releasing environmental flows could maintain or promote biodiversity and increase ecosystem services, and which strategies were most effective. We found that environmental flow releases remarkably increased regulating services (sediment regulation and water purification) and supporting services (primary production and habitat maintenance), and maintained biodiversity and provisioning services. Biodiversity responses were positive only in river wetlands, and were negative in coastal, lake, and marsh wetlands; the overall delivery of ecosystem services responded positively in all ecosystem types except artificial wetlands. The effects were positive for ecosystem services under all environmental flow regimes, and seasonal minimum flow releases could maintain biodiversity and improve ecosystem services. We also found that long‐term environmental flow releases (years to decades) maintained biodiversity. Values of a change‐in‐flow parameter (D) ranging from 0 to 10% improved both biodiversity and ecosystem services. In summary, long‐term implementation, a high‐flow regime, and D ranging from 0 to 10% for the environmental flows promoted biodiversity and improved ecosystem services around the world, particularly in river wetlands. Regional‐level conclusions might be applicable to guide the implementation of environmental flow releases, but small sample sizes reduce their reliability. We also found that the effect sizes of environmental flow release projects for biodiversity and ecosystem services were significantly and positively correlated in rivers, but not in other wetlands.     

白洋淀最低生态水位研究

由于自然条件的变化、工农业的不合理开发、人口的剧增以及水库和涵闸水利设施的盲目建设等,引发了白洋淀一系列生态环境问题,主要表现为干淀、水污染、生态环境退化、泥沙淤积、湖泊萎缩以及航运中断等。恢复和重建已遭破坏的白洋淀湿地生态系统,并使其至少维持在最低生态水位上是至关重要的问题。在分析白洋淀生态系统功能的基础上,利用水量面积法、最低年平均水位法、年保证率设定法和功能法等4种方法对其最低生态水位进行分析和计算,计算结果分别为7.32 m、7.33m、7.2 8m和7.2 7m。通过合理性分析,认为取它们的平均值即7.30 m作为白洋淀最低生态水位是合理的,符合白洋淀实际情况。     

应用多种生物类群评价白洋淀水环境质量变化

白洋淀是华北平原最大的浅水湖泊。近几十年来,白洋淀上游耗水增加,天然入淀水量急剧减少,使白洋淀水位明显降低;同时,随着淀泊周边农村生活污水的排入,白洋淀发生了严重的富营养化。2017年雄安新区设立,白洋淀环境治理工作的重要性空前提高。近几年通过上游水库和跨流域生态补水,白洋淀水位明显抬升,同时淀中和淀边农村实施了生活污水收集。为了解白洋淀当前水环境状况,对前期补水和治污的效果进行评估,2019年8月对白洋淀水体理化指标及水生生物进行调查,采用水质、浮游植物、浮游动物、底栖动物指标评价白洋淀水环境质量,并与2010年的调查数据进行对比,辅以沉水植物指标评价水体生态状况。结果表明: 白洋淀2019年总磷达到优于Ⅲ类水平,总氮优于Ⅱ类水平,水环境状况比2010年有较大改善。其中,总磷浓度下降了88.6%,总氮浓度下降了83.9%,叶绿素a浓度下降了47.8%,透明度增大了43.4%;浮游动物、底栖动物等生物多样性明显提高,浮游植物密度显著降低,优势种从普遍的重富营养型转变为富营养型;沉水植物清洁型种类分布范围缩小。这说明沉水植物物种评价法不适于白洋淀水环境质量评价,浮游动物多样性评价方法也不适用于当前白洋淀水环境质量评价。早期,由于污染源集中在西部,白洋淀西部水质差于东部;现在,由于自西、北、南多方向补水,淀区的水动力条件发生显著改变,加之西部实施治污工程,淀区水质呈现空间均一化的特点。     

The ecology of rivers with contrasting flow regimes: identifying indicators for setting environmental flows

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The case for environmental flow determination for the Phongolo River,South Africa

The construction of Pongolapoort Dam in 1973 on the Phongolo River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has considerably altered the hydrological behaviour and ecological response of the downstream floodplain. Changes in the flooding regime have had implications for the socio-economic importance of the floodplain and for the structure and functioning of its associated wetlands. Previous studies have recommended annual releases of water from the dam to sustain floodplain ecosystem goods and services. The current artificial water releases are limited by the size of the dam's sluices and by the demand for water from the local community. Therefore, water releases do not always follow the original natural flooding regime. To date, the influence of the changed hydrology on the ecology of the Phongolo floodplain system remains poorly known. As a basis for future integrated interdisciplinary research we synthesised the ecological and hydrological work conducted to date on the Phongolo floodplain. We suggest hydro-ecology as an important research direction needed to set environmental flows for the sustainable utilisation and management of the floodplain. Understanding the hydrological behaviour and ecological response of the Phongolo floodplain could help in the implementation of environmental flows by managers at the Department of Water and Sanitation and other stakeholders such as Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.     

白洋淀湿地区土壤有机碳密度及储量的空间分布特征

湿地生态系统碳储量是陆地生态系统碳循环的重要组成部分,提供重要的生态系统服务功能。白洋淀湿地是国家重要生态湿地和华北平原最大的淡水湿地,同时是雄安新区的核心水系,湿地区土壤碳储量的估算研究将为湿地生态系统服务评估和湿地生态恢复提供数据支撑。研究通过对白洋淀湿地7种不同地类的105个土壤剖面进行分层取样,揭示了其湿地土壤有机碳密度及储量的空间分布特征,结果表明：（1）白洋淀湿地区土壤有机碳含量整体偏低,在各层土壤中,淹水芦苇湿地的有机碳含量均显著高于其他植被类型,约为其他类型土壤碳含量的3倍左右。（2）在各植被类型中土壤有机碳含量均以表层（0-20 cm）最高,其分配比例均集中在30%左右,随着土壤剖面深度的增加,湿地土壤的有机碳含量逐渐减少。（3）不同植被类型土壤有机碳含量与土壤有机碳密度的差异显著,具体表现为：乔木园地 < 旱地 < 常绿针叶林 < 落叶阔叶林 < 水田 < 台田芦苇 < 淹水芦苇。（4）根据估算,白洋淀湿地区的土壤有机碳储量约为5816.77×10³Mg。随着雄安新区环境治理工作的推进,白洋淀湿地区生态系统固碳将呈现持续向好态势,结合生态恢复和土地布局优化,尽量减少雄安新区建设中土地流转带来的碳排放影响,对提高区域生态效益具有重要意义。     

A critical analysis of regulated river ecosystem responses to managed environmental flows from reservoirs

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Habitat quality affects the condition of Barbus sclateri in Mediterranean semi-arid streams

We investigated the site level relationships between fish condition and environmental variables in Sclater's barbel, Barbus sclateri, from semi-arid streams in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. These freshwater ecosystems are characterized by strong seasonal fluctuations in flow levels (droughts and floods) as a consequence of their irregular hydrological regime on both an annual and pluriannual scale. We analysed the relationships between 11 ecosystem variables [conductivity, oxygen concentration, water temperature, pH, seasonal water flow, dominant substrate, submerged vegetation, QBR (Riparian Ecosystems Quality Index), BMWP' (Spanish version of the Biological Monitoring Working Party), fish refuge index and fish density] and fish condition by comparing mass–length relationships of nine populations of Sclater's barbel located in five sub-basins with different environmental conditions. Fish condition differed between the populations studied and was mainly dependent on the ecological variables related with water flow and, consequently, the physical structure of the streams, which is directly related to substrate and fish refuge.     

Fish recruitment in rivers with modified discharge depends on the interacting effects of flow and thermal regimes

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Environmental flows and the European Water Framework Directive

1. Environmental flows is now a widely accepted term that covers the quantity, timing, duration, frequency and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater, estuarine and near-shore ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on them.
2. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union does not use the term environmental flows explicitly, but requires member states to achieve good ecological status (GES) in all waterbodies, which is assessed by reference to aquatic biology. Nevertheless, it is accepted that ecologically appropriate hydrological regimes are necessary to meet this status. Implementing environmental flows will be a key measure for restoring and managing river ecosystems.
3. The WFD explicitly requires stakeholder involvement, but this has been interpreted as largely a dissemination exercise by national government agencies. Stakeholders are no longer involved in negotiation over ecological objectives as these are pre-set in the WFD. However, stakeholders may be more involved in reviewing standards and agreeing to measures to restore river ecosystems to the status required by the WFD.
4. The U.K. has undertaken two major projects to set environmental standards for water resources (i) to define water abstraction limits that maintain a healthy river ecosystem and (ii) to define ecologically appropriate flow releases from reservoirs.
5. Implementation of environmental flows remains a major issue, but new ideas such as time-limited licences and licence trading are being tried.     

白洋淀湿地生态功能评价及分区

白洋淀湿地在雄安新区建设过程中具有重要生态安全保障作用。开展白洋淀湿地生态功能评价及分区研究,为生态环境治理和保护提供科学依据,是当前普遍关切和急需解决的问题之一。面向白洋淀湿地生态保护和管理的需求,在明确白洋淀自然环境特征和主要生态环境问题的基础上,结合外业调查、遥感、综合评价等方法,从水产品供给功能、水生植物供给功能、气候调节功能、生物多样性维护功能、水质改善功能5个方面评价了白洋淀湿地生态系统服务功能重要性,从水污染敏感性、湿地变化敏感性、重要自然与文化价值敏感性3个方面评价了白洋淀湿地生态系统敏感性。基于评价结果,将白洋淀湿地初步划分为7个一级生态功能区和19个二级生态功能区。在分区方法方面体现了白洋淀湿地人地关系动态特征,分区结果注重现状与历史相结合,有助于服务未来淀区生态保护规划决策实施。建议在实施白洋淀生态环境治理和保护过程中,依据白洋淀湿地生态功能分区特征,实行分区管制,制定对应的生态环境治理和保护措施。     

芦苇型湿地生态系统的潜水水质状态研究

以白洋淀芦苇滩地为实验地,研究了湿地生态系统中潜水的水质状况.苇地潜水运动受到芦苇根孔的强烈影响.受芦苇根区生物呼吸作用的影响,潜水pH值(6.94士0.14)显著低于淀水(9.17).潜水中CO2分压约为淀水的85～1039倍.潜水水质类型在离淀2.7至6.7m发生变化,逐渐由ClN3转变为CCa.自苇地边缘至中央,HT(总硬度),Ar(总碱度)与∑C(主要离子总量)逐渐升高.潜水中Mg2+/Ca2+的平均摩尔比值为0.60,明显低于淀水(1.31).淀水和潜水Cl-,SO2-,Na++K+含量无显著差异,平均值分别是176,116和112mg/L.苇地濒水区为一过渡带,对磷氮污染物具备首先的过滤作用.在离淀0.7m处TN,TP和活性磷酸盐的减少量分别为63.3%,84.6%,80.8%.     

Environmental changes affect ecosystem services of the intermittent Lake Cerknica

Lake Cerknica is an intermittent wetland with seasonal water level fluctuations. This paper discusses the possible changes of ecosystem services due to altered ecosystem functions caused by regional climate change. For this purpose, the lake's water regime was analysed and biomass production of common reed (Phragmites australis), the prevailing species, was related to ambient temperatures and water level. The effect of the latter was also examined for reed transpiration rate and plant diversity. The results revealed a gradual loss of seasonality of floods and droughts. High water level in winter months and temperatures at the beginning as well as the end of vegetation period were found to have a significant influence on reed biomass. The plant diversity research in six subsequent years in three different aquatic habitats revealed trends of a decrease due to increased water depth during the vegetation period. The complexity of the system and consequently ecosystem services might also be affected due to changes of other processes, which revealed to be related to water level; namely transpiration rate, plant mycorrhizal colonisation and soil mineralisation.     

太湖湖滨带生态系统健康评价

根据湖滨带生态系统的特点,运用综合健康指数法建立了湖滨带生态系统健康评价体系,由目标层、准则层、指标层构成,其中准则层由湖滨带水质状况、底泥状况、植被状况、其它生物状况(浮游动物、浮游植物、底栖动物)、岸带物理状况5项组成,指标层由总氮、总磷、溶解氧、挺水植物覆盖率等15项指标构成。采用专家打分法、熵值法分别确定了准则层、指标层的权重系数。对太湖湖滨带33个点位进行了采样分析,并进行无量纲化处理后应用到所建立的评价体系中。评价结果显示33个点位中为"很健康"、"健康"、"亚健康"、"疾病"、"严重疾病"的分别占0%、24.2%、21.2%、51.5%及3.0%,也即超过一半的点位处于"疾病"状态。只有东太湖刚刚超过"健康"分数的下限,东部沿岸、贡湖、南部沿岸均处于"亚健康"状态,而梅梁湾、竺山湾、西部沿岸属于"疾病"状态,且竺山湾的生态健康状态最差。该评价结果与太湖湖滨带各分区的实际调查情况相符合,评价方法可靠性、可行性较强,可为其它湖泊湖滨带的生态系统健康评价提供一定的参照。     

白洋淀水陆交错带对陆源营养物质的截留作用初步研究

在白洋淀进行的野外实验结果表明水陆交错带中的芦苇群落和群落间的小沟都能有效地截留来自府河的陆源营养物质,其中,在植被２９０ｍ长的小沟对地表径流总Ｎ和总Ｐ的截留分别为４２和６５％;４ｍ芦苇根区土壤对地表下径流总Ｎ和总Ｐ的截留率分别为６４和９２％。被截留比率最大的是无机态的正磷酸根态磷和铵态氮。     

大丰沿海滩涂大匡围高水体养殖生态经济模式

大丰市自1992年至1997年在生态农业建设中,选择了本市沿海滩涂土地后备资源开发利用、改造和保护为重点的生态农业建设。大匡围高水体养殖生态经济模式的建立是一项新的突破,获得了环境、经济、社会效益的统一。现概述如下。1　大匡围高水体生态养殖工程大匡围高水体生态养殖工程模式是在全市沿海滩涂区以水改土,粗放型苇鱼养殖模式的基础上,改粗养为精养,提高产出,加速生态演替而成的。它充分利用原有苇鱼养殖的匡格堤埝,抬高水位,进行加土补堤,减少土方工程量,降低投资而设计的一种淡水养殖生态工程模式(图1)。1.1　土建工程圩堤,护坡工程…     

湖泊生态恢复的基本原理与实现

当前我国湖泊污染及富营养化问题非常严重。湖泊治理的一个有效途径就是恢复水生植物,通过草型湖泊生态系统的培植来达到控制富营养化和净化水质的目的。但是,迄今为止,只有在局部水域或滨岸地区获得成功,恢复的水生植物主要是挺水植物或漂浮植物。鲜有全湖性的水生植物恢复和生态修复成功的例子。原因是对湖泊生态系统退化及其修复的机理了解甚少。实际上,环境条件不同决定了生态系统类型的不同,只有通过环境条件的改变才能实现生态系统的转变。利用草型湖泊生态系统来净化水质,其实质是利用生态系统对环境条件的反馈机制。但是,这种反馈无法从根本上改变其环境条件,因此其作用是有限的,不宜过分夸大。以往许多湖泊生态修复的工作之所以鲜有成功的例子,原因就是过于注重水生植物种植本身,而忽视了水生植物生长所需的环境条件的分析和改善。实施以水生植物恢复为核心的生态修复需要一定的前提条件。就富营养化湖泊生态恢复而言,这些环境条件包括氮磷浓度不能太高,富含有机质的沉积物应该去除,风浪不能太大以免对水生植物造成机械损伤,水深不能太深以免影响水生植物光合作用,鱼类种群结构应以食肉性鱼为主等等。因此,在湖泊污染很重或者氮磷负荷很高的情况下,寻求以沉水植物为核心的湖泊生态恢复来改善水质是不切实际的。为此,提出湖泊治理应该遵循先控源截污、后生态恢复,即先改善基础环境,后实施生态恢复的战略路线。     

Effects of summer drawdown on cyprinid fish larvae in Lake Biwa, Japan

The effects of artificial water-level manipulations in Lake Biwa, initiated in 1992 to prevent flooding, on cyprinid fish larvae were assessed by measuring and estimating the topographic change in the reed zones. The shallow, litter-accumulated water in those zones was inhabited by larvae of two species, Carassius spp. and Cyprinus carpio. More than 70% (by volume) of these shallow areas in Lake Biwa was estimated to be lost when the water level was artificially lowered by 30cm from June to October 1997. During the low water level period, significantly fewer eggs of these cyprinid fishes were collected in a reed zone than in April and May of the same year, a comparison with a previous study suggesting that spawning of the fishes was inhibited during the period of low water level. The artificial reductions in water level probably resulted in a significant decrease in the volume of shallow water in the lake and may be linked to the drastic decline in these cyprinid fishes.     

Architecture of collapse: regime shift and recovery in an hierarchically structured marine ecosystem

By the late 20th century, a series of events or ‘natural experiments’, for example the depletion of apex predators, extreme eutrophication and blooms of invasive species, had suggested that the Black Sea could be considered as a large ecosystem ‘laboratory’. The events resulted in regime shifts cascading through all trophic levels, disturbing ecosystem functioning and damaging the water environment. Causal pathways by which the external (hydroclimate, overfishing) and internal (food web interactions) drivers provoke regime shifts are investigated. Statistical data analyses supported by an interpretative framework based on hierarchical ecosystem theory revealed mechanisms of hierarchical incorporation of environmental factors into the ecosystem. Evidence links Atlantic teleconnections to Black Sea hydroclimate, which together with fishing shapes variability in fish stocks. The hydroclimatic signal is conveyed through the food web via changes in productivity at all levels, to planktivorous fish. Fluctuating fish abundance is believed to induce a lagged change in competitor jelly plankton that cascades down to phytoplankton and influences water quality. Deprived of the stabilising role of apex predators, the Black Sea's hierarchical ecosystem organisation is susceptible to both environmental and anthropogenic stresses, and increased fishing makes fish stock collapses highly probable. When declining stocks are confronted with burgeoning fishing effort associated with the inability of fishery managers and decision‐makers to adapt rapidly to changes in fish abundance, there is overfishing and stock collapse. Management procedures are ineffective at handling complex phenomena such as ecosystem regime shifts because of the shortage of suitable explanatory models. The proposed concepts and models reported here relate the hydroclimate, overfishing and invasive species to shifts in ecosystem functioning and water quality, unravelling issues such as the causality of ecosystem interactions and mechanisms and offering potential for finding ways to reverse regime shifts. We advocate a management approach aiming at restoring ecosystem hierarchy that might mitigate the costly consequences of regime shifts.     

The potential trade‐off between artisanal fisheries production and hydroelectricity generation on the Kafue River,Zambia

1. Freshwater resource managers are increasingly obligated to consider the impacts of large river engineering projects on ecosystem services. We evaluated the effect of altered water regime from the operation of a large dam on the production of the downstream tropical floodplain fishery of the Kafue River, Zambia. We compared the benefits of increased hydropower relative to potentially lost fishery production. 2. We compiled a long‐term data set consisting of experimental gillnet catches, artisanal harvesting effort and monthly river flows for 25 years prior to and 29 years after the 1977 completion of the upstream Itezhi‐Tezhi Dam. As a metric of the flood regime, we calculated a canonical correlation score for each hydrological year before and after dam closure. For the period following dam construction, we used the Muskingum method of flood routing to estimate ‘no‐dam’ flows through the fishery area and downstream hydroelectric turbines at the Kafue Gorge Dam. 3. We compared 16 alternative models of catch per unit effort (CPUE) with and without an effect of water regime on fish population growth rate. Using the two best fitting models, we estimated the total observed fishery harvest and simulated ‘no‐dam’ fisheries harvest and found no significant effect of altered water regime on fishery production. 4. We estimate that the large upstream dam increases downstream hydropower production by about $18 million USD per annum. The reduction in fishery production caused by the altered water regime is not significantly different than zero, although the average reduction amounts to about $2.3 million annually. The total estimated value of harvest ranges from $1.3 million to $56 million annually. 5. Large observed declines in fish abundance over the 54‐year study period are attributed primarily with similarly large increases in total fishing effort in this mostly open‐access artisanal fishery. 6. These results contrast with other examples of the effects of flow alteration on fish, probably because levels of fisheries exploitation on the Kafue River are very high relative to better studied regions on other continents; our focus on the whole fish community; and the unprecedented length of the time series we considered. If the goal is to sustain fishery production, investments in altering flow regime are likely to be less effective than investments to decrease fishing effort.