The effects of check dams and other erosion control structures on the restoration of Andean bofedal ecosystems

Restoring degraded lands in rural environments that are heavily managed to meet subsistence needs is a challenge due to high rates of disturbance and resource extraction. This study investigates the efficacy of erosion control structures (ECSs) as restoration tools in the context of a watershed rehabilitation and wet meadow (bofedal) restoration program in the Bolivian Andes. In an effort to enhance water security and increase grazing stability, Aymara indigenous communities built over 15,000 check dams, 9,100 terraces, 5,300 infiltration ditches, and 35 pasture improvement trials. Communities built ECSs at different rates, and we compared vegetation change in the highest restoration management intensity, lowest restoration management intensity, and nonproject control communities. We used line transects to measure changes in vegetation cover and standing water in gullies with check dams and without check dams, and related these ground measurements to a time series (1986–2009) of normalized difference vegetation index derived from Landsat TM5 images. Evidence suggests that check dams increase bofedal vegetation and standing water at a local scale, and lead to increased greenness at a basin scale when combined with other ECSs. Watershed rehabilitation enhances ecosystem services significant to local communities (grazing stability, water security), which creates important synergies when conducting land restoration in rural development settings.     

Biological soil crusts in ecological restoration: emerging research and perspectives

Drylands encompass over 40% of terrestrial ecosystems and face significant anthropogenic degradation causing a loss of ecosystem integrity, services, and deterioration of social‐ecological systems. To combat this degradation, some dryland restoration efforts have focused on the use of biological soil crusts (biocrusts): complex communities of cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, bryophytes, and other organisms living in association with the top millimeters of soil. Biocrusts are common in many ecosystems and especially drylands. They perform a suite of ecosystem functions: stabilizing soil surfaces to prevent erosion, contributing carbon through photosynthesis, fixing nitrogen, and mediating the hydrological cycle in drylands. Biocrusts have emerged as a potential tool in restoration; developing methods to implement effective biocrust restoration has the potential to return many ecosystem functions and services. Although culture‐based approaches have allowed researchers to learn about the biology, physiology, and cultivation of biocrusts, transferring this knowledge to field implementation has been more challenging. A large amount of research has amassed to improve our understanding of biocrust restoration, leaving us at an opportune time to learn from one another and to join approaches for maximum efficacy. The articles in this special issue improve the state of our current knowledge in biocrust restoration, highlighting efforts to effectively restore biocrusts through a variety of different ecosystems, across scales and utilizing a variety of lab and field methods. This collective work provides a useful resource for the scientific community as well as land managers.     

Vegetation trajectories of restored agricultural wetlands following sediment removal

Recognition of wetland ecosystem services has led to substantial investment in wetland restoration in recent decades. Wetland restorations can be designed to meet numerous goals, among which reestablishing a diverse native wetland plant community is a common aim. In agricultural areas, where previously drained wetland basins can fill with eroded sediment from the surrounding landscape, restoration often includes excavation to expose buried seed banks. The extent to which excavation improves the diversity of wetland plant communities is unclear, particularly in terms of longer‐term outcomes. We examined plant species diversity and community composition in 24 restored agricultural wetlands across west‐central Minnesota, U.S.A. In all study wetlands, hydrology was restored by removing subsurface drainage and plugging drainage ditches, thus reestablishing groundwater connectivity and hydroperiod (“business as usual” treatment). In half of the wetlands, accumulated sediment was removed from the basin and redeposited on the surrounding landscape (“excavated” treatment). Initially, sediment removal significantly decreased invasive species cover, particularly of hybrid cattail (Typha × glauca) and reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), and increased community diversity and evenness. Over time, the effects of sediment removal diminished, and eventually disappeared by approximately 6 years after restoration. While our results demonstrate that sediment removal improves initial restoration outcomes for plant communities, longer‐term benefits require sustained management, such as invasive species control or resetting of basins through additional excavation.     

基于选择实验的三江平原湿地生态系统服务功能价值评价及偏好异质性研究

维持与保护生态系统服务功能是实现可持续发展的基础,定量评价湿地生态系统服务功能的经济价值已成为当前生态学领域研究的前沿课题。以三江平原湿地为研究对象,应用选择实验法,选取湿地面积、生物多样性、水源涵养和自然景观等4项湿地属性,运用随机参数Logit模型(RPL)对其进行货币化评价,并结合潜在分类模型(LCM)证实并解释公众对湿地生态系统服务功能的偏好异质性。研究结果显示:湿地生态系统服务功能的价值依次为水源涵养湿地面积生物多样性自然景观。对于维持当前各项湿地生态系统服务功能的总价值为14.61亿元/a,改善价值为98.58亿元/a。此外,研究发现受访者可分为资源偏好型、景观偏好型和价格敏感型等3个潜在类别,不同类型的群体对湿地生态系统服务功能存在不同偏好;女性和更高学历的受访者更偏好于资源保护,高收入和到景区旅游次数多的受访者更偏好于景观保护,而教育和收入水平越低的受访者更倾向于选择价格较低的湿地管理方案。研究有助于湿地可持续管理政策的优化设计,为相关环境政策的制定提供理论依据。     

Land management implications for ecosystem services in a South African rangeland

In South Africa, restoration and sustainable management of historically overgrazed and degraded rangelands are promoted to increase biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. This study evaluates different land management scenarios in terms of ecosystem services in a South African rangeland, the Baviaanskloof catchment. As measured data were limited, we used simple models to quantify and map the effect of the different combination of agricultural, nature conservation and restoration practices on multiple ecosystem services. The land management scenarios were evaluated against management targets set for individual ecosystem services. Results highlight how the provision of ecosystem services is related to land management as unmanaged, pristine ecosystems provide a different mix of ecosystem services than ecosystems recently restored or managed as grazing lands. Results also indicate that historically overgrazed lands provide no forage, may retain 40% less sediment and have 38% lower biodiversity, while providing 60% more fuel wood and supplying two and half times more water (i.e. retaining less water), than pristine or restored lands. We conclude that a combination of light grazing, low input agriculture, nature conservation and restoration is the best for the sufficient provision of multiple ecosystem services. Applying such mixed management would improve biodiversity, ecotourism and maintain forage production and regulating services on farmers’ land. This management option also fits into and further optimizes local decision-makers’ vision regarding the future management of the area.     

Response diversity,nonnative species,and disassembly rules buffer freshwater ecosystem processes from anthropogenic change

Integrating knowledge of environmental degradation, biodiversity change, and ecosystem processes across large spatial scales remains a key challenge to illuminating the resilience of earth's systems. There is now a growing realization that the manner in which communities will respond to anthropogenic impacts will ultimately control the ecosystem consequences. Here, we examine the response of freshwater fishes and their nutrient excretion – a key ecosystem process that can control aquatic productivity – to human land development across the contiguous United States. By linking a continental‐scale dataset of 533 fish species from 8100 stream locations with species functional traits, nutrient excretion, and land remote sensing, we present four key findings. First, we provide the first geographic footprint of nutrient excretion by freshwater fishes across the United States and reveal distinct local‐ and continental‐scale heterogeneity in community excretion rates. Second, fish species exhibited substantial response diversity in their sensitivity to land development; for native species, the more tolerant species were also the species contributing greater ecosystem function in terms of nutrient excretion. Third, by modeling increased land‐use change and resultant shifts in fish community composition, land development is estimated to decrease fish nutrient excretion in the majority (63%) of ecoregions. Fourth, the loss of nutrient excretion would be 28% greater if biodiversity loss was random or 84% greater if there were no nonnative species. Thus, ecosystem processes are sensitive to increased anthropogenic degradation but biotic communities provide multiple pathways for resistance and this resistance varies across space.     

Impact of land use and land cover change on groundwater recharge and quality in the southwestern US

Humans have exerted large‐scale changes on the terrestrial biosphere, primarily through agriculture; however, the impacts of such changes on the hydrologic cycle are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the conversion of natural rangeland ecosystems to agricultural ecosystems impacts the subsurface portion of the hydrologic cycle by changing groundwater recharge and flushing salts to underlying aquifers. The hypothesis was examined through point and areal studies investigating the effects of land use/land cover (LU/LC) changes on groundwater recharge and solute transport in the Amargosa Desert (AD) in Nevada and in the High Plains (HP) in Texas, US. Studies use the fact that matric (pore‐water‐pressure) potential and environmental‐tracer profiles in thick unsaturated zones archive past changes in recharging fluxes. Results show that recharge is related to LU/LC as follows: discharge through evapotranspiration (i.e., no recharge; upward fluxes <0.1 mm yr^?1) in natural rangeland ecosystems (low matric potentials; high chloride and nitrate concentrations); moderate‐to‐high recharge in irrigated agricultural ecosystems (high matric potentials; low‐to‐moderate chloride and nitrate concentrations) (AD recharge: ～130–640 mm yr^?1); and moderate recharge in nonirrigated (dryland) agricultural ecosystems (high matric potentials; low chloride and nitrate concentrations, and increasing groundwater levels) (HP recharge: ～9–32 mm yr^?1). Replacement of rangeland with agriculture changed flow directions from upward (discharge) to downward (recharge). Recent replacement of rangeland with irrigated ecosystems was documented through downward displacement of chloride and nitrate fronts. Thick unsaturated zones contain a reservoir of salts that are readily mobilized under increased recharge related to LU/LC changes, potentially degrading groundwater quality. Sustainable land use requires quantitative knowledge of the linkages between ecosystem change, recharge, and groundwater quality.     

黄土区小流域植被类型对沟坡地土壤水分循环的影响

沟坡作为黄土丘陵区小流域水土流失最为活跃的区域,探究不同下垫面植被类型下的土壤水分循环特征对于沟坡地植被恢复具有重要意义。基于氢氧同位素示踪技术,通过野外水样采集和室内同位素分析旨在揭示植被类型对沟坡地土壤水分循环的影响机制。结果表明:(1)各水体氢氧同位素均遵循:降水刺槐林地土壤水草地土壤水地表水地下水,降水的变异系数最大,地表水和地下水的变异系数较小。(2)草地土壤水主要以降水补给为主,所占比例为59.12%,刺槐林地土壤水则以深层土壤水的上升补给为主,所占比例为60.97%。短阵性暴雨条件下,草地土壤水运移速率较刺槐林地高约1 cm/d,且主要发生在0—50 cm土层。(3)土壤水的垂向运移为地下水的主要补给形式,草地土壤水对地下水的补给比例为51.64%,约比刺槐林地高0.52%。表明植被类型对土壤水分循环特征具有一定的影响,刺槐林对深层土壤水分利用强度较大,可能加剧深层土壤干层化,而草地更有利于降水入渗以及地下水补给,该研究可为小流域沟坡的生态修复和综合治理提供科学依据。     

An Ecosystem Model for Exploring Lake Restoration Effects on Fish Communities and Fisheries in Florida

Developing quantitative ecosystem–scale expectations of habitat restoration projects and examining trade‐offs associated with alternative approaches has been a challenge for restoration ecology. Many of the largest freshwater lake restoration projects have occurred in Florida to remediate degradation to vegetated littoral habitats resulting from stabilized water levels, but effects across lake food‐webs have not been assessed. We developed an ecosystem model using Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace for a generalized large, eutrophic Florida Lake to explore how simulated restoration activities could influence fish communities with emphasis on sport fish abundance. We modeled three habitat restoration scenarios: (1) “no control,” (2) a “10‐year control” that restored littoral habitat every 10 years, and (3) a “combined control” scenario that restored littoral habitat every 10 years with maintenance controls between 10‐year periods. Our “combined control” scenario provided the largest long‐term habitat restoration benefits for sport fish abundance and the fisheries they support. In Ecospace, we simulated a littoral habitat restoration project that reduced lake‐wide tussock coverage from 30 to 15%. Ecospace predicted positive benefits to sport fish and fisheries following the restoration simulation and highlighted the importance of habitat edge effects, spatial design of habitat restoration projects, and sampling designs for evaluating restoration projects.     

基于生态系统评价的山水林田湖草生态保护与修复体系构建研究——以乌梁素海流域为例

山水林田湖草系统保护与修复工程实施的重要目标是维护和提升区域生态系统服务。从乌梁素海流域山水林田湖草的生态现状与功能出发,对乌梁素海流域水土流失、土地沙化等生态敏感性及土壤保持、水源涵养、生物多样性等生态功能重要性进行系统评价,形成基于生态敏感性和生态功能重要性相结合的空间格局评价结果。以维护和提升人类福祉所需的重要生态系统服务为目标,以乌梁素海流域生态敏感性和生态功能重要性相结合的空间格局评价结果为基础,制定了“一中心、二重点、六要素、七工程”的乌梁素海山水林田湖草生态保护与修复体系,并基于此将乌梁素海流域生态保护修复分为6个主要治理区域,形成“四区、一带、一网”的生态安全格局,通过具体工程实施,流域生态环境质量和生态服务能力将取得明显提升,防风固沙能力有效增强,生物多样性持续改善,水环境质量稳定达标,生态系统的稳定性明显加强。通过乌梁素海流域的分析案例为流域山水林田湖草生态保护与修复关键区域的识别提供了定量分析方法,为流域尺度构建生态安全格局、实现山水林田湖草系统保护和修复提供思路和途径。     

An overview of peatland restoration in North America: where are we after 25 years?

Peatland restoration in North America (NA) was initiated approximately 25 years ago on peat‐extracted bogs. Recent advances in peatland restoration in NA have expanded the original concepts and methodology. Restoration efforts in NA now include restoring peatlands from many diverse types of disturbances (e.g. roads, agriculture, grazing, erosion, forestry, and petrol industry infrastructure impacts) and occur in a greater array of peatland types (e.g. fens and swamps). Because fens are groundwater and surface flow driven, techniques to restore the hydrology of fens are generally more complicated than bogs. Restoring a greater variety of peatland types on a large‐scale basis (>10 ha) commands new techniques for reestablishing a broader array of plants other than Sphagnum spp., including non‐Sphagnum mosses, sedges, nonericaceous shrubs, and trees. The rationale for restoring peatlands has expanded to include legal requirements, wetland mitigation and banking, climate mitigation, water quality, and as part of responsible ecosystem management for industry or society. In the past 25 years, peatland restoration in NA has evolved from (1) trial and error to a more empirically based scientific approach, (2) small site‐specific experiments to landscape‐scale restoration (e.g. hydrological connectivity, ecological fragmentation), and (3) individual stakeholder (academic) to multiple stakeholders across jurisdictional boundaries (private, local, and regional governmental agencies, NGOs, and so on). However, many research gaps still exist that must be addressed to enhance our ability to restore peatlands successfully.     

Comparison of soil microbial communities inhabiting vineyards and native sclerophyllous forests in central Chile

Natural ecosystems provide services to agriculture such as pest control, soil nutrients, and key microbial components. These services and others in turn provide essential elements that fuel biomass productivity. Responsible agricultural management and conservation of natural habitats can enhance these ecosystem services. Vineyards are currently driving land‐use changes in many Mediterranean ecosystems. These land‐use changes could have important effects on the supporting ecosystems services related to the soil properties and the microbial communities associated with forests and vineyard soils. Here, we explore soil bacterial and fungal communities present in sclerophyllous forests and organic vineyards from three different wine growing areas in central Chile. We employed terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms (T‐RFLP) to describe the soil microbial communities inhabiting native forests and vineyards in central Chile. We found that the bacterial community changed between the sampled growing areas; however, the fungal community did not differ. At the local scale, our findings show that fungal communities differed between habitats because fungi species might be more sensitive to land‐use change compared to bacterial species, as bacterial communities did not change between forests and vineyards. We discuss these findings based on the sensitivity of microbial communities to soil properties and land‐use change. Finally, we focus our conclusions on the importance of naturally derived ecosystem services to vineyards.     

景感生态学在煤电基地生态建设与管理中的应用

煤电基地的开发对中国能源利用格局具有深远的影响,是煤炭行业发展的重要方向,但也对生态环境提出了严峻的挑战。在我国煤电基地的生态建设中,基于景观生态学的应用研究较多,缺乏对居民感知、愿景和福祉等方面的联系和研究。以内蒙古锡林郭勒煤电基地为例,在分析因煤电基地的开发建设而导致的生态环境问题基础上,运用景感生态学的理论和方法,从煤电基地的景感营造、景感修复、景感保护监测管理、生态文明的建设共4个方面进行了分析,为煤电基地的生态建设、保护与管理提出了具有建设性的措施和建议。结合生态环境物联网对所选景感指标的监测、谜码数据平台的评价分析及预警系统,对实现煤电基地的生态健康保障、生态服务提升、以及居民愿景和福祉的提高有着重要意义,为实现区域可持续发展的目标提供了有效措施。本研究为煤电基地相关区域的生态建设、保护与管理提供科学依据和有效对策,为后续相关研究打下基础。     

Resource dependence and attitudes of local people toward conservation of Kabartal wetland: a case study from the Indo-Gangetic plains

Wetlands are rapidly disappearing from the earth's surface because of agricultural conversion and other land-use changes. The Indo-Gangetic biogeographic zone is a water-surplus area and it abounds in numerous wetlands and floodplains. Kabartal is one such freshwater wetland ecosystem situated in the mid Ganges basin. The wetland not only supports a large population of migratory and residential waterfowl but also plays an equally important role in the local economy and livelihoods of people. The objective of this paper is to examine the different wetland–society linkages, resource dependence, and attitudes of the people living in the peripheral villages of Kabartal. The results indicate that 67% of people depend on the wetland for different types of subsistence and commercial goods including fodder, fuel wood, construction materials, and fish. Kabartal wetland, like many other wetlands of the region, is used simultaneously for rice cultivation, fishing, and many other uses. This has resulted in conflict between different stakeholder groups. The non-settlement of land rights in the Kabartal sanctuary area has further complicated the situation. Agriculture was rated as the most important use of the wetland and was the basic source of income in the area. This was apparent from the attitudes of people, and most of the respondents demanded draining of the water to make more land available for agriculture. The study reveals the high dependence of people in low-income groups on wetland resources. In such a scenario, although the concept of conservation is well supported, the economic conditions of people dictate otherwise. A general lack of awareness about the ecological functions of wetlands points to the need for conservation education. Managing the wetland on the basis of zone concepts and involving local people in alternative income-generating activity by use of extension programs has been suggested as a means of reducing pressure on agricultural land and also reducing the threat to Kabartal wetland.     

上海大莲湖湖滨带湿地的生态修复

采用改变土地利用模式、水系改造和植被配置等技术开展了上海青浦大莲湖湿地修复示范工程。本文从2008年8月到2010年3月跟踪调查了土地利用方式、鸟类群落、两栖爬行类、水质等多类指标来对示范工程进行评估。结果表明,实验区生态系统的生境结构和生物多样性组成都发生了明显的变化。实验区内土地利用由主要以人工养殖鱼塘和林地为主的人工湿地(人工鱼塘占50%,林地占25%),转变为以开放性水域和乔灌草相结合的半自然状态下的自然湿地(明水面面积占30%,各类植被群落占50%,人工鱼塘完全消失),植被从只有片段化林地转变为乔木、灌木丛、草本植物及各类水生植物相结合的格局;工程后鸟类种类和数量均高于工程前(新纪录到11种鸟类),鸟类多样性指数和均匀性指数也有明显增加,其中目标鸟类——雁鸭类新增6种,种类和数量都呈显著增加;两栖爬行类种类变化不大,共记录到6科12种,但整体数量比工程前增长了59.1%;水质指标的变化也很突出,与工程前人工鱼塘相比,实验区内水体中总氮(TN)、硝态氮(NO3-N)、总磷(TP)、叶绿素a(Chla)、高锰酸钾指数(CODMn)等主要指标均有显著下降(P<0.05),水质改善显著。由此说明,修复工程改善了大莲湖湖滨带湿地的生态环境,生物多样性得到较好的恢复,呈现出良好的湿地修复效果。     

Land use change and its drivers in Kurt Bahir wetland,north-western Ethiopia

The effects of land-use change on ecosystem services in Kurt Bahir wetland were investigated during 2013 to 2014 using LANDSAT satellite images from 1973, 1986, 2002 and 2013 to identify and map changes in land-use classes over time. To understand perceptions of changes in ecosystem services that resulted from observed land-use changes discussions were held with local key informants and focus group participants. Accuracy assessment was done on the 2013 classified image. In 1973, the land-use classes of the wetland comprised wetland and grazing land, with area coverages of 764.5 and 268.4 ha, respectively. The land-use classes in 1986 were wetland, grazing land and cultivated land, with area coverages of 585.7, 198.3 and 248.9 ha, respectively. The land use of the study area in 2002 was similar to that of 1986. In 2013–2014, however, there was a substantial increase in cultivation and grazing lands at the expense of the wetland, as compared to 2002. Respondents confirmed that free grazing, the harvesting of vegetation, deforestation and expansion of cultivated land were the major threats. This study indicated that land-use change is the main driver of wetland degradation and loss. It is recommended that government organisations should give due emphasis to overcome the anthropogenic effects and to develop a management plan for the sustainable utilisation of the wetland’s ecosystem services.     

Where the fish swim above the birds: configurations and challenges of wetland restoration in the Po Delta,Italy

Wetland and estuary restoration presents a number of complex challenges that are primarily social, cultural, economic, and governance‐related rather than ecological. Here we consider the case of wetland restoration in the Po Delta, Italy. Wetland restoration of the Po Delta is a goal of a broad range of actors in the region and this project is a response to local calls for action. We investigate why local stakeholders are unsatisfied with apparently successful restoration projects, and appraise the factors that favor both the fulfillment of environmental targets and establishment of cooperative relations. We suggest that historical legacies of land use in the Po Delta have influenced current governance practices in a complex and fragmented governance context. Also, patterns of wetland restoration and wetland management practices differ between wetland types, and their outcomes may be influenced by the number of stakeholders involved, funding, and ability to generate direct revenues from management. However, there seem to be no blueprint solutions to successful wetland management and wetland restoration, and results are uneven at the landscape scale and often depending on contingencies. Maintaining traditional practices that retain cultural importance may be seen as part of restoration by local people. As a landscape that is highly anthropogenic and in continuous motion, we argue that the Delta exemplifies some of the challenges that restoration will face in a world increasingly characterized by novel ecosystems. We suggest actions that could contribute to enhancing wetland restoration outcomes in the Po Delta.     

退耕还湿后土壤细菌群落结构和生物量变化过程

土壤细菌对湿地生态系统功能和健康维持起着重要作用。以菜子湖原始湿地、不同退耕年限湿地(3a、7a、11a和21a)和仍耕作油菜地土壤为研究对象,应用聚合酶链式反应-变性梯度凝胶电泳(PCR-DGGE)、高通量测序和磷脂脂肪酸(PLFAs)方法分析土壤细菌群落组成和生物量,探讨它们在退耕还湿后的变化过程及其影响因素。结果表明,退耕还湿后土壤变形菌门(α-变形菌纲、β-变形菌纲和δ-变形菌纲)、酸杆菌门(酸杆菌纲和全噬菌纲)、Nitrospinae(Nitrospinia纲)和硝化螺旋菌门(硝化螺旋菌纲)相对丰度先增高后降低;这些参与氮循环的土壤细菌对退耕后湿地生态恢复过程中土壤氮素提升起着重要作用。与农业生产活动密切关联的厚壁菌门(芽孢杆菌纲和梭菌纲)和放线菌门(放线菌纲)相对丰度逐渐降低。湿地土壤细菌多样性在退耕初期(3—7a)上升达到最大,退耕中后期逐渐降低。表层土壤各类群细菌生物量逐渐升高,亚表层土壤各类群细菌生物量则先降后升再降。水分条件和容重是与研究区土壤细菌群落结构和多样性密切相关的土壤因子,而全氮是与土壤细菌生物量密切相关的土壤因子。研究从生态过程视角解析了土壤细菌群落较详...     

Restoration journey of the Piccaninnie Ponds Karst Wetlands,South Australia

A restoration programme to reverse degradation of this important wetland ecosystem was first proposed in the 1980s but only became a reality a decade ago. Recovery of key functional groups of fauna, such as birds and fish, illustrates the value of wetland restoration, providing particularly useful insights for threatened species management and recovery.     

A multi-criteria,ecosystem-service value method used to assess catchment suitability for potential wetland reconstruction in Denmark

Wetlands provide a range of ecosystem services such as drought resistance, flood resistance, nutrient deposition, biodiversity, etc. This study presents a new multi-criteria, ecosystems service value-driven method to drive the optimal placement of restored wetlands in terms of maximizing selected ecosystem services which a wetland can provide or affect. We aim to answer two questions: 1) which of the ecosystem services indicators defines the placement of wetlands today? 2) Based on the ecosystem services indicator assessment, what are the recommendations for future selection of catchments for potential wetland reconstruction (i.e. restoration)?Five key ecosystem services indicators produced or affected by wetlands in Denmark were mapped (recreational potential, biodiversity, nitrogen mitigation potential, inverse land rent, and flash-flood risk). These services were compared to current placements of wetlands. Furthermore, scenario testing and hotspot analysis were combined to provide future recommendations for optimal placements of wetlands. The scenarios investigated were Climate Adaptation and Protection of Aquatic Environment, Land-Based Economy, and Rich Nature. Based on these scenarios, the most suitable areas for wetland reconstruction were mapped, taking both the scenarios and attached weightings of ecosystem services indicators into account.According to statistical results current reconstructed wetlands are situated in catchments with lower biodiversity, higher nitrogen mitigation potential, higher land rent (i.e. agricultural intensive areas), and to some extent higher flash flood risk compared to the median of catchments with wetlands. Hence, recreation potential, high biodiversity, and low land rent has not been prioritized. 35 out of the 3023 catchments investigated were identified with an especially high suitability when optimizing all scenarios. This coincides with a high suitability around peri-urban and urban areas and near natural areas, hence capturing both supply and demand services. Of the 35 identified catchments with potentially high suitability, only 2 actually hold a presently reconstructed wetland. This indicates a prior placement with almost no consideration of maximizing ecosystem services benefits.We recommend a systematic approach, such as the ecosystem service value-driven method demonstrated in the present case study, to target more services and improve the overall benefit from wetlands. This approach seeks to inform decision makers of synergies in the landscape, which is likely to transcend future policy implementations.