Hydrology

When applied to wetlands, the science of hydrology is concerned with how the storage and movement of water into and out of a wetland affects the plants and animals, and the soils on which they grow. Most wetland scientists agree that the single most important factor determining both wetland type and function is hydrology. Consequently, changes in hydrology are the leading causes of wetland degradation or destruction. The two case studies in this chapter illustrate how water was returned to a previously drained lowland swamp and a peat bog and the effects on the vegetation communities. Both sites had been drained as further dry land was desired for farming and urban development, a common scenario throughout New Zealand

Economic Governance to Expand Commercial Wetlands: Within- and Cross-Scale Challenges

Commercial wetlands are defined as wetlands directed by an entrepreneur with the intention of making a profit. The combination of ecosystem services that commercial wetlands can provide seems to be an attractive societal perspective. Nevertheless, these wetlands are not developed on a large scale in the Netherlands. This paper discusses different types of economic governance that could facilitate the development of new commercial wetlands and addresses challenges that have to be overcome. We conclude that developing governance solutions that address ecosystem services with different scales is crucial for the introduction of commercial wetlands. Also, distinct and autonomous property rights of entrepreneurs need to be addressed

Determinants of access patterns to goods and services from wetlands in Tanzania and the impact on sustainable wetland management

Wetlands perform vital role in providing useful goods and services to mankind. Because of their importance, human beings interactions with the wetlands’ physical environment have caused some of them to be highly degraded. Due to characteristic nature of wetlands being a common pool resource (CPRs), most researchers claim their degradation to be a result of poor institutions governing the interactions. Wetlands in Tanzania are very useful especially, in areas where agriculture is most prevalent. High pressure to exploit fertile and moist land in those areas has caused wetlands to be highly degraded. This study focused on the rules and regulations governing the resources access from the wetlands using Kilombero Valley as a case study. The study used choice modelling to identify the determinants of the access patterns and their impacts on wetland sustainable management. The results showed that physical nature of resources and characteristics of the users such as location, income and education determine what type of access one chooses to accrue products and services from the wetlands. To ensure wetland sustainable management, the policy makers and conservationists should consider these factors in enacting rules and regulation which would govern human interactions in the wetlands. Payment for environmental services could be used to enhance such options

Biophysical drivers of carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in a restored tidal freshwater wetland

Wetlands store large amounts of carbon (C) in biomass and soils, playing a crucial role in offsetting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; however, they also account for 30% of global yearly CH4 emissions. Anthropogenic disturbance has led to the decline of natural wetlands throughout the United States, with a corresponding increase in created and restored wetlands. Studies characterizing biogeochemical processes in restored forested wetlands, particularly those that are both tidal and freshwater, are lacking but essential for informing science- based carbon management

‘No Net Loss’ - Instrument Choice in Wetlands Protection

While not a high priority issue for most people, the public has long recognized the general importance of wetlands. Since President George H.W. Bush\u27s campaign in 1988, successive administration have pledged to ensure there would be no net loss of wetlands. Despite these continuous presidential pledges to protect wetlands, in recent decades, as more and more people have moved to coastal and waterside properties, the economic benefits from developing wetlands (and political pressures on obstacles to development) have significantly increased. Seeking to mediate the conflict between no net loss of wetlands and development pressures, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) have employed a range of policy instruments to slow and reverse wetlands conversion. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the EPA and the Corps relied on prescriptive regulation that discouraged development of wetlands and, even if a permit for wetland filling were granted, required on-site mitigation of destroyed wetlands to ensure no net loss. To defuse the growing political pressure for substantial change to this 404 Permit process for developing wetlands, however, since the 1990s the agencies and state governments have promoted a market mechanism that seeks to ensure wetlands conservation at minimum economic and political cost. This instrument is known as wetlands mitigation banking (WMB). In WMB, a bank of wetlands habitat is created, restored, or preserved and then made available to developers of wetlands habitat who must buy habitat mitigation as a condition of government approval for development. This mechanism has also provided a model for endangered species protection and is in the process of being extended to other settings including watershed protection. Given the shift in emphasis from prescriptive regulation to trading, the government\u27s longstanding pursuit of no net loss of wetlands provides a particularly useful case study for comparing the use of regulatory and market instruments for environmental protection. Indeed, WMB provides a rare example of robust trading outside the air pollution context and the trading habitat-based goods raises very different concerns than seen in trading mobile pollutants. Examining the evolution of WMB also forces us to think carefully over how to assess the success of a trading program. The traditional measure would likely be efficiency. But one must also consider effectiveness. In this regards, WMB poses two different types of failures - failure of instrument design (a front-end problem) and failure of implementation through monitoring and enforcement (a back-end problem). As many of the case studies in this book illustrate, performance of WMB depends critically both on institutional design and implementation. Another important measure of success concerns distributional equity. Who wins and who loses from banking? Such concerns are far more difficult to assess as good or bad policy in habitat trading than the traditional hot spots of pollutant trading programs. The chapter ends by drawing out key lessons for market-based approaches to watershed protection

Management of wetland resources in the lower Mekong Basin: issues and future directions

The Lower Mekong Basin has extensive wetlands and these are being threatened by numerous problems. Most of these problems are interdependent and interact with one another. The lack of an appropriate definition of wetlands applicable to the region, pervasive inefficiencies and chronic lack of funds among riparian governments, and the poor appreciation of the true economic importance of wetlands and its resources are among the most prominent. The current definition, based on the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971), is too broad when compared to the understanding of wetlands as being swamps, marshes and the like, and was developed specifically for wetlands with international importance as waterfowl habitats. Furthermore, wetlands are composed of different types of resources, which require different modes of management. Often, institutional competition, overlapping mandates and sometimes jealousies occur between government departments when they try to assert their authority on a particular wetland resource and use, and put forward their development plans without considering how these may conflict with other wetlands uses. Finally, effective wetland management requires reliable statistics or information on rate of harvest of natural resources such as fish and others, fishing/harvesting methods over time in order to determine the level of exploitation, and the status of the natural resources. This information is needed to identify opportunities for expansion, to establish historical trends, and to determine when management interventions are necessary to protect the resources from being overused by other developments. In order to address these issues, ICLARM - The World Fish Center has launched a project, the aim of objectives of which are described in this paper

WETLANDS AND ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION ISSUES

The federal government program for wetlands regulation is administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Proposals for amending and/or reforming the Section 404 program are included in Congressional deliberations regarding Clean Water Act reauthorization. Specific issues of public policy include the definition of "waters of the United States", criteria for delineation of jurisdictional wetlands, definition of activities exempt from regulation, mitigation and classification of wetlands, and issues of property rights.Wetlands regulation, Wetlands delineation, Wetlands classification, Property rights, Wetlands policy, Wetlands migration, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Protect Your Wetlands

This resource explains how to create a wetlands awareness program and how to protect wetlands through the regulatory process. In addition, it explains the federal programs designed to protect wetlands and how to procure state and local protection for wetlands. It is part of a module that aims to help students get to know the complexities of wetlands, discover wildlife, enjoy the experience of being outdoors, and learn how necessary wetlands are to the health of our environment. For educators and their middle school students, it suggests ways to study wetland characteristics, why wetlands are important, and how students and teachers can help protect a local wetland in any part of the country. An associated set of activities is also available. Educational levels: High school, Middle school

How well does LCDB2 map wetlands in the Wellington region?

The Land Cover Database should not be used on its own to identify wetlands in the Wellington region, whether it is for resource management, ecological or significance assessment purposes. Abstract: Wetlands are nationally rare in New Zealand as a result of their on-going loss through land development. The Department of Conservation’s natural heritage responsibilities call for the development of a national database for wetlands. A number of regional wetland databases already exist, but the Land Cover Database (LCDB) is considered to have applicability at a national level and has previously been used by several projects to map the extent of wetlands in New Zealand. However, LCDB is based on remote sensing and can produce variable results depending on factors such as scale, image quality, image interpretation and field verification. In this study, we assessed the ability of LCDB (LCDB2) to map wetlands in the Wellington region, by comparing areas identified as ‘wetlands’ with those identified using other information sources. Over 3700 ha of wetlands were assessed, including parts of Lake Wairarapa. We found that LCDB2 underestimated the area of wetlands in the region, with many wetlands not being identified or their boundaries often being inaccurate. LCDB2 is generally more effective at identifying larger wetlands, especially if they include open water, but is less useful for identifying smaller wetlands, particularly in areas dominated by grassland or pasture. This study of the Wellington region indicates that LCDB2 should not be used on its own to identify wetlands, whether it is for resource management, ecological or significance assessment purposes. It is recommended that this analysis is repeated for other regions where good quality wetland databases exist, to ensure that the findings are applicable nationally Updated versions of LCDB are likely to retain similar errors until wetland mapping issues are resolved. Authored by M. Davis, D. Brown, H. Robertson and L. Chadderton

Wetland Science

This is the first section of a module about wetlands in New England for educators and their middle school students. Although designed for students in New England, it applies to and gives examples of wetlands across the country. It suggests ways to study wetland characteristics, why wetlands are important, and how students and teachers can help protect a local wetland. This guide aims to help students get to know the complexities of wetlands, discover wildlife, enjoy the experience of being outdoors, and learn how necessary wetlands are to the health of our environment. This first section explains what wetlands are and explains that the water cycle is the connection between wetlands and watersheds. In addition, it explains in detail the characteristics of wetland water, soil and plants. An associated set of activities is also available. Educational levels: Middle school