Ecology of Threatened Semi-Arid Wetlands (eBook)

Long-Term Research in Las Tablas de Daimiel

Salvador Sánchez-Carrillo, David G. Angeler (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: PDF

2011 | 2010
XVI, 292 Seiten
Springer Netherland (Verlag)
978-90-481-9181-9 (ISBN)

Infos

Playing a critical role in both influencing climate change and mitigating its impacts, the world's diverse wetlands have become one of the world's most threatened ecosystems as unsustainable land-use practices coupled with irrational use of water have already resulted in large-scale wetlands loss and degradation. To develop sound management and conservation schemes to assure wetlands sustainability in the long term requires long-term understanding of wetlands ecology. Yet until now, long-term interdisciplinary research into these systems has been limited to only a few systems from tropical or temperate climates (such as the Florida Everglades, and Czech biosphere reserve). This new book adds to the existing wetlands literature, providing a unique reference in basic and applied Mediterranean wetland ecology, based on results from long-term interdisciplinary research at the RAMSAR and UNESCO Biosphere site, of Las Tablas de Daimiel, Spain. Dating back to the early 1990s the research highlights changes in the biotic and abiotic environment in response to cumulative anthropogenic stressors, and provide guidance on applying this understand to sound management and conservation. With particular relevance to researchers dealing with semi-arid wetlands in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, as well as to resource managers, the book discusses the complexity of the interacting abiotic and biotic environment across different spatial and temporal scales and across various levels of biological hierarchy is highlighted, and reveals how management based on poor knowledge causes more damage than repair. The book will be of interest to researchers interested in freshwater ecology, hydrobotany, hydrology, geology, biogeochemistry, landscape ecology and environmental management.

Inhalt

Preface 6
Acknowledgments 8
Contents 10
Contributors 16
Part I:Introductory Chapter 18
Chapter 1: The Wetland, Its Catchment Settings and Socioeconomic Relevance: An Overview 19
1.1 Introduction 19
1.2 The Wetland: Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park 22
1.3 The Upper Guadiana Basin and the UNESCO’s La Mancha Húmeda Biosphere Reserve 24
1.4 Groundwater Overexploitation and the Wetland Complex 28
1.5 Socioeconomic Aspects in the Upper Guadiana Basin 30
1.6 A Chronological Summary of TDNP Impacts and Its Degradation 32
References 34
Part II:Abiotic Environment andHistorical Reconstructions 37
Chapter 2: Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction of Las Tablas de Daimiel and Its Evolution During the Quaternary Period 38
2.1 Introduction 38
2.2 Material and Methods 40
2.3 Overview of Vegetation Composition in La Mancha Region During Quaternary Period: Palaeo-Sequences Description 42
2.3.1 Landscape Evolution from 325,000 to 21,000 Years BP: LT, TD, TASG-1 and FUENT-1 Profiles 43
2.3.2 Landscape Evolution from 11,000 to 4,000 Years BP: MO and CC-17 Sequences 44
2.3.3 Landscape Evolution from 4,000 Years BP to the Present: CC-17 and Gigüela 4.2 Paleo-records 46
2.4 Summary of Climatic and Wetland Environmental Evolution During the Quaternary Period 50
2.4.1 Middle Pleistocene 51
2.4.2 Upper Pleistocene 52
2.4.3 Holocene 52
References 53
Chapter 3: Climate and Hydrologic Trends: Climate Change Versus Hydrologic Overexploitation as Determinants of the FluctuatingWetland Hydrology 59
3.1 Introduction 60
3.2 Material and Methods 61
3.3 Long-Term Climate Trends 61
3.4 An Historical Analysis of Wetland Hydroperiod and Inundation Patterns: The Importance of Groundwater 64
3.5 Long-Term Changes in the Wetland Water Budget: Hydrologic Degradation 67
3.6 Causes of Wetland Hydrologic Degradation: Climate Change Versus Hydrologic Overexploitation 75
3.7 Evapotranspiration Controls of Wetland Hydrology: A Conceptual Model 80
3.8 A Wetland Hydrological Model for Hydroperiod Restoration 84
3.9 Future Scenarios of TDNP Hydrology 92
References 93
Chapter 4: The Effects of Anthropogenic Stressors on Wetland Loss and Habitat Quality Deterioration in the Upper Guadiana River Basin: A Long-Term Assessment (1970–2000) 98
4.1 Introduction 99
4.2 Material and Methods 100
4.3 Wetland Cover and Extent of Hydrodynamic Types in the Early 1970s 104
4.4 Land Use–Land Cover Changes and Socioeconomic Indicators During 1978–2000 105
4.5 Wetland Losses from 1970 to 2000 108
4.6 Wetland Habitat Quality Evolution During the Period 1978–2000 111
4.7 Patterns on Wetland Loss and Habitat Quality Deterioration: the Influence of the Main Anthropogenic Stressors at Local and Regional Scales 112
References 118
Chapter 5: A Story of the Wetland Water Quality Deterioration: Salinization, Pollution, Eutrophication and Siltation 121
5.1 Introduction 121
5.2 Materials and Methods 123
5.3 Salinization and Major Ionic Composition 123
5.4 Water Pollution 125
5.5 Nutrient Dynamics and Eutrophication 128
5.6 Spatial Heterogeneity of Nutrient Controls 136
5.7 Wetland Sedimentation and Siltation 140
References 143
Part III:Ecological Communities 146
Chapter 6: Plankton Ecology and Diversity 147
6.1 Introduction 148
6.2 Materials and Methods 149
6.2.1 Field Sampling and Counting Techniques 149
6.2.2 Indexes and Statistical Methods 150
6.3 Diversity of Heterotrophic and Autotrophic Picoplankton 151
6.4 Bacteria and Autotrophic Picoplankton Dynamics 151
6.5 Species Composition and Diversity of Phytoplankton 154
6.6 Phytoplankton Abundance Dynamics 161
6.7 Species Composition and Diversity of Zooplankton 165
6.8 Zooplankton Abundance Dynamics 170
6.9 Bacterioplankton and APP Relationship with Abiotic and Biotic Factors 173
6.10 Environmental Factors Related to Phytoplankton 178
6.11 Environmental Factors Related to Zooplankton and the Food Web 179
References 180
Chapter 7: Macrophyte Ecology and Its Long-term Dynamics 184
7.1 Introduction 184
7.2 Materials and Methods 185
7.2.1 Surveys and Reconstructions 185
7.2.2 Estimation of Growth and Decay 186
7.2.3 Biomass and Primary Production Estimations 186
7.2.4 Spatial Distribution of Helophytes 187
7.3 Aquatic Flora 188
7.4 Helophyte Cover and Growth 193
7.5 Plant Biomass, Production and Decomposition 198
7.6 Spatial Heterogeneity of Helophytes 200
References 201
Chapter 8: Fish and Avian Communities: A Testimony of Wetland Degradation 205
8.1 Introduction 205
8.2 Fish Communities 206
8.2.1 Material and Methods 206
8.2.2 Results and Discussion 206
8.3 Avian Communities 208
8.3.1 Material and Methods 210
8.3.2 Results and Discussion 210
References 219
Part IV:Applied Issues 221
Chapter 9: Biomanipulation: A Useful Tool for Wetland Rehabilitation 222
9.1 Introduction 222
9.2 Biomanipulation: Theory and Rationale 224
9.3 Biomanipulation in Wetlands: Applying a Lake Restoration Tool 225
9.4 Biomanipulation in Wetlands: Extending the Paradigm 229
9.5 Biomanipulation: A Model for Las Tablas de Daimiel 231
9.6 Conclusions and Perspectives 233
References 233
Chapter 10: Analysis of Applied Environmental Management Strategies for Wetland Conservation During the Last 30 Years: A Local 236
10.1 Introduction 236
10.2 Wetland Conservation in Spain Until 1970 237
10.3 Wetland Restoration, Conservation and Management Since 1970: Common Problems Across Spain 237
10.4 Las Tablas de Daimiel: A Case Study 240
References 244
Part V:Cultural and Societal Aspects 245
Chapter 11: The Man and Las Tablas de Daimiel 246
11.1 Early Settlement 246
11.2 From Roman Colonization to Lower Middle Age 248
11.3 Modern Age 249
11.4 The Twentieth Century 251
11.5 Ecosystem Health and the Future of Man in TDNP de Daimiel 255
References 259
Part VI:Concluding Chapter 260
Chapter 12: Synthesis: The Past, Present and Future of Las Tablas de Daimiel 261
12.1 Background and Current State of Las Tablas de Daimel 262
12.2 Missing Research Links: The Ecological Challenge 266
12.2.1 Research at the Local Scale 267
12.2.1.1 Wetland Hydrology* 267
12.2.1.2 Wetland Biogeochemistry and Climate Change 267
12.2.1.3 Plant Ecology 268
12.2.1.4 Macroinvertebrate Ecology 268
12.2.1.5 Microbial Ecology 269
12.2.1.6 Vertebrate Ecology 269
12.2.1.7 Food Web Ecology 270
12.2.1.8 Evolutionary Ecology 270
12.2.1.9 Genetic Diversity 271
12.2.2 Research Beyond the Wetland Boundary 271
12.2.2.1 Landscape Ecology and Biogeochemistry* 272
12.2.2.2 Metacommunity Ecology* 273
12.2.2.3 Water Resource Management** 274
12.3 The Future: The Socioeconomic Challenge 275
12.4 Conclusion 279
References 279
Index 282

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 23.4.2011
• Reihe/Serie: Wetlands: Ecology, Conservation and Management
• Reihe/Serie: Wetlands: Ecology, Conservation and Management
• Zusatzinfo: XVI, 292 p.
• Verlagsort: Dordrecht
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Botanik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Ökologie / Naturschutz
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geologie
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Schlagworte: biosphere • Carr • conservation • Ecology • ecosystem • Ecosystems • Environmental Management • eutrophication • groundwater • Hydrology • Management • silt • siltation • Transpiration • Vegetation • water quality • wetland • Wetlands
• ISBN-10: 90-481-9181-5 / 9048191815
• ISBN-13: 978-90-481-9181-9 / 9789048191819