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Wetland creation in agricultural landscapes: Biodiversity benefits on local and regional scales

Thiere, Geraldine LU ; Milenkovski, Susann LU ; Lindgren, Per-Eric ; Sahlen, Goran ; Berglund, Olof LU and Weisner, Stefan E. B. (2009) In Biological Conservation 142(5). p.964-973
Abstract
Wetland creation aiming at a simultaneous increase in nutrient retention and species diversity in agricultural landscapes has recently become applied as a catchment-scale compensation measure for past wetland losses. Here, we evaluate if, and to what extend, dual-purpose wetlands benefit local and regional diversity of agricultural landscapes. We analysed composition and alpha, beta, and gamma diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages among dual-purpose wetlands in an agricultural region in southwest Sweden in relation to local (water quality, wetland morphology, succession stage, proximity to other aquatic habitats) and landscape parameters (regional connectivity, wetland density). Diversity of mature agricultural ponds was used... (More)
Wetland creation aiming at a simultaneous increase in nutrient retention and species diversity in agricultural landscapes has recently become applied as a catchment-scale compensation measure for past wetland losses. Here, we evaluate if, and to what extend, dual-purpose wetlands benefit local and regional diversity of agricultural landscapes. We analysed composition and alpha, beta, and gamma diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages among dual-purpose wetlands in an agricultural region in southwest Sweden in relation to local (water quality, wetland morphology, succession stage, proximity to other aquatic habitats) and landscape parameters (regional connectivity, wetland density). Diversity of mature agricultural ponds was used as a standard to evaluate the value of dual-purpose wetlands. Dual-purpose wetlands sustained alpha, beta, and gamma diversity similar to that of natural lentic water bodies in agricultural landscapes in the region and elsewhere. Over 80% of the overall species richness was attributed to beta diversity, and each created wetland contributed to overall species accumulation. Ecosystem parameters explained 19% of the compositional variation among assemblages, but were only marginally related to diversity. Wetland density promoted alpha and gamma diversity, while spatial heterogeneity (beta) remained equally high, independent of wetland density. Our results indicate that catchment-scale wetland creation for simultaneous retention and diversity purposes benefits the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes, particularly if the density of aquatic habitats is increased by at least 30%. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Ecosystem services, Assemblage composition, Benthic macroinvertebrates, Species richness, Catchment restoration, Aquatic habitat density
in
Biological Conservation
volume
142
issue
5
pages
964 - 973
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000265338600004
  • scopus:62049085518
ISSN
1873-2917
DOI
10.1016/j.biocon.2009.01.006
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e026202a-32ab-4eef-a38b-db58dcf4c1d4 (old id 1399594)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:22:03
date last changed
2022-04-21 06:27:02
@article{e026202a-32ab-4eef-a38b-db58dcf4c1d4,
  abstract     = {{Wetland creation aiming at a simultaneous increase in nutrient retention and species diversity in agricultural landscapes has recently become applied as a catchment-scale compensation measure for past wetland losses. Here, we evaluate if, and to what extend, dual-purpose wetlands benefit local and regional diversity of agricultural landscapes. We analysed composition and alpha, beta, and gamma diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages among dual-purpose wetlands in an agricultural region in southwest Sweden in relation to local (water quality, wetland morphology, succession stage, proximity to other aquatic habitats) and landscape parameters (regional connectivity, wetland density). Diversity of mature agricultural ponds was used as a standard to evaluate the value of dual-purpose wetlands. Dual-purpose wetlands sustained alpha, beta, and gamma diversity similar to that of natural lentic water bodies in agricultural landscapes in the region and elsewhere. Over 80% of the overall species richness was attributed to beta diversity, and each created wetland contributed to overall species accumulation. Ecosystem parameters explained 19% of the compositional variation among assemblages, but were only marginally related to diversity. Wetland density promoted alpha and gamma diversity, while spatial heterogeneity (beta) remained equally high, independent of wetland density. Our results indicate that catchment-scale wetland creation for simultaneous retention and diversity purposes benefits the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes, particularly if the density of aquatic habitats is increased by at least 30%. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Thiere, Geraldine and Milenkovski, Susann and Lindgren, Per-Eric and Sahlen, Goran and Berglund, Olof and Weisner, Stefan E. B.}},
  issn         = {{1873-2917}},
  keywords     = {{Ecosystem services; Assemblage composition; Benthic macroinvertebrates; Species richness; Catchment restoration; Aquatic habitat density}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{964--973}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Biological Conservation}},
  title        = {{Wetland creation in agricultural landscapes: Biodiversity benefits on local and regional scales}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2009.01.006}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.biocon.2009.01.006}},
  volume       = {{142}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}