Differences in Wetland Efficiency Affect Future Lake Water Quality
Borgström, Anna LU ; Persson, Anders LU ; Sjöstedt, Johanna LU and Hansson, Lars Anders LU
(2026)
In Ecohydrology
19(3).
- Abstract
Wetlands are often constructed to counteract eutrophication or brownification of downstream waters, although our understanding of their differences in efficiency and effects is still scarce. Therefore, we here used the upper and lower 95% confidence limits of the average retention capacity of 11 wetlands to represent efficient and inefficient wetlands, respectively. We then modelled future scenarios in water colour (brownification) and phosphorus (eutrophication) in a downstream lake. We show that efficient wetlands may delay eutrophication and brownification rates of downstream aquatic systems by up to 15 and 4 years, respectively, thereby providing a temporal gain in time that could be used to implement complementing measures.... (More)
Wetlands are often constructed to counteract eutrophication or brownification of downstream waters, although our understanding of their differences in efficiency and effects is still scarce. Therefore, we here used the upper and lower 95% confidence limits of the average retention capacity of 11 wetlands to represent efficient and inefficient wetlands, respectively. We then modelled future scenarios in water colour (brownification) and phosphorus (eutrophication) in a downstream lake. We show that efficient wetlands may delay eutrophication and brownification rates of downstream aquatic systems by up to 15 and 4 years, respectively, thereby providing a temporal gain in time that could be used to implement complementing measures. Inefficient wetlands, on the other hand, may instead deteriorate the water quality by increasing levels of phosphorus and water colour and thereby reducing the euphotic zone of downstream lakes. Our study underscores the difficulty of having realistic expectations of the efficiency of wetlands as tools in water management. We conclude that despite high variation in efficiency among wetlands, they may still hold a strong potential when properly designed and placed for mitigating both eutrophication and brownification. However, further evaluation or systematic monitoring after restoration or construction is needed to investigate optimal placement and design in relation to management objectives.
(Less)
- author
- Borgström, Anna
LU
; Persson, Anders
LU
; Sjöstedt, Johanna
LU
and Hansson, Lars Anders
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-04
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- brownification, eutrophication, future scenarios, lake, phosphorus, water colour, wetland
- in
- Ecohydrology
- volume
- 19
- issue
- 3
- article number
- e70217
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105036435406
- ISSN
- 1936-0584
- DOI
- 10.1002/eco.70217
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 41816d6c-5039-4308-b66e-6a3b70b2f14f
- date added to LUP
- 2026-05-29 10:56:13
- date last changed
- 2026-06-04 16:30:18
@article{41816d6c-5039-4308-b66e-6a3b70b2f14f,
abstract = {{<p>Wetlands are often constructed to counteract eutrophication or brownification of downstream waters, although our understanding of their differences in efficiency and effects is still scarce. Therefore, we here used the upper and lower 95% confidence limits of the average retention capacity of 11 wetlands to represent efficient and inefficient wetlands, respectively. We then modelled future scenarios in water colour (brownification) and phosphorus (eutrophication) in a downstream lake. We show that efficient wetlands may delay eutrophication and brownification rates of downstream aquatic systems by up to 15 and 4 years, respectively, thereby providing a temporal gain in time that could be used to implement complementing measures. Inefficient wetlands, on the other hand, may instead deteriorate the water quality by increasing levels of phosphorus and water colour and thereby reducing the euphotic zone of downstream lakes. Our study underscores the difficulty of having realistic expectations of the efficiency of wetlands as tools in water management. We conclude that despite high variation in efficiency among wetlands, they may still hold a strong potential when properly designed and placed for mitigating both eutrophication and brownification. However, further evaluation or systematic monitoring after restoration or construction is needed to investigate optimal placement and design in relation to management objectives.</p>}},
author = {{Borgström, Anna and Persson, Anders and Sjöstedt, Johanna and Hansson, Lars Anders}},
issn = {{1936-0584}},
keywords = {{brownification; eutrophication; future scenarios; lake; phosphorus; water colour; wetland}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Ecohydrology}},
title = {{Differences in Wetland Efficiency Affect Future Lake Water Quality}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eco.70217}},
doi = {{10.1002/eco.70217}},
volume = {{19}},
year = {{2026}},
}