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Bieroza MZ, Hallberg L, Livsey J, Wynants M. Climate change accelerates water and biogeochemical cycles in temperate agricultural catchments. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 951:175365. [PMID: 39117230 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2024] [Revised: 07/24/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
Climate change is expected to significantly deteriorate water quality in heavily managed agricultural landscapes, however, the exact mechanisms of these impacts are unknown. In this study we adopted a modelling approach to predict the multiple effects of climate change on hydrological and biogeochemical responses for dominant solutes and particulates in two agriculture-dominated temperate headwater catchments. We used climatic projections from three climatic models to simulate future flows, mobilisation and delivery of solutes and particulates. This allowed an examination of potential drivers by identifying changes in flow pathway distribution and key environmental variables. We found that future climate conditions will lead to a general increase in stream discharge as well as higher concentrations and loads of solutes and particulates. However, unlike previous studies, we observed a higher magnitude of change during the warmer part of the year. These changes will reduce the relative importance of winter flows on solute and particulate transport, leading to both higher and more evenly distributed concentrations and loads between seasons. We linked these changes to the higher importance of superficial flow pathways of tile and surface runoff driven by more rapid transition from extremely wet to dry conditions. Overall, the observed increase in solute and particulate mobilisation and delivery will lead to widespread water quality deterioration. Mitigation of this deterioration would require adequate management efforts to address the direct and indirect negative effects on stream biota and water scarcity.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Z Bieroza
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - L Hallberg
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - J Livsey
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - M Wynants
- Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden; Isotope Bioscience Laboratory - ISOFYS, Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
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Scott A, Kirby M. Improving strategic planning for nature: Panacea or pandora's box for the built and natural environment? AMBIO 2024; 53:1136-1151. [PMID: 38489013 PMCID: PMC11183010 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-01995-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
This paper assesses how strategic planning for nature can be improved for England's built and natural environment using mainstreaming and landscape-scale concepts. Whilst both concepts feature in academic literature, there has been limited attention on their role as catalytic agents for strategic planning. Addressing this gap, evidence is used from two stakeholder workshops involving 62 senior policy experts managing a range of operational and hypothetical strategic spatial planning challenges. The results reveal a significantly weakened strategic planning arena characterised by policy disintegration, short termism and uncertainty. Key findings highlight the fallacy of pursuing strategic planning for nature in isolation from wider policy integration fusing environmental, economic and social components from the outset. Current barriers to progress include institutional inertia, technocratic vocabularies and neoliberalist priorities exacerbated by a weak underlying theory. Conversely opportunities for mainstreaming processes may help knowledge generation and exchange within transdisciplinary partnerships, whilst landscape scale thinking can improve understanding of issues using natures inherent geometry transforming processes and outcomes. The paper recommends the adoption of strategic planning pathways using mainstreaming and landscape-scale approaches working in tandem. Whilst focused on the English context, our findings are transferable to other planning systems in the Global North, especially those championing neoliberal market led policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alister Scott
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Room, B305 Ellison Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK.
| | - Matthew Kirby
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Room, B305 Ellison Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
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Bartrons M, Trochine C, Blicharska M, Oertli B, Lago M, Brucet S. Unlocking the potential of ponds and pondscapes as nature-based solutions for climate resilience and beyond: Hundred evidences. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 359:120992. [PMID: 38704953 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/20/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
Unlocking the full potential of ponds (small water bodies) and pondscapes (network of ponds) as Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is critical pursuit for enhancing ecosystems and societal resilience to climate change and other societal challenges. Despite scattered initiatives for pond/pondscape creation, restoration and management-each considered here a distinct NbS-there is a significant knowledge gap in utilising ponds/pondscapes as effective NbS. We aimed to assess these NbS in terms of their objectives, outcomes, effectiveness, multifunctionality, delivery of potentially conflicting effects, and the implementation process while considering their Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs, i.e., benefits to society). We compiled data on 183 NbS actions implemented across 93 ponds/pondscapes from 24 countries, predominantly from Europe, via a questionnaire distributed to experienced stakeholders implementing NbS in ponds/pondscapes. One single pond/pondscape may imply more than one NbS action. Two-thirds were in rural areas, and one-third in urban settings. Our analysis revealed that Creation of habitat for biodiversity was a primary delivery objective (targeted NCP) in the implementation of most NbS in ponds/pondscapes, often also combined with other NCPs such as Learning and inspiration, Regulation of water quantity, and Physical and psychological experiences, showcasing their intended multifunctionality. Implemented NbS primarily focused on climate change adaptation (especially Regulation of hazards and extreme events, and water quantity) rather than mitigation, with less emphasis on measures like direct greenhouse gas emissions reduction or enhancing carbon sinks. The costs associated with pond's NbS varied significantly depending on factors such as project scope, objectives, location, socio-economic-cultural system, and specific implementation requirements. The creation of ponds/pondscapes often entailed the highest financial investment, much more than their restoration or their management. In conclusion, our study underscores the multifunctionality of ponds/pondscapes and provides insights about their significant potential as cost-effective NbS for enhancing ecosystem and societal resilience to climate change and biodiversity. It underscores the importance of further research to fully understand and measure the diverse range of NbS they offer, particularly in the context of climate change mitigation. Standardised measurements of the NCP provided by these NbS in ponds/pondscapes are essential for validating managers' claims and exploring their role in addressing climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mireia Bartrons
- Aquatic Ecology Group, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, 08500, Vic, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Carolina Trochine
- Aquatic Ecology Group, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, 08500, Vic, Catalonia, Spain; Department of Ecology, INIBIOMA CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Malgorzata Blicharska
- Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Beat Oertli
- HEPIA, HES-SO, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, 150 Route de Presinge, 1254, Jussy-Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Sandra Brucet
- Aquatic Ecology Group, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, 08500, Vic, Catalonia, Spain; ICREA, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, Barcelona, Spain
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Adomako MO, Wu J, Lu Y, Adu D, Seshie VI, Yu FH. Potential synergy of microplastics and nitrogen enrichment on plant holobionts in wetland ecosystems. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 915:170160. [PMID: 38244627 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
Wetland ecosystems are global hotspots for environmental contaminants, including microplastics (MPs) and nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). While MP and nutrient effects on host plants and their associated microbial communities at the individual level have been studied, their synergistic effects on a plant holobiont (i.e., a plant host plus its microbiota, such as bacteria and fungi) in wetland ecosystems are nearly unknown. As an ecological entity, plant holobionts play pivotal roles in biological nitrogen fixation, promote plant resilience and defense chemistry against pathogens, and enhance biogeochemical processes. We summarize evidence based on recent literature to elaborate on the potential synergy of MPs and nutrient enrichment on plant holobionts in wetland ecosystems. We provide a conceptual framework to explain the interplay of MPs, nutrients, and plant holobionts and discuss major pathways of MPs and nutrients into the wetland milieu. Moreover, we highlight the ecological consequences of loss of plant holobionts in wetland ecosystems and conclude with recommendations for pending questions that warrant urgent research. We found that nutrient enrichment promotes the recruitment of MPs-degraded microorganisms and accelerates microbially mediated degradation of MPs, modifying their distribution and toxicity impacts on plant holobionts in wetland ecosystems. Moreover, a loss of wetland plant holobionts via long-term MP-nutrient interactions may likely exacerbate the disruption of wetland ecosystems' capacity to offer nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation through soil organic C sequestration. In conclusion, MP and nutrient enrichment interactions represent a severe ecological risk that can disorganize plant holobionts and their taxonomic roles, leading to dysbiosis (i.e., the disintegration of a stable plant microbiome) and diminishing wetland ecosystems' integrity and multifunctionality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Opoku Adomako
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology/Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang, China; School of Life Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China
| | - Jing Wu
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology/Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang, China; School of Life Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China
| | - Ying Lu
- School of Life Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China
| | - Daniel Adu
- School of Management Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhejiang 212013, Jiangsu, China
| | - Vivian Isabella Seshie
- Department of Environmental and Safety Engineering, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana
| | - Fei-Hai Yu
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology/Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang, China; School of Life Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China.
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Borgström A, Hansson LA, Klante C, Sjöstedt J. Wetlands as a potential multifunctioning tool to mitigate eutrophication and brownification. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2024; 34:e2945. [PMID: 38286682 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
Eutrophication and brownification are ongoing environmental problems affecting aquatic ecosystems. Due to anthropogenic changes, increasing amounts of organic and inorganic compounds are entering aquatic systems from surrounding catchment areas, increasing both nutrients, total organic carbon (TOC), and water color with societal, as well as ecological consequences. Several studies have focused on the ability of wetlands to reduce nutrients, whereas data on their potential to reduce TOC and water color are scarce. Here we evaluate wetlands as a potential multifunctional tool for mitigating both eutrophication and brownification. Therefore, we performed a study for 18 months in nine wetlands allowing us to estimate the reduction in concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), TOC and water color. We show that wetland reduction efficiency with respect to these variables was generally higher during summer, but many of the wetlands were also efficient during winter. We also show that some, but not all, wetlands have the potential to reduce TOC, water color and nutrients simultaneously. However, the generalist wetlands that reduced all four parameters were less efficient in reducing each of them than the specialist wetlands that only reduced one or two parameters. In a broader context, generalist wetlands have the potential to function as multifunctional tools to mitigate both eutrophication and brownification of aquatic systems. However, further research is needed to assess the design of the generalist wetlands and to investigate the potential of using several specialist wetlands in the same catchment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Borgström
- Department of Biology/Aquatic Ecology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Lars-Anders Hansson
- Department of Biology/Aquatic Ecology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany
| | - Clemens Klante
- Department of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Sweden Water Research, Ideon Science Park, Lund, Sweden
| | - Johanna Sjöstedt
- Department of Biology/Aquatic Ecology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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