Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Wetlands: conservation's poor cousins

Wetlands: conservation's poor cousins About 5–10% of the world's land surface is currently wetland but possibly >70% is already destroyed or impaired. Conservation of these unique ecosystems lags progress in other realms, reflected in high rates of biodiversity loss. Wetlands provide a range of critically important ecosystem services including fresh water, nutrient cycling, food and fibre production, carbon fixation and storage, flood mitigation and water storage; water treatment and purification and habitats for biodiversity. There is increasing recognition that these services provide real economic values. Wetlands are affected by numerous threats including habitat loss and degradation, climate change, pollution, invasive species, overharvesting and disease. The most serious impact is from habitat loss and degradation caused by upstream water resource developments and conversion to agriculture, industry and transport, and urban development. The status of the distribution and extent of the world's wetlands remains poorly known, varying among countries. Wetland loss has varied internationally, with generally higher impacts in the Northern Hemisphere, with its long history of conversion to urban centres, ports and agriculture and yet there are increasing losses occurring in developing continents in the south. Wetland conservation needs to focus primarily on identification of priority areas for biodiversity conservation and legal protection, including Ramsar‐listing. Identification of wetland biodiversity hotspots for conservation should be an imperative, with associated Ramsar‐listing. There also needs to be effective protection of flow regimes. Mitigation of other deleterious processes, pollution, overharvesting, invasive species and disease, also remains particularly important. Conservation of wetlands remains especially challenging, given the importance of fresh water for human communities, industry and agriculture. Without effective conservation actions, mitigation of threats, rigorous risk assessment and acknowledgement of the value of wetland ecosystem services, wetland conservation will continue to lag behind conservation in other realms in protecting the Earth's biodiversity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems Wiley

Wetlands: conservation's poor cousins

Download PDF
25 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/wetlands-conservation-s-poor-cousins-B05eiXMYk8

References (140)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN
1052-7613
eISSN
1099-0755
DOI
10.1002/aqc.2709
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

About 5–10% of the world's land surface is currently wetland but possibly >70% is already destroyed or impaired. Conservation of these unique ecosystems lags progress in other realms, reflected in high rates of biodiversity loss. Wetlands provide a range of critically important ecosystem services including fresh water, nutrient cycling, food and fibre production, carbon fixation and storage, flood mitigation and water storage; water treatment and purification and habitats for biodiversity. There is increasing recognition that these services provide real economic values. Wetlands are affected by numerous threats including habitat loss and degradation, climate change, pollution, invasive species, overharvesting and disease. The most serious impact is from habitat loss and degradation caused by upstream water resource developments and conversion to agriculture, industry and transport, and urban development. The status of the distribution and extent of the world's wetlands remains poorly known, varying among countries. Wetland loss has varied internationally, with generally higher impacts in the Northern Hemisphere, with its long history of conversion to urban centres, ports and agriculture and yet there are increasing losses occurring in developing continents in the south. Wetland conservation needs to focus primarily on identification of priority areas for biodiversity conservation and legal protection, including Ramsar‐listing. Identification of wetland biodiversity hotspots for conservation should be an imperative, with associated Ramsar‐listing. There also needs to be effective protection of flow regimes. Mitigation of other deleterious processes, pollution, overharvesting, invasive species and disease, also remains particularly important. Conservation of wetlands remains especially challenging, given the importance of fresh water for human communities, industry and agriculture. Without effective conservation actions, mitigation of threats, rigorous risk assessment and acknowledgement of the value of wetland ecosystem services, wetland conservation will continue to lag behind conservation in other realms in protecting the Earth's biodiversity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal

Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems – Wiley

Published: Oct 1, 2016

Keywords: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

There are no references for this article.