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Wetlands provide unique habitat functions that benefit society by provisioning food, recreation, and ecosystem sustainability. Warfare affects the habitats of wetland‐dependent reptiles, amphibians, and birds in both positive and negative ways, and opportunities exist to improve the management of wildlife habitat using a warfare ecology framework. Recent events in Ukraine highlight these relationships and provide stimulus to further consider the implications of current events for natural resources. In response, this commentary highlights both degradational and positive impacts of warfare on wetland fauna during the cyclical preparation, active conflict, and recovery phases. For example, the active conflict phase often initiates ecological disturbance regimes that couple large‐scale landscape alteration with the release of chemicals and other materials into wetlands, leading to reduced reproductive potential and population declines in wetland‐dependent species (e.g., amphibians, waterfowl) along with decreased overall wetland biodiversity and habitat quality. In contrast, wetland‐dependent wildlife can benefit from (1) conservation activities occurring on military installations maintained to support training activities and (2) restoration efforts initiated after the cessation of combat. For example, many threatened and endangered reptiles and amphibians find refugia on military lands in the USA and internationally, and international protections for wetland resources (including the Ramsar Convention) have been established to promote their sustainability and wise use. Additional research is needed to improve the protection of valuable wetland resources by further enhancing ongoing conservation and planning efforts and improving strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of warfare on wetland dependent species throughout each phase of the warfare ecology cycle. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:2153–2161. Published 2023. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). Key Points: Recent events in Ukraine highlight cyclical relationships between warfare and ecological outcomes in wetlands, and these linkages will become increasingly important as natural threats to the environment and human populations increase under anticipated future climate scenarios.Warfare poses unique challenges to wetland‐dependent species and their habitats, which will be exacerbated under future climate scenarios that disproportionately affect populations near coastal areas and other wetland‐rich landforms.The warfare ecology concept provides the best available framework (preconflict, active conflict, postconflict) to evaluate risks to wetland resources and identify opportunities to improve outcomes through conservation and restoration across each phase.Existing wetland protection conventions could be improved by incorporating specific guidance addressing the direct and indirect impacts of war on wetland species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to explore the linkage between wetland health, provisioning service value (PsV) and livelihood vulnerability of the dependent fishermen community taking examples from the Moribund deltaic wetlands of India. Wetland health including hydrological strength, habitat state, and the water quality of the wetland was assessed using a random forest (RF) and XGBoosing machine learning approach, and the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) was computed using balanced weighted approach. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression, correlation matrix, and rank correlation matrix were done to make the relationship between wetland health and LVI. Wetland health was found poor (28.38%) in the isolated, smaller, and peripheral parts of the wetland with agricultural and built-up area proximity. Hydrological strength (with r2 of 0.67) was found as the most dominant health determinant followed by habitat state (with r2 of 0.62). OLS reported that in most of the cases, the standard regression residual is low (0.5 to − 0.5) which indicates that there is a strong relation between wetland health and LVI. KDE plot and correlation matrix also figured out the same. From the field survey, it was found that the wetlands with good habitat health are promising for providing more provisioning services like fish which in turn supports the livelihood of the dependent communities. The findings of this study have a deeper insight into livelihood management through wetland management. Hence, it would inspire policymakers and stakeholders to conserve wetlands not only for the sake of ecology but also for society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-cover change dynamics were investigated in a Mediterranean coastal wetland to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of nature reserve management. A multitemporal analysis of land cover maps was conducted, utilizing visual interpretation of aerial orthophotos from the summer seasons of 1996, 2008, 2015, and 2021. Landscape changes were evaluated by transition matrices and chord diagrams. Maps were classified in accordance with CORINE land cover types at a fourth level of detail. The multitemporal analyses provided a comprehensive overview of landscape changes within the reserve over the past 25 years. The most notable changes were the increase of wetland areas and the reduction of agricultural and artificial areas. Moreover, seminatural vegetation constantly extended over time. These changes reflected the continuous management activities within the nature reserve, encompassing agreements for water supply, restoration projects, and measures to counteract illegality. These operational actions induced fine-grained ecological changes (outcomes at ecosystem level). This study highlighted the importance of remote sensing and landscape analysis, matched with fine-grained management data, as tool for long-term monitoring. Such an approach provides valuable support in evaluating the effectiveness of strategies promoted in nature reserves hosting wet coastal ecosystems of high conservation concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mangrove wetlands play a key role in global biodiversity conservation, though they have been damaged in recent decades. Therefore, mangrove habitats have been of great concern at the international level since the latter half of the 20th century. We focused on the key issue of the dynamics of mangrove habitats. A comprehensive review of their typicality and status from the global perspective was evaluated before the landscape dynamics of the mangrove habitats at the five sites were interpreted from Landsat satellite images covering 20 years, from 2000 to 2020. Ground-truthing was undertaken after comparing the results with the other published international mangrove datasets. We reached three conclusions: Firstly, within the period from 2000 to 2020, the mangrove area in Dongzhaigang increased by 414 ha, with an increase of 24.6%. In Sembilang NP, Sundarban, Kakadu NP, and RUMAKI, the mangrove area decreased by 1652 ha, 16,091 ha, 83 ha, and 2012 ha, with a decrease of 1.8%, 2.7%, 0.9%, and 3.9%, respectively. Secondly, other types of wetlands play a key role in degradating the mangrove wetlands in all of five protected areas. Thirdly, the rate of mangrove degradation has slowed dramatically based on the five sites over the past two decades, which are generally consistent with the findings of other researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to analyze the spatial-temporal variation along the wide floodplain of the Lower Yellow River, using Landsat time-series data, the temporal and spatial changes of grass wetland habitats along the wide floodplain of the lower Yellow River of 2000 and 2015 were interpreted by utilizing the modification of normalized difference water index method. The disturbing factors of grass wetland habitats were analyzed in conjunction with the activities of water and sediment along the Yellow River channel. The results show that from 2000 to 2015, the habitat area of grass wetland along the beach area has been decreased and grass wetland habitats tend to migrate downstream. At present, the upstream runoff is concentrated, and the peak value of the corresponding hydro logical pulse is as high as nearly 3 meters, which is not conducive to the stable succession of wetland habitat vegetation along the beach area. In addition, human activities such as agricultural cultivation and sand digging along the beach area also seriously affect the stable development of grass wetland habitats. Based on the analysis of the water and sediment activities along the beach area, the total area of grassland wetland habitats along the Yellow River floodplain area is 247.41 km², accounting for only 9.01% of the total area of the wide beach area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mangrove wetlands play a key role in global biodiversity conservation, though they have been damaged in recent decades. Therefore, mangrove habitats have been of great concern at the international level since the latter half of the 20th century. We focused on the key issue of the dynamics of mangrove habitats. A comprehensive review of their typicality and status from the global perspective was evaluated before the landscape dynamics of the mangrove habitats at the five sites were interpreted from Landsat satellite images covering 20 years, from 2000 to 2020. Ground-truthing was undertaken after comparing the results with the other published international mangrove datasets. We reached three conclusions: Firstly, within the period from 2000 to 2020, the mangrove area in Dongzhaigang increased by 414 ha, with an increase of 24.6%. In Sembilang NP, Sundarban, Kakadu NP, and RUMAKI, the mangrove area decreased by 1652 ha, 16,091 ha, 83 ha, and 2012 ha, with a decrease of 1.8%, 2.7%, 0.9%, and 3.9%, respectively. Secondly, other types of wetlands play a key role in degradating the mangrove wetlands in all of five protected areas. Thirdly, the rate of mangrove degradation has slowed dramatically based on the five sites over the past two decades, which are generally consistent with the findings of other researchers.

This study was carried out on four plant species in wetland and disturbed habitats within the terrestrial ecosystem. The study compares some leaf traits (foliar nitrogen and phosphorus concentration, specific leaf area, and specific leaf mass) and ecological strategies (Grime's CSR strategies and Ellenberg ecological indicator values) of these plant species in different habitats. While the difference of leaf traits between species was statistically significant, the difference between habitats was found to be significant for all leaf traits except for foliar P concentration. Lathyrus palustris L. subsp. palustris and Ranunculus constantinopolitanus (DC.) d'Urv. show the C strategy, while Cardamine impatiens L. subsp. impatiens and Holosteum umbellatum L. var. glutinosum (M.Bieb.) Gay show the C/CS and C/CR, respectively. Ellenberg indicator values for N were similar in all habitat species. pH indicator values of species in wetland habitat were higher than the disturbed habitat species. As a result, it is determined that plant species similar to macro-environmental features have different strategies. Both intra-species and inter-species interactions and microenvironmental differences are the main reasons for these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food distribution and diversity is a significant factor that determines the habitat and site selection of avian species. Its effects on the health, reproduction, survival rate, diversity indices, population structure and home range of avian species. In wetland ecosystem, bird home range and population structure is influenced by richness and diversity of food resources and availability of suitable foraging sites. The aim of the study was to ascertain the food variety of Lesser Whistling Duck -- Dendrocygna javanica in Paya Indah Wetland Reserve (PIWR). A scan method was employed from strategic places or blinds using a spotting scope and binocular to determine the food selection and density by Distance sampling point count method. Food items were categorised into the aquatic plants (AP), aquatic invertebrates (AIV), aquatic vertebrates (AV), terrestrial plants (TP), terrestrial vertebrates (TV) and terrestrial invertebrates (TIV). Distance analysis indicated that PIWR harboured 3.88 ± 0.00 birds per ha (n = 188 individuals). In addition, the results revealed that higher bird relative abundance of Lesser Whistling Duck concentrated in the shallow of Belibis lake that was rich in submerged and emergent vegetation (Eleocharis dulcis, Philydrum lanuginosum, Utricularia vulgaris, and Potamogeton perfoliatus). Kruskal--Wallis H test showed that food items were significantly different. Lesser Whistling Duck showed strong correlationship with AIV (r² = 1.00, P < 0.05) and negative relationship with water TP (r² = -0.061, P< 0.05). The regression model highlighted that Lesser Whistling Duck significantly preferred aquatic invertebrates, r² = -0.686±0.68; P<0.001 and aquatic vertebrates, -0.459±0.26) than other food items. The results revealed that shallow marshybased lakes rich in aquatic vertebrates and invertebrates harboured higher population of Lesser Whistling Ducks to utilize it and performed multiple activities than other habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of land‐use patterns that could affect animal population resiliency or vulnerability to environmental threats such as climate change is essential, yet the interactive effects of land use and climate on demography across space and time can be difficult to study. This is particularly true for migratory species, which rely on different landscapes throughout the year.Unlike most North American migratory waterfowl, populations of northern pintails (Anas acuta; hereafter pintails) have not recovered since the 1980s despite extended periods of abundant flooded wetlands (i.e. ponds). The mechanisms and drivers involved in this discrepancy remain poorly understood. While pintails are similar to other ducks in their dependence on ponds throughout their annual cycle, their extensive use of croplands for nesting differentiates them and makes them particularly vulnerable to changes in agricultural land use on prairie breeding grounds.Our intent was to quantify how changes in land use and ponds on breeding grounds have influenced pintail population dynamics by developing an integrated population model to analyse over five decades (1961–2014) of band‐recovery, breeding population survey, land‐use and pond count data. We focused especially on the interactive effects of pond counts and land use on pintail productivity, while accounting for density‐dependent processes.Pintail populations responded more strongly to annual variation in productivity than survival. Productivity was positively correlated with pond count and negatively correlated with agricultural intensification. Further, a positive interaction between pond count and agricultural intensification was insufficient to overcome the strong negative effect of agricultural intensification on pintail productivity across nearly all pond counts. The interaction also indicated that pintail populations were more negatively impacted by the decrease in ponds associated with climate change under higher agricultural intensification.Our results indicate that pintail populations have become more vulnerable to climate change under intensified land use, which suggests that future conservation strategies must adapt to these altered relationships. The interactive effects of land use and climate on demography should be considered more frequently in animal ecology, and integrated population models provide an adaptable framework to understand vital rates and their drivers simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The typology of wetlands provides important information for both water resource managers and conservation planners. One of the most important aims of allocating wetlands to a certain type or class is to provide information about the ecosystem services that the wetland provides. There are two main approaches towards wetland classification. Firstly, there are top-down approaches whereby wetlands are divided into several categories based on a conceptual understanding of how the wetland functions (mostly with regards to water flows). Secondly there are bottom-up approaches whereby the classification of wetlands is based on the collection of data in the wetland that is then subjected to various clustering techniques (mostly with regards to biodiversity). The most utilized system of top-down classification assigns wetlands into hydrogeomorphic units, which function as a single unit in terms of hydrology and geomorphology. This type of classification is most useful for water resource planning, as it provides information about how the wetland is connected to the drainage network and what are the water inflows, throughflows and outflows of the wetland. The bottom-up classification approach typically focusses on the classification of wetland habitats rather than complete wetlands, where wetland habitat represents a spatial unit delineated on the basis of vegetation, embedded within the (complete) hydrogeomorphic unit, and defined as an area of wetland that is homogeneous in terms of opportunities for plant growth. At a broad scale, most ecosystem services can be superficially derived from the hydrogeomorphic unit type and the way water moves through a wetland, but habitat units and the plant species that define them would have a specific effect on the delivery of ecosystem services, for example, with different assemblages providing different resistance to flow. Some types of ecosystem services are exclusively linked to specific wetland habitats, especially provisioning services. For this reason, it is proposed that a combined approach of hydrogeomorphic classification together with a vegetation map, offers the maximum information value for ecosystem service determination. In order to account for the potential pitfall of “double counting” when combining the top-down and bottom-up approaches, each service needs to be considered individually with reference to the degree to which a service is either: (a) primarily determined by HGM class/attributes and modified by the vegetation class/attributes; or (b) primarily determined by the vegetation class/attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The breeding success of raptors is strongly affected by food supply. We examined the reproductive success of Eurasian Eagle-Owls ( Bubo bubo) and assessed the effects of landscape and diet on reproductive success at 44 nest sites in wetland and non-wetland (mostly agricultural lands, forests, and human settlements) habitats in west-central Korea. We found that eagle-owl reproductive success was significantly higher in wetland than in non-wetland habitats (mean of 1.9 vs. 1.3 fledglings per breeding pair, respectively). Although the average number of fledglings per successful pair was similar in the two habitats (2.0 vs. 1.8), the average numbers of fledglings per hatchling (0.9 vs. 0.7) and per egg (0.8 vs. 0.5) were both higher in wetland habitats. Further, for the wetland habitats, birds (mostly Anatidae, Columbidae, and Phasianidae) were the most important prey group by both number and biomass (67% and 84%, respectively) in the breeding period. However, in non-wetland habitats, both mammals (59% by number) and birds (67% by biomass) were important prey in the breeding period. The amount of Phasianidae in the diet (by biomass) and the date of the onset of egg-laying were positively and negatively (respectively) significant determinants of the number of fledglings per egg, whereas the percentage of wetland in the habitat was the only significant determinant for the number of fledglings per hatchling. El éxito reproductivo de las aves rapaces está afectado fuertemente por la disponibilidad de alimento. Estudiamos el éxito reproductivo de Bubo bubo y evaluamos los efectos del paisaje y la dieta en su éxito reproductor en 44 sitios de cría en hábitats de humedales y de no humedales (principalmente tierras agrícolas, bosques y asentamientos humanos) en el centro oeste de Corea. Encontramos que el éxito reproductor de B. bubo fue significativamente mayor en hábitats de humedales que en no humedales (media de 1.9 versus 1.3 volantones por pareja reproductiva, respectivamente). Aunque el número promedio de volantones por pareja exitosa fue similar en los dos tipos de hábitat (2.0 versus 1.8), los promedios de volantones por pollo eclosionado (0.9 versus 0.7) y por huevo (0.8 versus 0.5) fueron ambos mayores en hábitats de humedales. Además, para los hábitats de humedales, las aves (principalmente Anatidae, Columbidae y Phasianidae) fueron el grupo más importante de presas tanto por la cantidad como por la biomasa (67% y 84%, respectivamente) en la época reproductiva. Sin embargo, en los hábitats de no humedales, tanto los mamíferos (59% en cantidad) como las aves (67% en biomasa) fueron presas importantes en la época reproductiva. La cantidad de Phasianidae en la dieta (en términos de biomasa) y la fecha de inicio de la puesta de huevos fueron determinantes significativos del número de volantones por huevo de forma positiva y negativa (respectivamente), mientras que el porcentaje de humedales en el hábitat fue el único determinante significativo con respecto al número de volantones por pollo eclosionado. [Traducción del equipo editorial] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity and invasive vegetation threaten arid-region wetlands and wetland managers seek ways to enhance wetland ecosystem services with limited water, labor, and financial resources. While prior systems modeling efforts have focused on water management to improve flow-based ecosystem and habitat objectives, here we consider water allocation and invasive vegetation management that jointly target the concurrent hydrologic and vegetation habitat needs of priority wetland bird species. We formulate a composite weighted usable area for wetlands ( WU) objective function that represents the wetland surface area that provides suitable water level and vegetation cover conditions for priority bird species. Maximizing the WU is subject to constraints such as water balance, hydraulic infrastructure capacity, invasive vegetation growth and control, and a limited financial budget to control vegetation. We apply the model at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on the Great Salt Lake, Utah, compare model-recommended management actions to past Refuge water and vegetation control activities, and find that managers can almost double the area of suitable habitat by more dynamically managing water levels and managing invasive vegetation in August at the beginning of the window for control operations. Scenario and sensitivity analyses show the importance to jointly consider hydrology and vegetation system components rather than only the hydrological component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural drainage ditches are ubiquitous features in lowland agricultural landscapes, built primarily to facilitate land drainage, irrigate agricultural crops and alleviate flood risk. Most drainage ditches are considered artificial waterbodies and are not typically included in routine monitoring programmes, and as a result the faunal and floral communities they support are poorly quantified. This paper characterises the aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity (alpha, beta and gamma) of agricultural drainage ditches managed by an internal drainage board in Lincolnshire, UK. The drainage ditches support very diverse macroinvertebrate communities at both the site (alpha diversity) and landscape scale (gamma diversity) with the main arterial drainage ditches supporting greater numbers of taxa when compared to smaller side ditches. Examination of the between site community heterogeneity (beta diversity) indicated that differences among ditches were high spatially and temporally. The results illustrate that both main arterial and side ditches make a unique contribution to aquatic biodiversity of the agricultural landscape. Given the need to maintain drainage ditches to support agriculture and flood defence measures, we advocate the application of principles from 'reconciliation ecology' to inform the future management and conservation of drainage ditches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many invasive plant species are able to establish within a wide range of community types. This establishment success depends on high propagule pressure and successful recruitment of seedlings following propagule dispersal into receptive environments. This study aimed to investigate interactions between propagule pressure and environmental resistance to seedling recruitment of the invasive shrub, glossy buckthorn ( Frangula alnus Mill.), over a range of wetland habitat types. We measured propagule deposition using seed traps and recruitment success using sown plots, while characterizing vegetation and abiotic environmental conditions in five adjacent wetland habitat types. Drier habitats, which included Cedar Swamp, Shrub Carr, and String, had lower resistance to buckthorn establishment than the wetter Flark and Cattail Marsh. The drier habitats supported more woody species and provided more raised hummock surfaces essential for successful buckthorn recruitment and establishment. Propagule pressure was also higher in dry habitats that supported higher densities of adult glossy buckthorn, while long-distance dispersal into areas with low adult density was uncommon. Natural recruitment was highest in sites with intense propagule pressure, but experimental sowing of seeds demonstrated that buckthorn establishes in wet sites with higher resistance if propagule pressure is increased and seeds are deposited on hummocks. This study demonstrates the affinity of glossy buckthorn for drier wetland sites, and provides empirical evidence that environmental resistance can be overcome by higher propagule pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Located at the mouth of the Yangtze Estuary, the Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve is extremely vulnerable to climate change and especially to accelerated sea-level rise. We use a variety of data from remote sensing, an in situ global positioning system (GPS), tidal gauges, nautical charts, geographic spatial analysis modeling and IPCC sea-level rise scenarios to forecast the potential impacts of increased sea level on the coastal wetland habitat at Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve. The results indicate that around 40% of the terrestrial area of the Dongtan Reserve will be inundated by the year 2100 due to an estimated 0.88m increase in sea level. In particular, the Scirpus mariqueter communities and bare tidal flats are more vulnerable to sea-level rise. The limitations of this approach and the implication of the results for wetland and ecosystem conservation as well as management are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In 1994, a 117-ha wetland was designed, constructed, and operated by the Tulare Lake Drainage District (TLDD), California, USA, to provide foraging and nesting habitat for American avocets (Recurvirostra americana) and black- necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus). The wetland was operated seasonally in compliance with regulatory requirements to compensate for impacts to stilts, avocets, and other wildlife exposed to elevated selenium concentrations, fluctuating water levels resulting in nest flooding, and high nest-predation rates at the TLDD agricultural drainage evaporation basins. Water supply for the wetland was from low-selenium (typically <2 µg/L) saline agricultural drainage water, although the facility also had capability to blend and use freshwater and saline supplies. Coincident with wetland construction, 2 evaporation basins totaling 1,174 ha were physically modified and operated to discourage their use by shorebirds. In the first year of wetland operation (1995), American avocet and black-necked stilt nest construction at the wetland was 17.6 nests/ha. This compares to a preproject (1994) combined density of 1.9 nests/ha at the evaporation basins. From 1995 through 2004, annual nesting attempts by American avocets and black-necked stilts at the wetland averaged 2,896 per year (24.8 nests/ha). American avocets and black-necked stilts represented 91% of the nests observed at the wetland. Over the 10-year monitoring period, nest success at the wetland averaged 82% for American avocets and 75% for black-necked stilts. We estimated nest predation rates at the constructed wetland to be <1%. During the same period, American avocet and black-necked stilt nesting at the evaporation basins declined from 2,266 in 1994 to 9 in 2004. The constructed wetland has proven to be effective in attracting and providing suitable nesting habitat for large numbers of avocets and stilts. Results of this long-term study confirm the validity of management recommendations for American avocets and black-necked stilts and suggest that agricultural drainage can be successfully managed to provide highly productive managed wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]