Stiftelsen Oscar och Lili Lamms Minne
Du är här: Hem // 2016 
TitelEvaluating wetland creation and restorations at local and landscape scales
NoDO2016-0022
UniversitetSLU
InstitutionInst. för ekologi
HuvudsökandeTomas Pärt
Beviljat belopp2 000 000
Sammanfattning
Wetlands are among the most productive and ecologically valuable ecosystems in the world. Eight of the 16 environmental quality objectives (miljömål) ratified by the Swedish Parliament are therefore related to wetlands. More than 1000 MSEK has been spent on wetland creation and restorations in Sweden. Still we do not fully know whether local restorations are successful, whether biodiversity goals are reached at the national level (i.e. when spatially scaling up the effects) and whether restored and created farmland wetlands increase the general farmland bird diversity (i.e. not only wetland species) at the landscape scale. A national biodiversity evaluation of effects of all resources put into wetland restorations is lacking and suggested evaluations make the mistake to focus on local effects rather than the cumulated effects of wetlands at the landscape scale. We have started a national research project i) compiling present inventory data, ii) extracting wetland bird population data from opportunistically collected citizen science data at the Swedish Species Gateway (SSG; Artportalen) and iii) collecting own wetland bird data to evaluate the effects of restoration and creation of wetlands on bird biodiversity. We use birds as a model system as they have been the focus of many farmland wetland projects and because of the large amounts of available data. Our recent study (Zmihorski, Pärt et al. 2016. J. Appl. Ecol.) show that effects of restoration measures vary and are strongly influenced by the surrounding landscape. Here we apply for a PhD position and we present a PhD project (4 years) with 3 subprojects (producing at least 5 thesis papers) concerning landscape perspectives of a national programme of restoration and creation of farmland wetlands. The main questions to be investigated are: • Which restoration measures (e.g. creation of new wetlands, clearing of shrubs and management by grazing or hay-cutting) have the strongest positive effect on wetland bird diversity and are the effects dependent on landscape composition (e.g. amount of farmland, wetland networks)? • Can we reach synergies between increased retention of nutrients and increased wetland bird diversity in created farmland wetlands? Do these possible synergies (or conflicts) depend on the landscape structure and composition? • Should evaluations of effects of wetland restoration and creation on biodiversity be made at local or landscape scale? If at landscape scale (which is suggested), how do we design landscapes with a large positive effect on biodiversity in restored/ created wetlands and with large effects on general biodiversity of the whole agricultural landscapes to potential benefit also for agricultural production? As the project rests on a firm large data base on both bird diversity, patterns of nutrient retention and the number of wetlands the proposed PhD project has outstanding possibilities to produce an original thesis of highest scientific quality. Furthermore, the results will have direct influence on the future strategies of how to create and restore multipurpose wetlands in agricultural regions of Sweden.