Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

Wetland Ecosystem Services Evaluation and Conservation

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 4842

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bo Jiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Changjiang Water Resources Protection Institute, Changjiang Water Resources Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources, Wuhan 430051, China
Interests: water resource engineering; ecosystem services; water conservation; wetland ecology; nature-protected areas

Dr. Chong Jiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510070, China
Interests: soil and water conservation; ecosystem services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wetlands provide valuable ecosystem services, but they have suffered the largest losses from cropland conversion, urbanization, rising water demands, and climate change. Policymakers want to use ecosystem service values to inform sustainable wetland use. In the past two decades, scientists worldwide have begun testing a variety of biophysical and economic valuation approaches to advance ecosystem service science for wetland conservation. However, substantive progress remains elusive due to lack of coordination, weak monitoring, and poor enforcement to effectively manage wetlands for a diversity of societal needs.

Therefore, we organized a Special Issue that is open to researchers who are interested in the field of wetland evaluation and conservation. In this Special Issue, original research and review articles are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Biophysical and economic valuation methods to assess multiple wetland ecosystem services.
Wetland ecosystem service trends and their driving factors.
Wetland ecosystem service trade-offs across spatial–temporal scales.
Wetland ecosystem service flow mechanisms and beneficiary needs.
Effectiveness of management scenarios on wetland ecosystem services.
Sustainable use of wetland resources.
Management implications for wetland conservation.

Dr. Bo Jiang
Dr. Chong Jiang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

wetlands
ecosystem services
sustainable wetland management
wetland conservation
driving factors
flow mechanisms
beneficiary concerns

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

23 pages, 19225 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatiotemporal Variation in Water-Related Ecosystem Services during 2000–2020 and Ecological Management Zoning in the Xiangjiang River Basin, China

by Meirong Deng, Dehua Mao, Yeye Li, Ting Wang and Zui Hu

Sustainability 2023, 15(22), 16012; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su152216012 - 16 Nov 2023

Viewed by 690

Abstract

Exploring the spatiotemporal distribution and interrelationships among water-related ecosystem services (WESs) and conducting ecological management zoning are crucial for regional sustainable development. Taking the Xiangjiang River Basin (XJRB) as an example, this study first quantified three primary WESs, including water conservation, soil retention, and water purification, from 2000 to 2020. Second, the spatiotemporal variation in the interrelationships among WESs were analyzed using global and local bivariate spatial autocorrelation. Third, a water ecological zoning rule was constructed to divide the watershed into three primary and eight secondary water ecological management zones. The results indicate a strong consistency in the changes in the three WESs throughout the period from 2000 to 2020 in the XJRB. Precipitation patterns and urban expansion were the primary factors affecting alterations in the WESs. Spatial heterogeneity and dependence were evident across these ecosystem services. Both trade-offs and synergies were observed among WESs, with synergies playing a dominant role. Positive synergies occurred primarily in woodlands and grasslands, while negative synergies were observed in cultivated land, water areas, and construction land. Three water ecological management zones, including core water ecological management zones, general management zones, and restoration management zones, were delineated at the grid and country scales according to the aggregation properties of the WESs. Ecological management strategies were proposed for different zones. These findings can offer valuable insights for policy makers in land use planning and water ecological management within the XJRB, and can facilitate similar management endeavors in other regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wetland Ecosystem Services Evaluation and Conservation)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 2571 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Subsurface Horizontal Constructed Wetland Design Approach for Wastewater Treatment: Application in Ar Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

by Mohamed Elsayed Gabr, Mustafa El-Rawy, Nassir Al-Arifi, Wouter Zijl and Fathy Abdalla

Sustainability 2023, 15(22), 15927; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su152215927 - 14 Nov 2023

Viewed by 1021

Abstract

In this study, a decentralized new sewage water treatment system is suggested and designed in Ar Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to safeguard the environment and reuse treated water for irrigation purposes. The system consists of a primary treatment (septic tank), a subsurface horizontal flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW), and a storage ground tank. The research methodology employed in this study is (i) to define the wastewater characteristics, where air temperature in winter is 18.6 °C, the wastewater flow per person (q) is 150 L/d, demonstrating an inlet design discharge of 300 m³/d, the influent pollutant concentrations for biological oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and fecal coliforms (FC) are 350, 1000, 700, 50, 12 mg/L, and 10⁶ CFU/100 mL, respectively; (ii) to design the septic tank based on a retention time of two days and a surfacing load rate of 1.5 m/d; (iii) the P-k-C* model was used to determine the HSSF-CW surface area based on reed beds of Phragmites australis (common reed) and papyrus plants, where the removal rate was constant at 20 °C for BOD, TP, and FC in the effluent concentrations not exceeding 20 mg/L, 3.0 mg/L, and 2000 CFU/100 mL in order to satisfy Saudi Arabia’s wastewater reuse requirements; and (iv) to design the clean water tank for a hydraulic retention time of 10 h. The results demonstrate that the removing pollutants design area is 1872 m² divided into nine cells, each of width 8 m and length 26 m, with a hydraulic loading rate (LR) of 0.16 m/d and a hydraulic resident time (RT) of 1.1 d. The effluent pollutant concentrations for the BOD, FC, TN, and TP were 245 mg/L, 10³ CFU/100 mL, 35, and 8.5 mg/L, respectively. The wastewater treatment system total removal efficiencies for BOD, TN, TP, and FC were estimated to be 91.8, 70, 57, and 98.5%, respectively. Design curves were developed to ease the design steps. The HSSF-CW is a green wastewater treatment technology that offers greatly decreased investment costs, and service particularly for small-scale applications up to 6000 persons. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wetland Ecosystem Services Evaluation and Conservation)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 17841 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Major Role of Natural Wetland Loss in the Decline of Wetland Habitat Quality—Spatio-Temporal Monitoring and Predictive Analysis

by Xianglong Xing, Yang Liu, Ri Jin, Peng Zhang, Shouzheng Tong and Weihong Zhu

Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12415; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su151612415 - 15 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1086

Abstract

Land use change significantly affects habitat quality, and the long time series exploration of dynamic variations in wetland habitat quality is of great significance to wetland conservation and management practices. Jingxin Wetland is located in the lower reaches of the Tumen River Basin, an important ecological function area in China. In recent years, under the influence of human activities and climate change, Jingxin Wetland has faced the threat of degradation and reclamation. This study investigated the dynamic evolution of habitat quality in Jingxin Wetland based on the CA-Markov model and the InVEST model at a long time scale and analyzed the drivers of habitat quality changes. Furthermore, habitat statuses under different policy orientations were explored using a multi-scenario development model. The results show that the total area of Jingxin Wetland exhibited a shrinking trend from 1964 to 2019, the wetland landscape was more fragmented, and the loss of natural wetland (marsh wetland) was serious. Consequently, wetland habitat quality has declined. According to scenario analysis, the study area should firmly follow the ecological conservation route in the future, through which the encroachment of human activities on wetlands can be effectively reduced and habitat conditions can be effectively improved. Both natural and economic development scenarios would result in the shrinkage of wetlands, which will extend the trend of declining habitat quality. It is noteworthy that the loss of wetland can be effectively reduced by implementing ecological conservation policies, which would reduce the degradation of wetland habitat quality. The results of this study can provide valuable references for wetland ecological conservation and ecological management practices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wetland Ecosystem Services Evaluation and Conservation)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 2918 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Visitors’ Perception Regarding Floating Treatment Wetlands in an Urban Green Space: Functionality and Emotional Values

by Ina Falfán, Maite Lascurain-Rangel, Gloria Sánchez-Galván, Eugenia J. Olguín, Arturo Hernández-Huerta and Melissa Covarrubias-Báez

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2000; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15032000 - 20 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1424

Abstract

Floating treatment wetlands (FTW) are artificial structures used for water quality improvement through the hydroponic growth of certain macrophytes and their rhizospheric bacteria, with the capacity for pollutant removal. Through the application of face-to-face questionnaires, our study aimed to analyze visitors’ perception of the structure, functionality, and benefits of FTW installed in two ponds of one green space in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, and the emotional experience that these FTW could incite in those same visitors. Visitors identified the plant component of FTW as the most noticeable one, perceived filtering/cleaning water as their principal function, and reported positive and negative emotions in the same proportion. The visitors’ perceptions of FTW varied according to their age, school level, and occupation. Positive and negative perceptions regarding FTW were linked to their maintenance and that of the ponds. Visitors’ awareness of FTW composition and function was associated with the presence of informative signs. The understanding of perception about the FTW can be integrated into management programs for the successful and participative improvement and cleaning of water bodies in urban settings. Along with people’s participation, the municipality of the city must improve the maintenance of these important water bodies given its positive repercussions on visitors’ perception. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wetland Ecosystem Services Evaluation and Conservation)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Wetland Ecosystem Services Evaluation and Conservation

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (4 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI