3. Urban Wetlands and Biodiversity
Wetlands are biologically diverse systems that improve water quality and sequester carbon
[76]. As significant biodiversity sources, wetlands provide habitats for groups of species from micro-organisms to mammals
[77]. Examples of these species include amphibians, insects, reptiles, birds, and mammals (e.g., beavers) that are uniquely adapted to aquatic environments
[78][79]. Indeed, wetlands increase the biodiversity in urban areas by acting as networks of fragmented habitat to facilitate the movement of species in the environments
[80][81].
Unfortunately, due to the urbanization and the development of urban areas, wetlands as habitats have been fragmented. Fragmentation of wetlands indeed damages the habitat and has become a major challenge in urban environments
[82]. Although the fragmentation of wetlands is a major threat to their existence, they remain important and are highly functional for wildlife species
[83]. Therefore, identifying the importance of wetlands, preserving them, and possibly increasing the connectivity between them would considerably support the protection of biodiversity in urban areas
[84].
Even preserving wetlands that are considered of lower quality (in terms of reduced biodiversity) and polluted (in terms of water quality) has numerous advantages compared to the situation of totally lacking wetlands or having fewer of them
[85]. This is because, when fragmentation of urban wetlands occurs, low-quality habitats can play an important role by supporting connectivity between good patches. In this way, a sub-optimal habitat network structure can support a higher level of biodiversity on a landscape level
[82].
Due to the significance of wetlands for providing habitats and supporting biodiversity in urban areas, in the following, we provide a review on this topic and summarize the objectives, methodologies, and findings of the reviewed articles in Table 1.
Table 1. Urban wetlands and biodiversity.
Reference |
Objective |
Methodology |
Findings |
Melbourne, Australia (Hale et al., 2019) [82] |
Highlighting the potential ecological effects of stormwater wetlands to manage the unintended consequences for urban biodiversity |
Investigated 67 urban wetlands with pollutant concentrations to specify storm wetlands could be ecological traps for native amphibian and fish in the studied areas |
The stormwater wetlands often become habitats for animals, which is beneficial for the persistence of species in cities |
Vihti, Finland (Wahlroos et al., 2015) [69] |
Designing two wetlands with slightly different and monitored them for 5 years |
Studied the vegetation establishment, water quality improvement, animal settlement, as well as people’s recreation |
In the second year, vegetation was self-established and wetlands became successful breeding grounds for amphibians and birds and offered recreation values to people |
Netherlands and New Zealand (van Roon, 2012) [86] |
Investigating the role of wetlands in carbon sequestration and evaluating biodiversity loss in the urbanization process |
Used the literature review and case study investigation in a period from 2002 to 2010 |
There are problems in creating suitable conditions for a variety of rare and vulnerable wetlands near urban use |
Melendugno, Italy (Semeraro et al., 2015) [87] |
Assessing the role of multifunctional CTW in terms of biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services |
Monitored fauna and flora, preparing habitat map by GIS |
CTW’s ability to provide side benefits beyond the main purpose of water treatment, conservation of wildlife habitats and biodiversity |
Helsinki, Finland (Liao et al., 2020) [88] |
Examining how urbanization influences the diversity of diving beetles |
Sampled diving beetles in 25 urban ponds using the GLMM model |
The model revealed that urbanization reduced the richness of diving beetle species but had little effect on their abundance |
Catalonia, Spain (Gascon et al., 2009) [89] |
Conducting conservation biology by prioritizing sites based on high biodiversity |
Regression tree models were used to identify key factors affecting biodiversity, including water, wetland, and landscape features as explanatory variables |
The biodiversity criteria used in this study were significantly related to some explanatory variables. Significant positive relationships were found between some biodiversity criteria and wetland habitat conditions |
Guapore, Brazil (da Silva et al., 2015) [90] |
Investigating development targets and planning tasks for the area between the Pantanal and the Amazon as an important ecotone or transition zone |
Used the (DPSIR) framework to evaluate cause-and-effect relationships |
Planning and management in this wetland in three ways: (1) Business as usual (2) Conservation actions (3) Integrating biodiversity objectives into other policies and planning strategies |
Meli et al., (2014) [91] |
Presenting a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of ecological restoration and identify what factors influence |
A literature review was conducted to identify quantitative studies on the effects of ecological restoration |
The meta-analysis study showed that ecological restoration increases biodiversity and ES supply |
Lombardy, Italy (Morganti et al., 2019) [92] |
Studying the bird communities of inland wetland |
Environmental variables were collected at the two different spatial scales of Natura 2000 sites and point counts respectively |
The extent of the reedbeds/mires was positively associated with the occurrence of all species of conservation concern at the site scale |
Andalusia, Spain (Guareschi et al. 2015) [93] |
Exploring the relationships between community composition and species richness of waterbirds and aquatic macroinvertebrates in 36 Ramsar wetlands |
Waterbird data surveys, as part of an official monitoring program, were performed by the Regional Government |
The collection of waterfowl was more affected by climatic variables and water levels, while conductivity was the most important factor affecting large vertebrate communities |
A study by Hale et al.
[82] highlighted the potential ecological effects of stormwater wetlands to manage the unintended consequences for urban biodiversity. The study investigated 67 urban wetlands with pollutant concentrations to specify whether storm wetlands could be ecological traps for native amphibians and fishes in the studied areas. The findings of this study stated that the stormwater wetlands often become habitats for animals, which is beneficial for the persistence of species in cities. Another important finding is that the animals that colonise the stormwater wetlands suffer from the accumulated pollutants.
Based on these findings, this study highlighted the following key considerations for stormwater wetland management to reduce its negative effects on biodiversity. The accumulation of pollutants and adverse effects on amphibians and other animals is one of the main aspects of habitat quality in relation to storm wetlands. Therefore, it is suggested that inspection and maintenance programs be considered to ensure the function of storm wetlands. Another consideration pertains to the ecological consequences of changes in wetland quality.
Changes in the quality of wetlands can cause ecological traps, which are recognized as an unintended consequence of management activities. Ecological traps are usually a serious situation, but they remain hidden and unknown.
Wahlroos et al.
[69] evaluated the design of two urban wetlands with slightly different designs in urban parks. The two wetlands were designed to adapt open water areas for habitat and recreation at the cost of densely vegetated areas. The two wetland parks were designed to have sufficient wetland space for amphibian habitats. Larger open water areas, as well as islands, were designed as habitats for both wetland parks to provide waterfowl habitats and attract people. The study showed that, in the second year, the vegetation was self-established.
The vegetation establishment reached 102 species with 97% native plants after 5 years. Furthermore, the results of wildlife observation showed that breeding of amphibians and water birds was successful after constructing the wetlands. These wetlands also became successful breeding grounds for spawning amphibians and nesting birds. Thus, the wetlands succeeded in creating high biodiversity at the habitat scale in the center of a residential community. Moreover, the study reported the recreation values of peoples’ everyday visits due to the increase of biodiversity and vegetation in these parks in the city of Vihti.
Van Roon
[86] investigated the role of wetlands, such as bogs, fens, and swamps in carbon sequestration and evaluated the biodiversity loss in the urbanization process. This study reviewed the literature related to historical degradation, current maintenance, and management of wetlands, including bogs, fens, and swamps. Additionally, Van Roon investigated these sites in the period from 2002 to 2010, analyzed the documents related to the site, and interviewed staff from the site information centers as well as municipal planners.
Based on the literature review, this study concluded that creating suitable conditions for the reconstruction and maintenance of vulnerable wetlands is very difficult for swamps to fens to bogs near urban areas. Creating these conditions requires minimizing air emissions and manipulating groundwater flows, protecting springs, and minimizing nutrient depletion through the surface or groundwater. For instance, bogs survive in the lowest-density urban development areas.
Ecological corridors that contain fen wetland remnants can survive in development areas only with high biodiversity. In fact, fens survive throughout the ecological corridors near high-density urban areas, but the results showed that they are chemically and hydrologically degraded, and their contribution to stopping biodiversity loss is limited. Furthermore, achieving these conditions helps water-centric development and corridor reservations and is beneficial to all stakeholders.
Semeraro et al.
[87] aimed to assess the role of constructed treatment wetlands (CTW) in terms of biodiversity and enhanced ecosystem services. This study used annual monitoring of fauna and flora to identify national and international species strongly related to available new habitats. In the first stage, to identify the CTW wetland habitat, a habitat map was prepared by taking photos and orthophotos and then classifying the habitat using the Commission of the European Communities, 1991 (CORINE) habitat classification.
The habitat map was validated and updated through inspections and field surveys at GIS. The second stage was done by describing the vegetation to identify different types of plant communities in the basins and canals, along the beaches, in artificial soils, and in the garrigue. The outcomes of the study confirmed CTW’s ability to provide side benefits beyond the main purpose of water treatment, such as the conservation of wildlife habitats and biodiversity at local and international scales, as well as its ability to create recreational and educational value.
Liao et al. 2020.,
[88] examined how urbanization influences the diversity of diving beetles (Dytiscidae) and the effect of pond margin steepness, as well as the presence/absence of fish in the pond on urban diving beetles. In this study, diving beetles were sampled using activity traps in 25 urban ponds (14 ponds without fish and 11 ponds with fish). In the study, various characteristics were considered, such as the pond water depth, pond size, shoreline length, and proportion of impermeable surface in a buffer zone.
The results reveal that urbanization reduced the richness of diving beetle species but had little effect on their abundance. This indicates that urbanization does not diminish the capacity of ponds to support diving beetle species, as their numbers are unchanged; however, some species react negatively to urbanization. The presence of fish in the ponds compared to the absence of fish has a very significant and negative effect on species richness.
The presence of fish had a stronger effect on the richness of diving beetle species compared with urbanization and the pond margin steepness. Furthermore, the pond margin steepness had no statistically meaningful effect on the richness of diving beetles in ponds without fish. However, the interaction between the pond margin steepness and the presence of fish had a very notable and negative effect on diving beetles.
A study by Gascon et al.
[89] aimed to identify the key factors affecting the biodiversity in wetlands to find a relationship between biodiversity metrics, conservation status, and habitat conditions. The objectives of the study were:
- (i)
-
comparing the reactions of different biodiversity metrics,
- (ii)
-
recognizing key environmental factors for different biodiversities, and
- (iii)
-
investigating whether wetlands with high biodiversity also have good habitat conditions and high protection status.
In this study, 91 wetlands (such as ponds, lagoons, and marshes) were sampled at the assemblage level (crustaceans and insects). The study used regression tree models to identify key factors affecting biodiversity. Thus, the study used variable factors, including the dissolved inorganic nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphorus, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, conductivity, water permanence (temporary vs. permanent), water body size, wetland isolation, and water body density. The study calculated eleven biodiversity metrics, such as the assemblage structure, rarity, and taxonomic distinctness for each (crustacean and insect) sample. Among the eleven metrics, three metrics were related to the structure of the assemblage, including:
- (i)
-
the number of species in each sample,
- (ii)
-
the species diversity obtained using the Shannon–Wiener diversity, and
- (iii)
-
Pielou’s evenness (species evenness) based on Shannon’s index.
Analyzing the key factors determining the biodiversity of wetland aquatic invertebrates, the results showed that five of the eleven biodiversity metrics used in this study were significantly related to some explanatory variables. Moreover, the results obtained from the comparison of the two sampled seasons (winter vs. spring) showed that conductivity was the main factor influencing biodiversity metrics. Significant positive relationships were found between certain biodiversity metrics and wetland habitat conditions, while there was no case for conservation status, indicating the inadequacy of conservation policies to protect aquatic invertebrate biodiversity.
A study by da Silva et al,.
[90] investigated the development targets and planning tasks for the Guaporé–Paraguay wetland, which is an area between the Pantanal and the Amazon as an ecotone with high biodiversity importance. It is worth noting that an ecotone indicates a transitional area of vegetation between two different plant communities, such as forests and wetlands. The study used a framework named the driver pressure state impact response (DPSIR) to evaluate cause and effect relationships between the interrelated components of social, economic, and environmental systems.
These interrelated components include the driving forces of environmental change; pressures on the environment; state of the environment; impacts on population, economy, ecosystems; and the response of the society, e.g., policy response. Note that the DPSIR approach was originally derived from the social sciences and later became extensively accepted as a general framework for organizing information about the state of the environment.
This research utilized a database of plant and animal species including the presence/absence information, abundance, and diversity index for different scales. Then, they analyzed the existence and distribution of plants, mammals, birds, fish species, macrophytes, peri-phytons, and zooplankton in order to assess the biodiversity status of the region. As a result, the research proposed the following three strategies for planning and management of the Guaporé–Paraguay ecotone:
- (i)
-
Business as usual, which refers to a further decrease of natural areas. The court of justice decided that Guaporé–Paraguay does not require special protection in the state planning system. Thus, this strategy will result in ongoing forest and river fragmentation.
- (ii)
-
Conservation actions that calls for the restoration of riparian deforested or degraded areas and protecting wetlands in both basins. The development of conservation actions can lead to the expansion of current protected areas and management plans in the region; therefore, regional protected areas can be identified to preserve a large area of river forests to survive the priority species of the Guaporé–Paraguay ecotone.
- (iii)
-
Integrating biodiversity objectives into other policies and planning strategies, which refers to the restoration of riparian deforested or degraded areas and the protection of wetlands in the basin. This strategy integrates biodiversity goals in the planning and implementation of hydroelectric dams and agricultural management.
A study by Meli et al.
[91] reviewed 70 experimental studies to identify quantitative studies on the effects of ecological restoration on the biodiversity and ecosystem services of degraded aquatic and semi-aquatic wetlands. A meta-analysis identified the factors influencing restoration. The study compared the performance factors of the selected ecosystems between (1) the destroyed and restored wetlands; and (2) between the restored and natural wetlands using response ratios and stratified modeling of random effects.
The meta-analysis showed that ecological restoration increases biodiversity and ecosystem services supply in degraded wetlands and, thus, benefits the human communities that interact with them. The exact effects of wetland restoration strongly depend on the underlying factors, thus, emphasizing the need for specific habitat planning and evaluation of restorations. Furthermore, biodiversity demonstrates good recovery, although the exact recovery strongly depends on the species.
Restoration wetlands showed 36% of ES supply, regulation, and support levels compared to degraded wetlands. The biodiversity recovery and ecosystem services also positively showed a correlation, which represents an effective restoration result. Moreover, the restored wetlands showed a level of ecosystem services similar to natural wetlands.
Morganti et al.
[92] studied the bird communities of an inland wetland. This study aimed to:
- (i)
-
understand the landscape-scale variables affecting the biotope level occurrence of conservation birds,
- (ii)
-
identify the habitat variables related to the occurrence of a set of target reedbed-dwelling species, and
- (iii)
-
achieve practical management recommendations for the protection of bird communities and populations in the inland wetlands.
The results showed that the extent of the reed beds/mires was positively associated with the occurrence of all species of conservation concern at the site scale. At the field scale, the reed bed extent positively predicted the species’ occurrence but only in the presence of patches of clear shallow water. Species-specific MARS models qualitatively demonstrated similar results for some species but were generally outperformed by multi-species.
Guareschi et al.
[93] explored the relationships between the community composition and species richness of waterbirds and aquatic macroinvertebrates in 36 wetlands. As core objectives, this research aimed to:
- (i)
-
test the congruence of the patterns of species composition and richness among waterbirds and aquatic macroinvertebrates, and
- (ii)
-
investigate which environmental variables were associated with the biodiversity patterns of waterbirds and macroinvertebrates in order to identify the key factors explaining potential discordance in these patterns.
The study demonstrated that climatic variables and water levels mostly affected the collection of waterbirds; while conductivity was the most important factor affecting large vertebrate communities. The results depict a slightly inverse relationship in the richness patterns, where wetlands that are rich in waterbird species are less rich in Hemipetra families and macroinvertebrates. The results of the linear models also demonstrate that, in general, different environmental variables were related to the richness patterns of different classification groups. In addition, the analysis of different biological communities revealed that using datasets of different classification groups is an essential prerequisite for successful policies and monitoring of wetland conservation. The research concluded that there is a need for creating a diverse and complete network of protected sites, which can maintain multiple biodiversity components in wetlands.
To conclude the section, wetland biodiversity has been severely disrupted as a result of urbanization, as urban development is a primary factor in reducing the biodiversity of wetlands. In the literature, the studies explain that, when natural or human factors destroy wetlands, ecological restoration is often performed to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. Consequently, the preserved wetlands become a breeding ground for wildlife and strengthen the biodiversity in wetlands.
Wetlands create a network of fragmented habitats and provide feeding, spawning and nursing areas for many species, such as invertebrates, amphibians, birds, and fish. Preserving biodiversity in wetlands is essential to maintaining the vital functions of wetland ecosystems and preserving the values they provide to their environment. The maintenance of biodiversity in wetlands also can be achieved by raising public awareness, which requires continuous guidance and learning at the public level.