Freshwater Ecosystem Services Research Articles

A simple method for mapping winter recreational fishing ecosystem services supply in lakes. A contribution to mapping freshwater ecosystem services

Although urban areas negatively impact the environment, they supply a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), mainly cultural ones. Recreation near urban green areas is widespread, including fishing. In northern latitudes, during the winter, lakes are frozen, and several urban dwellers practice ice fishing. Although this activity is well known, no attempts were made to assess and map winter recreational fishery ES supply in lakes. In this work, we developed a methodology to map this ES, taking an urban lake in Vilnius (Lithuania) as an example. A standardized protocol was developed using an unmanned aerial vehicle (proximal sensing), further georeferencing and correcting the gathered images, vectorizing the fishing ice holes, and mapping them using two different methods: Kernel and Point Density. The method developed in this work can be applied in northern areas to identify recreational fishing ES during the winter.•A novel method was developed to map winter recreational fishery ES supply in lakes;•High-resolution images were taken from an unmanned aerial vehicle to identify fishing ice holes in an urban lake.•The method maps a cultural ES, which is trendy in northern latitudes.

Construction and Change Analysis of Water Ecosystem Service Flow Networks in the Xiangjiang River Basin (XRB)

Clearing and successfully characterizing ecosystem service flow paths has become a key bottleneck restricting in-depth research on the supply and demand relationships of ecosystem services. At present, although some explorations have been performed using water ecosystem services as a pioneer, the nature of its network and the fact that ecological base flow needs to be eliminated have been ignored. This study used InVEST and network models to consider ecological base flow, quantifying the supply, demand, and flow paths of freshwater ecosystem services in the Xiangjiang River Basin. The results showed that the overall distribution of the water supply in the Xiangjiang River Basin from 2000 to 2020 shows a pattern of higher supply in the south and lower supply in the north. The distribution of water demand shows higher levels in the north and lower levels in the south. The network density remains at its maximum level. The results of this study have provided a scientific basis for water resource management in river basins and improving ecological compensation mechanisms.

The value of improving freshwater ecosystem services: South Carolina residents’ willingness to pay for improved water quality

Riverine ecosystems play a crucial role in providing essential services such as drinking water, food, recreation, and other aquatic resources. Yet, their capacity to deliver ecosystem services is threatened by rapid land use which modifies their ecological functions. While freshwater monitoring and restoration programs became more robust with technological advancement, the technical ecosystem indicators monitored by experts do not typically resonate with the public. Since public sentiments and preferences are crucial in conservation planning, we quantified households' mean willingness to pay (WTP) for riverine ecosystem services in South Carolina (SC) using a payment card approach. This technique in conducting a contingent valuation method allowed us to estimate mean WTP for five aquatic indicators. Findings revealed that households’ monthly mean WTP is higher for indicators that can enhance recreational benefits, such as fish catch ($5.89- $6.58), species richness ($6.28- $6.72) and access ($6.75) compared to IBI ($5.74- $6.26) and instream flow quality ($5.34–6.06). When extrapolated to entire SC, the improvement of each indicator would translate to total benefits ranging between $131 to $165 million annually. The values computed from this study could serve as inputs for the computation of benefit-cost ratios of proposed freshwater programs. By incorporating households' WTP in the policy analysis, decision makers can prioritize programs that offer the greatest public benefit, while enhancing freshwater quality across the state.

Earth’s large lakes are shrinking

Lakes play a crucial role in providing freshwater and support many essential ecosystem services. In a new study, we found significant water losses in 53% of large lakes on Earth in the past 28 years. These losses are attributed to human consumption, warming climate, and sedimentation. Two billion people reside in areas where lakes are drying, underscoring the urgent need for management solutions.

Urbanization shifts freshwater service flows in the highly urbanized watersheds of Dongjiang River, China

Freshwater ecosystem services supply and demand are important for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 of clean water. Urbanization has significantly impacted the supply, demand, and flow of freshwater ecosystem services due to various human activities. However, the changes in freshwater ecosystem service flow (FESF) under the influence of urbanization were still unclear. This study examines the highly urbanized Dongjiang River as an example and maps the supply-flow-demand network of freshwater services based on social-ecological network analysis. The results indicate that freshwater supply has increased by 0.21 billion m3 per year, while there is a decreasing trend of 0.17 billion m3 per year in demand. The FESF approach reveals that 42%–60% of imbalanced sub-watersheds rely on artificial water diversion projects to alleviate water deficits under dynamic flow conditions. Approximately 15.6% of the region experiences water insecurity, driven by urbanization-induced demand for water diversion. This increased demand puts stress on downstream sub-watershed water supply and elevates the risk of flow reduction in the main stream. The study highlights the need for sustainable water management strategies to ensure freshwater security in large river basins within urbanized areas worldwide and to address the challenges posed by uncertain urban expansion.

Study on the Realization of Freshwater Ecosystem Services from the Perspective of Consumer Willingness to Pay in China

The realization of freshwater ecosystem services value plays a vital role in the survival of human beings and the sustainable development of fisheries, and this process is inseparable from the support of consumers. This paper decomposes freshwater ecosystem services in multiple dimensions. From the perspective of consumers’ willingness to pay for ecosystem services, using the survey data of 821 consumers in China, the influence of various dimensions of freshwater ecosystem services on consumers’ willingness is explored by the structural equation model. The results show that: (1) consumers already have a certain awareness of freshwater ecosystem services, but the proportion of consumers willing to pay extra for them is not high; (2) the individual characteristics (age, gender, education, and income ) affect consumers’ willingness to pay for freshwater ecosystem services value, but the impact degree is not high; (3) regulating, cultural, and provisional servers functions of freshwater ecosystem services significantly affect consumers’ willingness to pay, especially freshwater ecosystem services’ role on regulating carbon emissions, controlling algal biomass, enhancing local fishery culture and improving leisure and leisure entertainment services. This study is helpful to deeply understand consumers’ willingness to pay for various dimensions of freshwater ecosystem services and provide more targeted and detailed guidance for realizing it.

Microplastics in Freshwater Ecosystems of India: Current Trends and Future Perspectives.

Microplastics (MPs)-i.e., plastic particles less than 5 mm in length-are becoming a growing environmental concern due to their potential ecotoxicological impacts on aquatic ecosystems. In India, MPs contamination is a significantly growing problem due to increased plastic production as well as its low rate of recycling. As a result, MPs research work in India has gained considerable attention in the last two decades. The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive review of the existing scientific literature on MPs in freshwater ecosystems (e.g., lakes and rivers) of India. A bibliographical search was used to conduct the literature review across a number of databases including ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and ResearchGate. We found that in comparison to the marine ecosystem the source, transport, and fate of MPs in freshwater ecosystems of India are still underexplored, and we found only 18 relevant papers. This review work reveals that there is no standard procedure for separating MPs from water and sediment samples, and as a result, comparing the results was a challenging task. The larger MPs (>500 μm) in water and sediments were identified most commonly using the attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy technique (ATR-FTIR), whereas smaller-sized MPs (<500 μm) were identified using FTIR fitted with a confocal microscope, also known as μ-FTIR imaging or chemical imaging. We found that white-colored fibers and fragments of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyethylene (PE) were the most common polymer types in the freshwater ecosystems of India. Although research on MPs in freshwater ecosystems of India has gained momentum over the past decade, the literature review reveals a limited understanding of the impact of MPs' weathering patterns, the role of biofouling, and the role of water hyacinths on freshwater ecosystem services in India. Furthermore, the fluxes of MPs to the Indian oceans are not constrained, and atmospheric transport in high-altitude mountains, which have already been made fragile by climate change, has not been fully investigated. This study, therefore, calls for additional assessments of MPs in freshwater ecosystems-particularly in the central parts of India.

Valuation of marine ecosystems and Sustainable Development Goals

This paper refers to the valuation of European, Marine and Fresh Water Ecosystem Services. Using a meta-regression approach, we estimate the Annual Willingness to Pay (WTP) for several classifications of the ecosystem services and various biogeographical and marine regions across all 27 EU markets. Moreover, we explore the correlation between WTP and the national level of achievement of the 17 SDGs, with particular focus on SDG 14—Life Below Water. Results indicate that regulating services of marine and freshwater ecosystems are ranked high and that in almost 63% of the European countries, the WTP for the improvement of the marine and freshwater ecosystem is high and exceeds estimates for terrestrial ecosystems. Valuing ecosystem services and link them to the Sustainable Development Goals, we find that marine ecosystems are mainly positively correlated to SDGs 2, 12, 13, 14, and 17, while a high MWTP value is assigned to specific SDG14 individual indicators like fish caught from overexploited or collapsed stocks and fish caught that are then discarded. Overall, results indicate that societies attributing greater value to ecosystem services mark greater progress toward the implementation of SDGs and SDG 14 in particular.

Freshwater Mussels, Ecosystem Services, and Clean Water Regulation in Minnesota: Formulating an Effective Conservation Strategy

Freshwater mussels are threatened with extirpation in North America. They are a sentinel species for ecosystem function and contribute towards many ecosystem services. As mussels require clean water to survive, and since conserving ecosystem services is implicit in the federal Clean Water Act, incorporating mussel conservation into state water policies could serve multiple conservation goals. In this paper we conduct a comprehensive critical review of three topics related to freshwater mussels: their contribution to ecosystem services, their links with water quality, and threats to their survival from water pollutants and extent of protection available from regulation. In so doing, we identify gaps between the water quality requirements of mussels and the protection provided by current water regulation to help inform clean water and conservation goals in Minnesota. We find freshwater mussels to be generally sensitive to a wide variety of pollutants, and particularly to nutrients such as total nitrogen and total phosphorus and to major ions such as chloride. In addition, we find that current state water quality standards may not be sufficiently protective of mussels. We formulate a framework for determining an effective conservation strategy for mussels in Minnesota based on ecological and economic criteria to ensure adequate conservation at a reasonable cost.

Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate threats to surface waters at the national scale: A neglected traditional pollutant

Freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem services might decline due to exposure to chemicals. However, researchers have devoted much attention to the potential risks of emerging contaminants, while placing less effort on historical pollutants, such as the surfactant, linear-alkylbenzene-sulfonate (LAS), which is a major component of widely used synthetic detergents worldwide. In this study, a multilevel risk assessment approach was used to assess risks posed by LAS to aquatic organisms, on a wide spatial scale, based on various assessment endpoints. Additionally, bottom-up approaches were used to assess contributions of LAS source discharges to aquatic environments. Concentrations of LAS in surface waters of China ranged from less than the limit of detection to 14,200 μg/L. The predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) based on adverse effects on reproduction is 15 μg/L, which is slightly less than the PNEC based on other endpoints. 99% of surface waters in Chaohu Lake and the Hai River (Ch: Haihe) were predicted to pose a risk to growth of aquatic organisms, with a protection threshold of 5% of species (HC5). Discharges of LAS were estimated using activity data and emission factors for 280 major cities in the basin. Rural domestic sources were the main source of LAS to surface waters. These outcomes provided a process for developing comprehensive management and control approaches to help researchers and policymakers effectively manage water resources affected by increasing concentrations of LAS.

Mapping and assessing freshwater ecosystem services supply and demand in Inner Mongolia (China)

Mapping and assessing freshwater ecosystem services supply and demand in Inner Mongolia (China)

Closing pit lakes as aquatic ecosystems: Risk, reality, and future uses

AbstractMine pit lakes are formed when open‐cut pits flood with water, and these lakes occur by the thousands on every inhabited continent. The remediation and closure of pit lakes is a pressing issue for sustainable development and provision of freshwater ecosystem services. While pit lakes can be spectacular examples of recreation and renewal, pit lakes may be better known for their poor water qualities and risks to communities and the environment. Often the public wants to simply “fill the pits in” to restore a terrestrial landscape, but this is not always possible. Therefore, planning for remediation and future uses is likely to provide the best outcome. Poor water quality is not necessarily a barrier to future use, although it may limit the number of uses. Short‐term future uses tend to require commercial viability, active infrastructure investment, and maintenance, and should transition to complementary long‐term uses that promote biodiversity. Long‐term future uses require relatively less ongoing maintenance beyond the initial investment and adhere to the principles that pit lakes should be safe, sustainable, and non‐polluting in perpetuity. Pit lakes will eventually develop “ecosystem values,” and the time to do so depends on the nature of the intervention and the values ascribed by the community. Where possible, closing pit lakes as sustainable ecosystems is the most realistic goal that permits a variety of future uses that is likely to see pit lakes valued by future generations.This article is categorized under: Engineering Water &gt; Planning Water Human Water &gt; Value of Water Human Water &gt; Water as Imagined and Represented

Evaluating the ecological health of aquatic habitats in a megacity through a multimetric index model based on macroinvertebrates

Globally, urban water bodies suffer from a variety of ecological pressures which profoundly change freshwater ecosystem services and pose a great threat to aquatic biodiversity. To identify the effects of these pressures on aquatic communities, we systematically investigated the macroinvertebrates in different water types (e.g., mountain rivers, plain rivers, lakes, and reservoirs) in all water systems in Beijing, a megacity in China, to reveal the key environmental factors and response mechanisms affecting the spatial distribution of macroinvertebrate communities. A total of 188 macroinvertebrate taxa were identified at 61 survey sections, and environmental factors such as flow velocity, water depth, water temperature, and total nitrogen content were found to substantially affect the structure and spatial distribution of the macroinvertebrate communities. A multimetric index (MMI) model based on macroinvertebrates was developed to assess the ecological quality of each water type, and the developed MMI was demonstrated to be widely applicable. In the MMI, each community metric was weighted based on the goodness of fit for each biological metric and environmental metric to obtain the observed MMI values of the measured sample sites, and further model training and prediction was performed based on all sample site data. The MMI results revealed that the overall ecological quality of mountain rivers with less anthropogenic interference was relatively good (MMI = 0.62 ± 0.28), the overall ecological quality of lakes experiencing ecological disturbance and undergoing ecological restoration practices was moderate (MMI = 0.43 ± 0.09), and the overall ecological quality of plain rivers and reservoirs with strong anthropogenic interference was relatively poor (MMI = 0.24 ± 0.12 and 0.32 ± 0.12, respectively). Specific recommendations for ecological protection of different water types were formulated, providing a scientific basis and decision-making support for urban ecological planning and sustainable development.

Two decades of land cover change and forest fragmentation in Liberia: Consequences for the contribution of nature to people

AbstractThe Guinean forests of West Africa have been identified as a global biodiversity hotspot due to its exceptional concentrations of endemic species and exceptional loss of habitats. The majority of what remains of the Guinean forests lies within Liberia, a country whose share of total wealth is nearly equally distributed into human and natural capital. The Liberian government seeks a more inclusive development agenda that forges a path for improved human capital while sustainably managing its natural capital wealth, which requires consistent data on land cover change and forest disturbance over time. To address this need, Landsat data were used to map and quantify land cover change and forest fragmentation in Liberia between 2000 and 2018. In addition, LiDAR data from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission were applied to assess the integrity of forest remnants. Between 2000 and 2018, only 1% of all forest cover classes (i.e., dense/primary, open/secondary and sparse/degraded) were converted into non‐forest classes, with the most observed change being between these three forest classes. During the study period, 27% of the dense/primary forest class transitioned to either the open/secondary or sparse/degraded canopy classes through consistent fragmentation along the edges of the last large remaining blocks of dense/primary forest located in the north‐west and south‐east of Liberia and more than 14% of dense/primary forest areas identified in previous studies as “essential natural capital” for either biodiversity, forest carbon storage or provision of freshwater ecosystem services were degraded. The 2018 GEDI‐based measurements show that the overall average height of dense/primary forest decreases by 24% and 48%, and canopy closure decreases by 33% and 59%, when transitioned to the open/secondary and sparse/degraded classes, respectively. The information derived from this analysis will be critical for informing the development of new policies and actions, leading to more sustainable forest management in Liberia.

Documenting the impacts of increasing salinity in freshwater and coastal ecosystems: Introduction to the special issue

Documenting the impacts of increasing salinity in freshwater and coastal ecosystems: Introduction to the special issue

Accounting for Freshwater Ecosystem Services

Accounting for Freshwater Ecosystem Services

Declines in freshwater mussel density, size and productivity in the River Thames over the past half century.

A pioneering, quantitative study published in Journal of Animal Ecology in 1966 on freshwater mussel populations in the River Thames, UK, continues to be cited extensively as evidence of the major contribution that mussels make to benthic biomass and ecosystem functioning in global river ecosystems. Ecological alteration, as well as declines in freshwater mussel populations elsewhere, suggest that changes to mussel populations in the River Thames are likely to have occurred over the half century since this study. We resurveyed the site reported in Negus (1966) and quantified the changes in mussel population density, species composition, growth patterns and productivity. We found large declines in population density for all unionid species. The duck mussel Anodonta anatina decreased to 1.1% of 1964 density. The painter's mussel Unio pictorum fell to 3.2% of 1964 density. The swollen river mussel Unio tumidus showed statistically nonsignificant declines. In contrast to 1964, in 2020 we found no living specimens of the depressed river mussel Pseudanodonta complanata (classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List) but found new records of the invasive, nonnative zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha and Asian clam Corbicula fluminea. Additionally, we found strong decreases in size-at-age for all species, which now grow to 65-90% of maximum lengths in 1964. As a result of reduced density and size, estimated annual biomass production fell to 7.5% of 1964 levels. Since mussels can be important to ecosystem functioning, providing key regulating and provisioning services, the declines we found imply substantial degradation of freshwater ecosystem services in the River Thames, one of the UK's largest rivers. Our study also highlights the importance to conservationists and ecologists of updating and validating assumptions and data about wild populations, which in the present era of anthropogenic ecosystem alteration are undergoing significant and rapid changes. Regular population surveys of key species are essential to maintain an accurate picture of ecosystem health and to guide management.

Relations between physical and ecosystem service flows of freshwater are critical for water resource security in large dryland river basin

Freshwater ecosystem services are the link between ecological systems and social systems, which is an important guarantee of the freshwater safety particularly in dryland regions. However, more quantitative research has been based on the freshwater ecosystem services of static situations, and less on the flow conditions. We established a comprehensive modeling framework for the analysis of water security pattern based on the physical flow (PF) and ecosystem service flow (ESF) of freshwater. The results for Yellow River Basin showed that the water-scarce area have reduced in the past two decades. The PF of freshwater relieves water stress on an average of 52.1 % of the static water in scarce areas per year. The problem in water-deficient areas meanly lies on the water supply side. These results highlight the importance of PF from the upstream to downstream, which is critical for formulating sustainable management strategies in safeguarding long-term regional freshwater resource security.

Scientific literature on freshwater ecosystem services: trends, biases, and future directions

Scientific literature on freshwater ecosystem services: trends, biases, and future directions

Human activities induce potential aquatic threats of micropollutants in Danjiangkou Reservoir, the largest artificial freshwater lake in Asia

Freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem services may decline because of toxicant input, and other environmental variables often co-occur with contaminants to jeopardize the freshwater ecosystem. In this study, Danjiangkou Reservoir (DJKR) in central China was selected as the target research area to investigate the impact of multiple categories of micropollutants coupled with other stressors on the reservoir ecosystem. A total of 140 samples were collected from 28 sites in DJKR, and 124 micropollutants, including pesticides, organophosphate esters (OPEs), psychoactive substances, antiviral drugs, and pharmaceutical and personal care products, were quantified. A total of 108 micropollutants were detected in the water samples, with sum concentrations ranging from 82.35 ng·L−1 to 1436.57 ng·L−1, and 71 of them had a detection frequency above 50 %, indicating the prevailing micropollutant contamination in the reservoir. The most severe pollution and risks were observed in the tributaries of DJKR. Pesticides (neonicotinoid and triazine) and OPEs were the major contributors to the ecological risk in the reservoir. Insecticides, herbicides, and OPEs accounted for the majority of the risks to fish, algae, and invertebrates, respectively. The determined priority pollutants should be paid increased attention. Environmental variables and human activities, such as human land use, induced the potential aquatic threats of micropollutants in DJKR. Results demonstrated that micropollutant pollution was one of the dominant pressures faced by aquatic organisms and human beings, and human activities played important roles as well.