River Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Re‐meander, rewet, rewild! Overwhelming public support for restoration of small rivers in the three Baltic Sea basin countries

Baltic Sea is one of the World's most oxygen‐depletes seas, so the region requires urgent mitigation measures to significantly reduce nitrogen and phosphorus inputs from land through rivers, which cannot be achieved without large‐scale restoration of wetland buffer zones. The manuscript summarizes the findings of the discrete choice experiment aimed at assessment of the preferences of Danish, German, and Polish citizens toward ecosystem services of lowland small rivers of the Baltic Sea basin. Our results suggest that respondents in all the studied countries are willing to pay substantial amounts to improve water quality in rivers and the Baltic Sea, as well as to restore naturally meandering rivers and natural riparian vegetation. Wild marshes and Wetland agriculture were equally valued as the most desirable options. Respondents systematically cared about the appearance of small rivers in their neighborhood. We conclude that re‐meandering, rewetting of floodplains, and restoration of wild marshes (i.e. natural wetland vegetation) or development of wetland agriculture could gain a lot of public support in Europe.

Using the River Ecosystem Service Index to evaluate “Free Moving Rivers” restoration measures: A case study on the Ammer river (Bavaria)

AbstractRestoring natural fluvial dynamics is fundamental for sustaining biodiversity and functional integrity of river and floodplain ecosystems. In Central Europe, however, pervasive river regulation and bank protection have greatly impaired ecosystem functioning and many water bodies fail to achieve a good ecological status within the European Water Framework Directive. The “Free Moving Rivers” approach seeks to restore the ecological integrity of rivers and floodplains by creating appropriate conditions for natural fluvial dynamics. Principal goals of the approach include removing artificial constraints on river processes and expanding the river corridor to restore natural river habitats and structures. Lacking, however, are complementary tools that evaluate and predict changes to ecosystem services (ESSs) after implementation. Here, we describe a case study of the Ammer river in Bavaria, Germany, to (i) calculate the extent of the “Free Moving Rivers” corridor, and (ii) assess changes to ESSs of a proposed river restoration measure under two alternative land‐use scenarios. To do this, we apply the River Ecosystem Service Index (RESI), whereby individual ESSs are assessed in a spatially explicit way. We show how a proposed implementation of the “Free Moving Rivers” approach enhances three investigated ESSs: flood retention, sediment balance and habitat provision. We conclude that RESI is a potentially useful tool with wide applicability for restoration planning that synthesises floodplain complexity in such a way that facilitates decision making.

Enhancing whole-of-river conservation

We argue for improved conservation of freshwater ecosystems at catchment or eco-regional scales by explicit assignment of values to all river sections and wetlands, recognising current disturbance, and aiming for ‘no further harm’ to the commons. The need is indicated by the global deterioration of biodiversity and ecosystem services of rivers and wetlands, increasing demands on water and land resources, and climate change. Regional pressures include multiple jurisdictions, competing demands, piecemeal management, pollution and habitat impacts. Effective resource and conservation management needs to integrate multiple uses via governance of activities of stakeholders, recognising hydrogeomorphic, water quality and ecological properties of ecosystems. Complete ecological protection is impractical amidst water-resource and land-use development, but we suggest that all river reaches and wetlands be given a conservation rating based on habitat, biodiversity and connectivity values. We present a straightforward approach to spatial conservation rating of freshwaters, using hydrogeomorphic typology and assignment of conservation values on the basis of available information and expert elicitation. We illustrate the approach by using the large Burdekin River catchment in north-eastern Australia. This approach is complementary to more spatially focused conservation prioritisation and could greatly improve management for sustainability, reduce further decline in conservation values, and facilitate rehabilitation.

Determinants of people's willingness to pay to restore polluted urban rivers: The case of River Kebena, Addis Ababa

River and groundwater pollution is one of the environmental problems in Ethiopia. Although the rivers in Addis Ababa had benefited the community, for the past three decades, pollutants generated from different anthropogenic sources have been causing enormous damage to the quality of the water, aquatic living organisms, and the river ecosystem goods and services. This study examines people's maximum willingness to pay and its determinants to restore the polluted river. Thus, we applied a face-to-face interview with residents living along the riversides at Yeka and Arada sub-cities with a structured questionnaire. Seemingly Unrelated Bivariate Probit and Tobit models were employed to estimate the mean willingness to pay and determinants of the maximum willingness to pay. Although findings reveal all respondents are willing to restore the polluted Kebena River, the maximum willingness to pay varies according to the respondents' education, family size, monthly income, and the initial bid. Hence, the relevant city administration should emphasize scale-out and implement the riverside projects considering the findings. Besides, priority should give to environmental awareness pertinent to waste disposal from residential, service sectors, and public institutions. The meager urban planning and riverside management should be revised to protect urban rivers. So, the community involvement in river restoration is substantial to sustain the campaign of riversides development in the city.

Considering temporal flow variability of non-perennial rivers in assessing ecosystem service provision

The basis for the assessment of ecosystem services (ES) of non-perennial rivers to date has been a comparison of the ES provision among three different hydrological phases: flowing conditions, isolated pools, and dry streambeds. Being of an opinion that this practice might promote an incomplete and hence biased ES assessment, we propose two considerations for the ES assessment of non-perennial rivers. First, the conditions of each hydrological phase can vary based on the nature of multiple aquatic states. Second, the duration, frequency, timing, and magnitude of the aquatic states matter in the ES provision. Different scenarios of flow regime should be compared instead of hydrological phases in ES assessments. Our proposal sheds some light on the complexity of non-perennial rivers and allows for a better understanding of relationships between non-perennial rivers and society. Therefore, it can serve as the basis for the proper and participatory ES assessment, face for trade-offs between ecosystem conservation and resource use and reduce conflicts among stakeholders within river and water management.

Ecological Benefit Evaluation of Agricultural Heritage System Conservation—A Case Study of the Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System

In order to better understand the developmental conditions and trends of the biodiversity at agricultural heritage sites, the structure and function of the ecosystem and ecological environment in Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System is examined in the decade since the implementation of the GIAHS project. Through the collection of historical data and sample-plot survey, this study collates the data from 2005 to 2013 related to the heritage site to evaluate the ecological benefit of the Agricultural Heritage System conservation. The results show that: (1) Since the implementation of heritage conservation, the variety of traditional rice grown at the heritage sites basically remains stable, the varieties of other crops basically remain unchanged and the varieties of fruit trees and medicinal plants have developed at faster rates. As the ecological environment at the heritage sites gradually improved, the species and richness of the biodiversity in the ecosystem have increased, especially the increasing growth of egrets and boars. (2) From 2005 to 2013 in the Fangshan Town of Qingtian County, the ecosystem areas identified as river, forest, urban and bare land have increased. The increased area of the urban ecosystem is the largest one of them, which is up to 20.30 ha; while the area of the forest ecosystem has increased to 7.29 ha. The areas of wetland, reservoir, farmland and grassland have been reduced, and the area of grassland ecosystem has been reduced the most with a reduction of 28.87 ha. From the changes in the values of the ecosystem services of different ecosystem types, the values of forest ecosystem services have achieved the most growth, reaching up to 92000 yuan yr-1 and the growth of the river and bare land ecosystem service values are not obvious. (3) Over nearly a decade, the soil nutrients and the water quality of rice fields at the heritage site have not obviously changed and the plant diseases and insect pests in the rice fields have not been aggravated. The monitoring indexes are far better than the standard values. With the great support of the local government, the production and living conditions and the living environments of farmers in the villages of the heritage sites have been greatly improved through road reconstruction, water improvement, toilet enhancements and the greening, brightness and beautification of the villages.

Identifying Ecosystem Services for a Framework of Ecological Importance for Rivers in South East Asia

There are increasing concerns for the ecological health of rivers, and their ability to provide important ecosystem services. Frameworks describing the character and condition of rivers have been developed in many parts of the world but rarely include river ecosystem services. South East Asia is a region with some of the world’s great rivers—Mekong, Salween and Ayeyarwady—running through six different countries, but data on river ecological character and condition is patchy and inconsistent. Development pressures on these rivers has never been higher, and ecosystem services may be lost before being described and valued. The development of a framework of ecological importance is envisaged, which maps out the relative contributions of river reaches to a wide range of ecosystem services. This could be a tool for river basin planning and water resource management, baseline information for impact assessment of infrastructure (for example, hydropower and irrigation), and for protecting ecologically important areas. We asked a diverse group of 109 river basin planners, and water and natural resource management professionals in the region whether a framework of ecological importance would support their activities, and which river ecosystem services are most important to be assessed. Our findings allow prioritisation of river ecosystem services to be assessed and mapped according to importance in different river reaches and sub-basins within the region. The locations of ranked threats and pressures on the river systems allow indication of river health and integrity in these sub-basins. We consider the feasibility of measuring ecosystem services and pressures through the identification of appropriate indicators, methods, and availability of global, regional, and national data.

Distance to river basin affects residents' willingness to pay for ecosystem services: Evidence from the Xijiang river basin in China

Residents' willingness to pay (WTP) for ecosystem services plays a key role in improving the functions of ecosystems. Previous studies have mainly focused on the differences in residents' WTP in the upper, middle, and lower reaches of river basins. However, the relationship between the vertical distance to river basins and residents' WTP for ecosystem services remains unclear. We conduct a questionnaire survey using a sample of 755 people from 32 villages in the Xijiang River Basin (XJRB), an important water system in China. The influence of the vertical distance to the XJRB on residents' WTP for ecosystem services is analyzed by using a multinomial logit model and latent class model. The key findings are as follows: (1) Residents' WTP for ecosystem services is significantly different with different distances to the XJRB. Respondents within a distance of 3 km to the XJRB have a stronger WTP. (2) The spatial heterogeneity of the influences of distance to the XJRB is well verified, and classifies residents into different latent groups. (3) Comparing WTP at the vertical distance level and horizontal level in the XJRB shows that residents have stronger overall preferences and latent group preferences at the vertical distance level. These findings contribute to our understanding of the relationship between spatial distance to the river basin and residents' WTP for ecosystem services, which should be useful in implementing differentiated river ecosystem service restoration policy.

Valuation of Panchganga River Ecosystem Services in Urban Kolhapur District of Maharashtra (India)

It is of topmost importance to undertake an economic valuation of the ecosystem services such as a river, which is aquatic and natural ecosystem, because of their very important role in the development and welfare of the society. It is against this overall backdrop, the present research study attempts to carry out an economic valuation of the services of the Panchganga river as an aquatic eco system. The empirical analysis of the economic valuation of the services in monetary terms being provided by the Panchganga river ecosystem estimates its total economic value. No doubt, it is worth of Rs. 5459.41 lakh per annum is really important and valuable, which indicates its role in the socio economic development of the area under our study. It is an indicator of the number and variety of services being provided by the Panchganga useful for agriculture, allied activities, industry and business development along with water for domestic use of the area and its people. The analysis of the determinants of the economic value of the Panchganga river reveals that the non-economic than the economic factors are very much dominant and effective in generating the total economic value.

Do residential localities matter? Revisiting preference heterogeneity and ranking of ecological attributes of an inland river basin

Recognition of public preferences and the assessment of the river basin are valuable for efficient river basin management, and improvement in ecological attributes of river basin can provide considerable non-market benefits. Accordingly, the current study examines the heterogeneity in preferences and ranking of river ecosystem services amongst residents on the basis of their willingness to pay (WTP) to enhance these services. Given the different environmental and economic conditions of urban and rural residents in China, their views on ecological restoration differ. Various Likert scales were used to explore residents' perceptions and ranking of ecological attributes. Findings revealed that urban and rural residents care about water for their daily life, with the mean value of 2.08 and 2.10 and the lowest standard deviation of 1.63 and 1.59, respectively where the range of scale is ‘1 is the most important and 7 is the least important’. Agricultural and industrial water, weather management in Yangsha Lake, vegetation restoration, biodiversity conservation and downstream ecological protection were the next most imperative ecological attributes. Moreover, the results from random parameter logit (RPL) models show that river water quality has the highest marginal utility value, whereas recreational conditions have the lowest marginal utility value in all respondents' models. A considerable difference exists amongst urban and rural residents' WTP for improvements in ecological amenities. Amongst all households, lower basin residents prefer and value ecological attributes and are ready to pay whatever cost for restoration. Generally, urban residents have high implicit prices for most of river ecosystem attributes. Findings reveal that the policymakers should consider the existing preference heterogeneity when designing ecosystem payment plans and allocating resources.

Photo simulation of a river restoration: Relationships between public perception and ecosystem services

AbstractEvaluating the ecosystem services (ES) of rivers is a challenging process. We chose to evaluate photo simulations of a river restoration effort using two different approaches. The first approach was an expert evaluation based on the assessment of individual river restoration elements. The second was an evaluation of public perception, which was implemented by collecting 150 respondent replies through an internet questionnaire. Participants in both methods worked with the photo of the original site and three adjusted photos (i.e., with added river restoration elements or recreational amenities). The original photo was taken in Příbor, Czechia, displayed a heavily channelized gravel‐bed river in an urban area. For this reason, the design of the river restoration effort was spatially limited. In the expert evaluation, we obtained an ascending trend; the highest score was achieved by photo simulation which had the highest number of added restoration elements. In the public perception trial, the respondents evaluated the photo simulations based on four ES categories: (a) ecological and hydromorphological function, (b) aesthetics and landscape function, (c) flood protection and (d) recreational function. It was found that the respondents differed original state from the final restoration state in the category (a), (b) and (c). The final state achieved a better score in these categories. The main findings from both approaches were that even a small restoration effort could significantly improve the perception of ES as well as their services itself provided by the restored river. This conclusion could encourage the planning and construction of river restoration projects in even densely inhabited urban areas.

Anthropogenic Modifications and River Ecosystem Services: A Landscape Perspective

The process of development has led to the modification of river landscapes. This has created imbalances between ecological, economic, and socio-cultural uses of ecosystem services (ESs), threatening the biotic and social integrity of rivers. Anthropogenic modifications influence river landscapes on multiple scales, which impact river-flow regimes and thus the production of river ESs. Despite progress in developing approaches for the valuation ecosystem goods and services, the ecosystem service research fails to acknowledge the biophysical structure of river landscape where ecosystem services are generated. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to synthesize the literature to develop the understanding of the biocomplexity of river landscapes and its importance in ecosystem service research. The review is limited to anthropogenic modifications from catchment to reach scale which includes inter-basin water transfer, change in land-use pattern, sub-surface modifications, groundwater abstractions, stream channelization, dams, and sand mining. Using 86 studies, the paper demonstrates that river ESs largely depend on the effective functioning of biophysical processes, which are linked with the geomorphological, ecological, and hydrological characteristics of river landscapes. Further, the ESs are linked with the economic, ecological, and socio-cultural aspect. The papers show that almost all anthropogenic modifications have positive impact on economic value of ESs. The ecological and socio-cultural values are negatively impacted by anthropogenic modifications such as dams, inter-basin water transfer, change in land-use pattern, and sand mining. The socio-cultural impact of ground-water abstraction and sub-surface modifications are not found in the literature examined here. Further, the ecological and socio-cultural aspects of ecosystem services from stakeholders’ perspective are discussed. We advocate for linking ecosystem service assessment with landscape signatures considering the socio-ecological interactions.

Estimation of sediment load for Himalayan Rivers: Case study of Kaligandaki in Nepal

Himalayan regions have increasing sediment yield due to undulating topography, slope and improper watershed management. However, due to limited observation data, and site accessibility issues, less studies have quantified sedimentation loads in the Himalayas, especially Nepal. This has hindered the investments on run-of-river hydropower projects as high and unpredicted sedimentation has increased losses in hydropower production. Therefore, there is a need to understand key physical processes driving sedimentation in these regions, with the available data. This study used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to estimate the sedimentation yields in the Kaligandaki basin of Nepal, which is an important tributary that drains into the Ganges. Multi-source data from field observations, remote sensing platforms, surveys and government records were used to set up and run the SWAT model for the Kaligandaki basin from 2000 to 2009. Results for the 10-year model run indicate that 73% of the total sediment load is estimated to come from the upstream regions (also known as High Himalayan region), while only 27% is contributed from the Middle and High Mountain regions (where land management-based interventions were deemed most feasible for future scenarios). The average sediment concentration was 1986 mg/kg (ppm), with values of 8432 and 12 mg/kg (ppm) for maximum and minimum, respectively. Such high sedimentation rates can impact river ecosystems (due to siltation), ecosystem services and hydropower generation. In addition, model results indicate the need for better high frequency observation data. Results from this study can aid in better watershed management, which is aimed at reducing sedimentation load and protecting Himalayan rivers.

Assessing land use and flood management impacts on ecosystem services in a river landscape (Upper Danube, Germany)

AbstractRivers and floodplains provide many regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem services (ES) such as flood risk regulation, crop production or recreation. Intensive use of resources such as hydropower production, construction of detention basins and intensive agriculture substantially change ecosystems and may affect their capacity to provide ES. Legal frameworks such as the European Water Framework Directive, Bird and Habitats Directive and Floods Directive already address various uses and interests. However, management is still sectoral and often potential synergies or trade‐offs between sectors are not considered. The ES concept could support a joint and holistic evaluation of impacts and proactively suggest advantageous options. The river ecosystem service index (RESI) method evaluates the capacity of floodplains to provide ES by using a standardized five‐point scale for 1 km‐floodplain segments based on available spatial data. This scaling allows consistent scoring of all ES and their integration into a single index. The aim of this article is to assess ES impacts of different flood prevention scenarios on a 75 km section of the Danube river corridor in Germany. The RESI method was applied to evaluate scenario effects on 13 ES with the standardized five‐point scale. Synergies and trade‐offs were identified as well as ES bundles and dependencies on land use and connectivity. The ratio of actual and former floodplain has the strongest influence on the total ES provision: the higher the percentage and area of an active floodplain, the higher the sum of ES. The RESI method proved useful to support decision‐making in regional planning.

Impact of climate change and human activities on economic values produced by ecosystem service functions of rivers in water shortage area of Northwest China.

Climate change and human activities are affecting the ecological health of rivers and the economic value of its ecosystem services. Taking water quantity as the intermediate variable, we proposed a quantitative calculation method for the impact of climate change and human activities on the economic value produced by the ecosystem service functions of rivers. The framework mainly consists of three steps: firstly, we quantitatively determined the changes in the amount of water coming from rivers due to climate change and human activities; secondly, combining the theory of resource and environmental economics to calculate the economic value generated by ecological service functions of rivers; finally, we quantitatively identified and analyzed the impact of climate change and human activities on the economic value produced by the ecosystem service functions of rivers. Taking Baoji section of Weihe River (BSWR) as an example, we quantitatively analyzed and calculated the impact of climate change and human activities on the economic value produced by ecosystem service functions of rivers. The main conclusions of this paper are as follows: in recent 52years, the economic value produced by the ecosystem service functions of rivers decreased by 3.57 billion yuan due to the climate change and human activities; the total economic value has been reduced by an average of 68 million yuan per year. This useful work can not only reveal the impact of climate change and human activities on the economic value of ecosystem services of rivers but also can provide an important basis for the reasonable management model of water resource of ecosystem of rivers watershed.

Climate change and biodiversity in Narayani river ecosystem and ecosystem services

Climate change and biodiversity in Narayani river ecosystem and ecosystem services

Evaluating the cumulative impacts of the hydropower development on the river ecosystem services in terms of spatial and temporal aspects: A case study in the mainstream of the Wujiang River

Evaluating the cumulative impacts of the hydropower development on the river ecosystem services in terms of spatial and temporal aspects: A case study in the mainstream of the Wujiang River

Public Attitudes, Preferences and Willingness to Pay for River Ecosystem Services.

River basins are key sources of ecosystem services, with a wide range of social and economic benefits and many effects on human well-being. However, intensified land use and other dramatic variations in river ecosystems can alter ecosystem functions and services. In this study, we explored the public awareness, attitude and perception regarding environmental and water resource issues and assessed the willingness to pay (WTP) for improving selected attributes of the Wei River basin. Various rankings, Likert scales and random parameter logit (RPL) models were used to analyze data obtained from 900 surveyed respondents. Most respondents were more concerned about environmental and water resource management issues rather than socioeconomic attributes. From a policy perspective, 83.32% and 50.50% of the residents ranked “improvement in water quality” and “improving irrigation conditions,” respectively, as their main priorities regarding ecological restoration. Moreover, the results obtained using RPL models showed that the coefficients were significant for all ecological attributes and monetary attributes, as expected. The positive and significant coefficient for the alternative specific constant demonstrated that the respondents preferred restoration alternatives to the status quo. Furthermore, the highest WTP was found for water quality (91.99 RMB), followed by erosion intensity (23.59 RMB) and water quantity (11.79 RMB). Our results are relevant to policy development and they indicate that ecological restoration is the favored option.

A new method for assessing river ecosystem services and its application to rivers in Scotland with and without nature conservation designations

AbstractBased on a paired analysis, we describe a method for evaluating the potential of rivers with different physical characteristics to provide ecosystem services. Scores based on an extensive scientific literature review and expert opinion were applied to four sets of rivers in Scotland, with each pair comprising one river with a statutory nature conservation designation and one where such designations were largely absent. Data on physical habitat features and land cover were extracted manually from Google Earth™, based upon a previously published method expanded here to take account of cultural ecosystem services. Twenty physical habitat features and land‐cover types and 13 ecosystem services (four provisioning, three regulating, and six cultural) were used in the analysis. Notable developments on the earlier approach included the full integration of cultural ecosystem services alongside provisioning, regulating, and supporting services; introduction of confidence levels to river feature–ecosystem service linkages; and incorporation of valley floor surface area into one of the two scoring systems. Ecosystem scores for 500 m reaches along each river from source to mouth were calculated using Microsoft Excel, with results showing high reach‐to‐reach variability within individual rivers and significant differences between paired rivers. The four rivers with statutory nature conservation designations provided a greater range and typically higher ecosystem service scores than those with little or no designation, a result that has significant implications for river conservation and for framing catchment‐level conservation policy.

A conceptual decision-making for the ecological base flow of rivers considering the economic value of ecosystem services of rivers in water shortage area of Northwest China

Understanding how much water should be left in rivers is a hot topic around the world. Here, we proposed a decision-making framework for ecological base flow of rivers considering the total economic value of economic service functions and ecological service functions of rivers system. This framework mainly includes three key steps. Firstly, we analyzed the ecological services functions of rivers system (i.e., water used for the ecological base flow of rivers) and economic service functions (i.e., water used for economic sectors) and explained their relationship. Secondly, we calculate the economic values of economic service functions and ecological services functions of rivers system, respectively. Finally, we determined the recommended ecological base flow of rivers by reaching the maximum value in the change process of the total economic value of the ecological and economic services functions of rivers system. We applied this framework to determine the river ecological base flow in the Baoji Section of Weihe River, which is the largest tributary of the Yellow River, Northwest China. The calculations results revealed that the recommended ecological base flow of rivers is 35.02% of the natural runoff in Baoji section of Weihe River. This work can provide a valuable reference for decision-making the ecological base flow of river in the water shortage area of Northwest China.