9789048191802

Playing a critical role in both influencing climate change and mitigating its impacts, the world's diverse wetlands have become one of the world's most threatened ecosystems as unsustainable land-use practices coupled with irrational use of water have already resulted in large-scale wetlands loss and degradation.To develop sound management and conservation schemes to assure wetlands sustainability in the long term requires long-term understanding of wetlands ecology. Yet until now, long-term interdisciplinary research into these systems has been limited to only a few systems from tropical or temperate climates (such as the Florida Everglades, and Czech biosphere reserve). This new book adds to the existing wetlands literature, providing a unique reference in basic and applied Mediterranean wetland ecology, based on results from long-term interdisciplinary research at the RAMSAR and UNESCO Biosphere site, of Las Tablas de Daimiel, Spain.Dating back to the early 1990s the research highlights changes in the biotic and abiotic environment in response to cumulative anthropogenic stressors, and provide guidance on applying this understand to sound management and conservation. With particular relevance to researchers dealing with semi-arid wetlands in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, as well as to resource managers, the book discusses the complexity of the interacting abiotic and biotic environment across different spatial and temporal scales and across various levels of biological hierarchy is highlighted, and reveals how management based on poor knowledge causes more damage than repair.The book will be of interest to researchers interested in freshwater ecology, hydrobotany, hydrology, geology, biogeochemistry, landscape ecology and environmental management.

Introductory Chapter
The Wetland, Its Catchment Settings and Socioeconomic Relevance: An Overview	p. 3
Introduction	p. 3
The Wetland: Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park	p. 6
The Upper Guadiana Basin and the UNESCO's La Mancha Húmeda Biosphere Reserve	p. 8
Groundwater Overexploitation and the Wetland Complex	p. 12
Socioeconomic Aspects in the Upper Guadiana Basin	p. 14
A Chronological Summary of TDNP Impacts and Its Degradation	p. 16
References	p. 18
Abiotic Environment and Historical Reconstructions
Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction of Las Tablas de Daimiel and Its Evolution During the Quaternary Period	p. 23
Introduction	p. 23
Material and Methods	p. 25
Overview of Vegetation Composition in La Mancha Region During Quaternary Period: Palaeo-Sequences Description	p. 27
Landscape Evolution from 325,000 to 21,000 Years BP: LT, TD, TASG-1 and FUENT-1 Profiles	p. 28
Landscape Evolution from 11,000 to 4,000 Years BP: MO and CC-17 Sequences	p. 29
Landscape Evolution from 4,000 Years BP to the Present: CC-17 and Gigüela 4.2 Paleo-records	p. 31
Summary of Climatic and Wetland Environmental Evolution During the Quaternary Period	p. 35
Middle Pleistocene	p. 36
Upper Pleistocene	p. 37
Holocene	p. 37
References	p. 38
Climate and Hydrologic Trends: Climate Change Versus Hydrologic Overexploitation as Determinants of the Fluctuating Wetland Hydrology	p. 45
Introduction	p. 46
Material and Methods	p. 47
Long-Term Climate Trends	p. 47
An Historical Analysis of Wetland Hydroperiod and Inundation Patterns: The Importance of Groundwater	p. 50
Long-Term Changes in the Wetland Water Budget: Hydrologic Degradation	p. 53
Causes of Wetland Hydrologic Degradation: Climate Change Versus Hydrologic Overexploitation	p. 61
Evapotranspiration Controls of Wetland Hydrology: A Conceptual Model	p. 66
A Wetland Hydrological Model for Hydroperiod Restoration	p. 70
Future Scenarios of TDNP Hydrology	p. 78
References	p. 79
The Effects of Anthropogenic Stressors on Wetland Loss and Habitat Quality Deterioration in the Upper Guadiana River Basin: A Long-Term Assessment (1970-2000)	p. 85
Introduction	p. 86
Material and Methods	p. 87
Wetland Cover and Extent of Hydrodynamic Types in the Early 1970s	p. 91
Land Use-Land Cover Changes and Socioeconomic Indicators During 1978-2000	p. 92
Wetland Losses from 1970 to 2000	p. 95
Wetland Habitat Quality Evolution During the Period 1978-2000	p. 98
Patterns on Wetland Loss and Habitat Quality Deterioration: the Influence of the Main Anthropogenic Stressors at Local and Regional Scales	p. 99
References	p. 105
A Story of the Wetland Water Quality Deterioration: Salinization, Pollution, Eutrophication and Siltation	p. 109
Introduction	p. 109
Materials and Methods	p. 111
Salinization and Major Ionic Composition	p. 111
Water Pollution	p. 113
Nutrient Dynamics and Eutrophication	p. 116
Spatial Heterogeneity of Nutrient Controls	p. 124
Wetland Sedimentation and Siltation	p. 128
References	p. 131
Ecological Communities
Plankton Ecology and Diversity	p. 137
Introduction	p. 138
Materials and Methods	p. 139
Field Sampling and Counting Techniques	p. 139
Indexes and Statistical Methods	p. 140
Diversity of Heterotrophic and Autotrophic Picoplankton	p. 141
Bacteria and Autotrophic Picoplankton Dynamics	p. 141
Species Composition and Diversity of Phyloplankton	p. 144
Phyloplankton Abundance Dynamics	p. 151
Species Composition and Diversity of Zooplankton	p. 155
Zooplankton Abundance Dynamics	p. 160
Bacterioplankton and APP Relationship with Abiotic and Biotic Factors	p. 163
Environmental Factors Related to Phytoplankton	p. 168
Environmental Factors Related to Zooplankton and the Food Web	p. 169
References	p. 170
Macrophyte Ecology and Its Long-term Dynamics	p. 175
Introduction	p. 175
Materials and Methods	p. 176
Surveys and Reconstructions	p. 176
Estimation of Growth and Decay	p. 177
Biomass and Primary Production Estimations	p. 177
Spatial Distribution of Helophytes	p. 178
Aquatic Flora	p. 179
Helophyte Cover and Growth	p. 184
Plant Biomass, Production and Decomposition	p. 189
Spatial Heterogeneity of Helophytes	p. 191
References	p. 192
Fish and Avian Communities: A Testimony of Wetland Degradation	p. 197
Introduction	p. 197
Fish Communities	p. 198
Material and Methods	p. 198
Results and Discussion	p. 198
Avian Communities	p. 200
Material and Methods	p. 202
Results and Discussion	p. 202
References	p. 211
Applied Issues
Biomanipulation: A Useful Tool for Wetland Rehabilitation	p. 215
Introduction	p. 215
Biomanipulation: Theory and Rationale	p. 217
Biomanipulation in Wetlands: Applying a Lake Restoration Tool	p. 218
Biomanipulation in Wetlands: Extending the Paradigm	p. 222
Biomanipulation: A Model for Las Tablas de Daimiel	p. 224
Conclusions and Perspectives	p. 226
References	p. 226
Analysis of Applied Environmental Management Strategies for Wetland Conservation During the Last 30 Years: A Local History	p. 229
Introduction	p. 229
Wetland Conservation in Spain Until 1970	p. 230
Wetland Restoration, Conservation and Management Since 1970: Common Problems Across Spain	p. 230
Las Tablas de Daimiel: A Case Study	p. 233
References	p. 237
Cultural and Societal Aspects
The Man and Las Tablas de Daimiel	p. 241
Early Settlement	p. 241
From Roman Colonization to Lower Middle Age	p. 243
Modern Age	p. 244
The Twentieth Century	p. 246
Ecosystem Health and the Future of Man in TDNP de Daimiel	p. 250
References	p. 254
Concluding Chapter
Synthesis: The Past, Present and Future of Las Tablas de Daimiel	p. 257
Background and Current State of Las Tablas de Daimel	p. 258
Missing Research Links: The Ecological Challenge	p. 262
Research at the Local Scale	p. 263
Research Beyond the Wetland Boundary	p. 267
The Future: The Socioeconomic Challenge	p. 271
Conclusion	p. 275
References	p. 275
Index	p. 279
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Ecology of Threatened Semi-Arid Wetlands

9048191807

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