Wetland ecosystem services

Mats Åström, Linnaeus University

4 992 028 SEK

This project evaluates how two opposing forest activities, ditch cleaning and wetlands restoration, effects the runoff concentrations and loads of total mercury and bioavailable methyl-mercury. The study includes both an intensively monitored and controlled experimental field site in Västerbotten (Trollberget) and a synoptic set-up of sites, along the north-east coastland, covering a range of catchment characteristics.

The project aims to answer the following research questions:

• Will the concentrations and loads of total and methyl-mercury increase in ditch water after ditch cleaning and wetland restoration, and for how long will these potentially elevated values last?
• Are potentially elevated concentrations of total and methyl-mercury after ditch cleaning mainly associated with particle or dissolved fractions of mercury?
• How does forest machinery driving during ditch cleaning operations influence the hydrological connectivity in the near-ditch zone?
• Will sediment traps/ponds intended to improve water quality downstream work as mercury methylation hotspots, and will methyl-mercury formation be particularly elevated in areas draining acid sulfate soils?
• What catchments will release more or less total and methyl-mercury after ditch cleaning?

Finally, this project will synthesize the results from this study with other published literature, in order to evaluate risks of ditch cleaning on total and methyl-mercury and in what types of areas restoration is preferable. The synthesis will also consider forest productivity as ditch cleaning is done to support forest production.

Results from the project are useful for balancing pros and cons of ditch cleaning and wetland restoration and improve forest water protection guidelines.

Karin Eklöf, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

4 989 609 SEK

This project studies whether the restoration of ditched wetlands in the boreal landscape can lead to negative environmental effects in the form of increased methylation of mercury, as well as emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Through extensive sampling of pristine, ditched and restored wetland objects, these biogeochemical effects will be assessed, both in time and in space.

The project is led by the Department of Forest Ecology and Management at SLU in Umeå. Read more on their website:

Restored wetlands – point sources for methane emissions and mercury methylation? (In Swedish)

Participants from the Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment are Stefan Bertilsson and Kevin Bishop.

Mats Öquist, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

4 994 126 SEK

In a future, unstable climate with frequent extreme weather events, the wetland ecosystem service water retention will increase in societal relevance, especially in regions where rainfall is already intermittent, and droughts increase in frequency. It is thus imperative to design wetlands for high water retention.

We need to understand how water retention can be maximised without affecting other vital ecosystems, such as water purification. In the project we therefor aim to clarify how hydrological regime and optimized water retention in wetlands may affect nutrient removal, and to give recommendations on wetland design and restoration for multi-functionality in a future climate.

In order to ensure versatile wetland function also under future climate scenarios, the project aims to: 

1. Investigate how wetlands optimized for high water retention function in terms of nutrient removal.
2. Investigate the underlying mechanisms driving both ecosystem services under varying climate scenarios.
3. Give recommendation on wetland designs that optimize both these ecosystem services, water retention and water purification.

By combining analyses of empirical data from large wetlands across geographical regions, experimental wetlands, and literature we will be able to develop a best practice guide for wetland design to help prioritize where and how – according to their geographical location – wetlands should be implemented for optimized wetland multifunctionality.

Our proposed research will aid stakeholders to enhance water retention at the same time as water purification. The generated knowledge from the project is relevant to preserving current and future wetland ecosystem services, and thus increases Sweden’s future sustainability and resilience to climate change.

Antonia Liess, Halmstad University.

3 673 560 SEK

The overall goal of this project is to provide practitioners, landowners, water managers and relevant authorities with a toolkit to evaluate and promote the implementation of wetlands in agricultural landscapes. This toolkit will support a holistic and multi-functional approach to climate adaptation in line with existing socio-economic and institutional contexts by optimizing the delivery of hydrologically related ecosystem services (ES) with a view to maximizing co-benefits whilst minimizing negative consequences.

Different measurements of constructed wetlands will be performed, together with compilations of earlier measurement results and modelling with different tools.

Research questions:

1. What is the impact of constructed agricultural wetlands on hydrologic processes at a local and a catchment scale?
2. What is the best way to optimize wetland multifunctionality?
3. Controlled and uncontrolled factors influencing wetland hydrologic functioning and multifunctionality?
4. How are agricultural wetlands perceived by relevant stakeholders?

The project is focusing on three aspects of constructed agricultural wetlands:

1. Hydrological ES which increases as resilience to extreme climate events (flood and drought mitigation, wetter soils, groundwater recharge, evaporative cooling),
2. Other benefits (nutrient retention, carbon sequestration, maintenance of biodiversity) and
3. Related trade-offs (loss of productive land, greenhouse gas (GHG) production).

Martyn Futter, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

4 999 629 SEK

One rationale to construct and restore wetlands is to reduce the risk of droughts and floods. To be able place the wetlands at optimal sites in the landscape to fulfill this goal more knowledge is needed about the storage of water in the wetlands.

In the EviWet project high-frequency  measurements of the water balance (evaporation and transpiration)  in different types of wetlands are being compared with those from forests. The purpose is to get a better understanding of how wetlands influence the storage and release of water from landscapes. The analyses will be used to improve the hydrological modelling of wetlands used in decision support.

The project is led by Kevin Bishop from the Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment. Post-Doc  Reinert Huseby Karlsen works on the project at SLU. Niclas Hjerdt is leading participate the half of the project based at SMHI, while Uppsala University and the University of Zurich are also involved.

Kevin Bishop, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

4 984 757 SEK

The last centuries has led to significant changes in the hydrology of Swedish catchments. For example, farm land and forests have been drained, rivers have been dredged and straitened, lakes have been lowered, etc. This has led to that the water storage capacity of catchments has been reduced and transport times has increased. The consequences of this is that the hydrological system has been more sensitive to extreme weather events. Risks associated with water shortage during droughts and floods after heavy rainfall have thus increased. The expected future climate change will further expose the hydrological systems to changes that will lead to even bigger risks in the coming century.

The research described in the present application aims to increase the hydrodiversity of Swedish catchments to replicate a more natural state. Our main research questions are; what are the hydrological benefits of wetlands and how can you create a diverse system of wetlands to achieve the optimal benefit?

The results from the project will lead to an increased ability of catchments to cope with extreme weather, both today and in the future. In the project, the hydrological benefit of wetlands will be quantified, both in terms of water volumes and in economical values. Using a hydrological model as a base, a decision support tool will be developed. The tool will be tested in five case catchments. The tool will support decision makers and other stakeholders to make informed and evidence-based decisions for the optimal location, design, and management of wetlands and wetland systems. Even if the focus of our research is the hydrological function of wetlands, an increasing hydrodiversity will also lead to other positive effects like an increasing biodiversity and a better water quality.

Magnus Persson, Faculty of Engineering (LTH), Lund University.

4 984 980 SEK

Constructed wetlands are assumed to increase the hydrological buffering capacity of the landscape and catchment areas. By holding water for longer time periods and by creating flooding zones, constructed wetlands are also assumed to promote biodiversity in the agricultural landscape. However, there exists no actual data for the buffering capacity of constructed wetlands. Instead, buffering in wetlands has been modelled where parameters are indirect (e.g., rainfall data, catchment area size, land use, etc.) and none of this data have been related to biodiversity measurements. In this project, we will, for the first time, produce actual field data on the in-situ wetland buffering capacity on a large scale (ca 100 wetlands) for at least two years, how this capacity relates to wetland design, location and management, and how buffering capacity trades-off with biodiversity conservation (arthropods in the aquatic-terrestrial boundary and pollinators). We will also use data to adjust and calibrate hydrological models for use in e.g., climate change scenarios.

John Strand, Hushållningssällskapet. 

4 999 740 SEK