► Description: |
Around 6% of the Earth's land surface is
covered by wetlands. Wetlands play a key
role in hydrological and biogeochemical
cycles, delivering multiple benefits to
society: sources of water supply, flood
regulation, water purification,
agriculture, fisheries, and biodiversity.
Hence, wetland systems are of immense
socio-economic as well as ecological
importance. In this research, the focus
was on the Abras de Mantequilla (AdM)
wetland in the tropical coastal region of
Ecuador, a RAMSAR site and case study area
for the EU-FP7 WETwin project. The
research in this thesis involves a
combination of field data collection,
multivariate analysis techniques, as well
as numerical modelling studies. The goal
was to explore the effects of changes in
hydrological forcing on the hydrodynamic
and ecohydraulic responses of the wetland.
The study aims to contribute to the
understanding of how a tropical
river-wetland system functions in terms of
hydrodynamics, water quality, primary
production, and biotic communities.
Spatial patterns of biotic communities and
environmental variables are obtained as
well as spatio-temporal variability of
hydrodynamics, water quality, primary
productivity and fish habitat-suitability
conditions. In data scarce areas and
countries with financial constraints, the
combination of field measurements with
numerical models was extremely useful and
relevant, confirming that these techniques
complement each other in obtaining a
better understanding of the dynamics of
freshwater river-wetland systems. Studies
like the present research can be used to
enhance awareness about the environmental
services of wetlands and stimulate
cooperation between all stakeholders in
order to achieve more sustainable wetland
management. Read more...
Abstract: Around 6% of the Earth's land
surface is covered by wetlands. Wetlands
play a key role in hydrological and
biogeochemical cycles, delivering multiple
benefits to society: sources of water
supply, flood regulation, water
purification, agriculture, fisheries, and
biodiversity. Hence, wetland systems are
of immense socio-economic as well as
ecological importance. In this research,
the focus was on the Abras de Mantequilla
(AdM) wetland in the tropical coastal
region of Ecuador, a RAMSAR site and case
study area for the EU-FP7 WETwin project.
The research in this thesis involves a
combination of field data collection,
multivariate analysis techniques, as well
as numerical modelling studies. The goal
was to explore the effects of changes in
hydrological forcing on the hydrodynamic
and ecohydraulic responses of the wetland.
The study aims to contribute to the
understanding of how a tropical
river-wetland system functions in terms of
hydrodynamics, water quality, primary
production, and biotic communities.
Spatial patterns of biotic communities and
environmental variables are obtained as
well as spatio-temporal variability of
hydrodynamics, water quality, primary
productivity and fish habitat-suitability
conditions. In data scarce areas and
countries with financial constraints, the
combination of field measurements with
numerical models was extremely useful and
relevant, confirming that these techniques
complement each other in obtaining a
better understanding of the dynamics of
freshwater river-wetland systems. Studies
like the present research can be used to
enhance awareness about the environmental
services of wetlands and stimulate
cooperation between all stakeholders in
order to achieve more sustainable wetland
management
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