The present area of European wetlands is only a fraction of their area before the start of large-scale human colonization of Europe. Many European wetlands have been exploited and/or managed for various purposes. Large wetland areas have been drained and reclaimed mainly for agriculture and establishment of human settlements. These threats to European wetlands persist. The main responses of European wetland to ongoing climate changes will vary according to wetland type and geographical location. Sea level rise will probably be the decisive factor affecting coastal wetlands especially along the Atlantic coast. In the boreal part of Europe, increased temperatures will probably lead to lowered annual evapotranspiration and lowered organic matter accumulation in soil. The role of vast boreal wetlands as carbon sinks may thus be suppressed. In central and western Europe, the risk of floods may support the political will for ecosystem-unfriendly flood defence measures, which may threaten the hydrology of existing wetlands. Southern Europe will probably suffer most from water shortage, which may stregthen the competition for water resources between agriculture, industry and settlements on the one hand and nature conservancy, including wetland conservation, on the other. The main responses of European wetland to ongoing climate changes will vary according to wetland type and geographical location. Sea level rise will probably be the decisive factor affecting coastal wetlands especially along the Atlantic coast. In the boreal part of Europe, increased temperatures will probably lead to lowered annual evapotranspiration and lowered organic matter accumulation in soil. The role of vast boreal wetlands as carbon sinks may thus be suppressed. In central and western Europe, the risk of floods may support the political will for ecosystem-unfriendly flood defence measures, which may threaten the hydrology of existing wetlands. Southern Europe will probably suffer most Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript: European_wetlands_20110124. doc 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 2 from water shortage, which may stregthen the competition for water resources between agriculture, industry and settlements on the one hand and nature conservancy, including wetland conservation, on the other.

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To propose a concept of their mutual diversity, twenty-nine permanent shallow floodplain pools and oxbows in the river Lužnice floodplain were analysed for area, depth, shape, flooding, and shading by terrestrial vegetation, and sampled in all seasons for their water chemistry, phytoplankton composition and biomass, and zooplankton composition. The sites are regularly flooded, eutrophic, and often shaded by surrounding vegetation. Cryptophyceae, Chrysophyceae and Euglenophyceae dominated the phytoplankton, while Cyanophytes were rare. Within the rich zooplankton assemblage (63 species), cladocerans and rotifers dominated. Correlation matrices and multivariate analyses indicated that shaded and relatively deeper sites had lower oxygen saturation and higher concentrations of PO 4 -P and NH 4 -N. Shade and relative depth correlated negatively with phytoplankton biomass and number of phytoplankton taxa, and positively with Cryptophytes and large cladocerans-thus indicating poor mixing, poor light availability and low fish pressure on herbivores. Decomposition of leaf litter increased oxygen consumption, while shade from terrestrial vegetation restricted photosynthesis and decreased oxygen production. Larger sites were more species-rich in phytoplankton and supported Euglenophyceae, green algae and rotifers.

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