wetland research approach has somehow to make compatible the very different perceptions of what exactly a wetland system is, as seen from a range of disciplinary viewpoints (Maltby et al., 1994(Maltby et al., , 1996b. In this volume the main characteristics of wetland processes and systems are reviewed in a crossdisciplinary way. WETLAND LOSSESGlobally wetlands have been lost or are under threat, despite the existence of various international agreements (such as the Ramsar Convention which lists over 1000 sites of international importance covering almost 800 000 km 2 ) and national conservation policies. This situation has been caused by: (1) the public nature of many wetlands products and services; (2) user externalities imposed on other stakeholders; and (3) policy intervention failures that are due to a lack of consistency among policies being enacted across different sectors of the economy. All three causes are related to information failures, which in turn can be linked to the complexity and 'invisibility' of spatial relationships between ground and surface waters and wetland vegetation .Integrated wetland research combining natural and social sciences can play a significant part in a strategy to reduce information failure and increase consistency and co-ordination across various government policies relevant to wetlands. An integrated wetland research framework suggests that a 'mixed' methodology based on a combination of integrated modelling, stakeholder analysis, economic valuation and multi-criteria evaluation can provide complementary insights into sustainable and welfare-optimizing wetland management and policy. Just such an approach is presented in this volume, with Part I covering methodological issues and Part II a series of applications across a spectrum of spatial scales.According to the European Environment Agency, wetlands continue to be under particular pressure because of the extensive drainage of lowland areas for agriculture, forestry, peat exploitation and urban development, together with the impacts of river system regulation for power generation, water storage and flood control and the maintenance of navigation channels (European Environment Agency, 1999). The key to a better understanding of the wetland problem and its mitigation through more sustainable management lies in the recognition of the importance of the landscape ecology scale. A better scientific understanding of wetland structure and processes together with socioeconomic and cultural values and significance is predicated on an appreciation of at least catchment-wide systems. Thus wetlands have been and are being degraded or destroyed by eutrophication and acidification, the causes of which
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