Desktop classification of inland wetlands for systematic conservation planning in data‐scarce countries: mapping wetland ecosystem types, disturbance indices and threatened species associations at country‐wide scale

Abstract

1. Data sets on wetlands required for the representation of aquatic ecosystem biodiversity and systematic wetland conservation planning are typically not available or are inadequate, particularly at country-wide scale, which hinders conservation planning. The improvement in hierarchical classification systems and increased availability of broad-scale data sets offers new opportunities to overcome these limitations.2. This study demonstrates replicable methods for classifying wetland ecosystem types and condition country-wide using broad-scale data sets in data-scarce countries.3. A country-wide data set, compiled primarily using remote sensing techniques, was combined with regional and landscape-setting data sets to reflect the ecological and geomorphic biodiversity of wetlands. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) were employed to model wetland types, disturbance indices and identify priority wetlands through threatened faunal species associations using existing data. Accuracy of the national data was assessed through a congruency with two local data sets.4. Most of the 1 680 306 ha of inland wetlands were classified as Natural (80%), of which the majority were located on Valley Floors (68%). However, the national data were found only to represent 54% of wetlands mapped at a local scale, and comparison with local data showed inaccuracies in the types and condition classifications. 5. Problems regarding spatial data quality and scale are discussed and suggestions for improvement are provided. The desktop classification steps can be reproduced easily for other data-scarce countries. Data sets on freshwater ecosystems can assist in raising awareness and influence policy at a national scale.

Toward process‐based conservation prioritizations for freshwater ecosystems

“…Through a handful of new developments, wetland conservation planning is on the cusp of becoming more user friendly. Both coarse wetland classification strategies for data‐poor environments (Deventer et al, ) and new high‐resolution inundation maps that detail wetland dynamics (Aires et al, ; Fluet‐Chouinard, Lehner, Rebelo, Papa, & Hamilton, ; Pekel, Cottam, Gorelick, & Belward, ) were released in recent years and are freely available to interested researchers and practitioners. To focus on palustrine wetlands, Reis et al () developed a global data layer by removing lakes, rivers, and coastal zones from these maps.…”

“…Through a handful of new developments, wetland conservation planning is on the cusp of becoming more user friendly. Both coarse wetland classification strategies for data-poor environments (Deventer et al, 2016) (Reis et al, 2019). These wetland complexes can then act as overarching units to guide conservation plans.…”

National Wetland Map 5 – An improved spatial extent and representation of inland aquatic and estuarine ecosystems in South Africa

“…The spatial representation of the aquatic ecosystems in NWMs are crucial for the assessment of the threat status and protection levels, the two headline indicators of the National Biodiversity Assessments (NBA), as well as the listing of threatened ecosystem types under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), Act 10 of 2004 (RSA, 2004). Owing to the poor representation of inland wetlands in previous NWMs (Mbona et al, 2015;Schael et al, 2015;Van Deventer et al, 2016;Melly et al, 2016), as well as the need to improve the representation of South Africa's estuaries, a significant effort was made in preparation for the NBA 2018, to improve the National Wetland Map version 5 (NWM5).…”

Assessing the relative impacts of land‐use change and river regulation on Burdekin River (Australia) floodplain wetlands

“…In Australia, ~50% of wetlands may have been lost since European settlement (Finlayson, ). These estimates are poorly constrained (Finlayson, Davis, Gell, Kingsford, & Parton, ), mirroring the situation in other parts of the world (Kingsford et al, ; van Deventer et al, ). Furthermore, few remaining wetlands have unmodified water quality (Barr et al, ).…”