Progress and challenges in freshwater conservation planning

Abstract

ABSTRACT1. Freshwater ecosystems and their associated biota are among the most endangered in the world. This, combined with escalating human pressure on water resources, demands that urgent measures be taken to conserve freshwater ecosystems and the services they provide. Systematic conservation planning provides a strategic and scientifically defensible framework for doing this.2. Pioneered in the terrestrial realm, there has been some scepticism associated with the applicability of systematic approaches to freshwater conservation planning. Recent studies, however, indicate that it is possible to apply overarching systematic conservation planning goals to the freshwater realm although the specific methods for achieving these will differ, particularly in relation to the strong connectivity inherent to most freshwater systems.3. Progress has been made in establishing surrogates that depict freshwater biodiversity and ecological integrity, developing complementarity-based algorithms that incorporate directional connectivity, and designing freshwater conservation area networks that take cognizance of both connectivity and implementation practicalities.4. Key research priorities include increased impetus on planning for non-riverine freshwater systems; evaluating the effectiveness of freshwater biodiversity surrogates; establishing scientifically defensible conservation targets; developing complementarity-based algorithms that simultaneously consider connectivity issues for both lentic and lotic water bodies; developing integrated conservation plans across freshwater, terrestrial and marine realms; incorporating uncertainty and dynamic threats into freshwater conservation planning; collection and collation of scale-appropriate primary data; and building an evidence-base to support improved implementation of freshwater conservation plans.

Influence of Multi-Source and Multi-Temporal Remotely Sensed and Ancillary Data on the Accuracy of Random Forest Classification of Wetlands in Northern Minnesota

“…Accurate wetland maps are needed to: better respond to and prepare for natural disasters and invasive species mediation [14,15], conserve and restore wetland areas following policy and regulation changes [16,17], address water quality and quantity concerns [18,19], and better understand the linkages and seasonality of these ecosystems to biodiversity and other natural resources [20,21]. However, many existing wetland maps are out of date and efforts for updating them tend to happen over small geographic extents or at intervals too infrequent for appropriate environmental mitigation [22].…”

Policy considerations for managing wetlands under a changing climate

“…In recognition of the high level of wetland loss, a further global policy initiative has seen many national governments agree, under the Aichi Targets process of the Convention on Biological Diversity, to conserve at least 17% of the area of inland water ecosystems by 2020 (CBD 2010). However, in Australia (and at the global level), the conservation of existing freshwater protected areas and conservation planning continue to lag far behind the terrestrial and marine realms (Fitzsimons and Robertson 2005;Suski and Cooke 2007;Nel et al 2009). …”

Downscaling Surface Water Inundation from Coarse Data to Fine-Scale Resolution: Methodology and Accuracy Assessment

“…It is also crucial for terrestrial life and the human environment as a resource for water consumption, agriculture, and industry [4]. Therefore, accurate spatio-temporal representation of terrestrial surface water is of significant importance for management and conservation of water resource and other hydrology services associated with freshwater [5][6][7]. Traditionally, the detection of terrestrial water surface relies on in situ gauge measurements and hydrological models.…”