Quantifying driving forces of urban wetlands change in Beijing City

Jiang, Weiguo; Wang, Wenjie; Chen, Yunhao; Liu, Jing; Tang, Hong; Yang, Yongbo

doi:10.1007/s11442-012-0928-z

“…For example, the loss and disturbance of urban wetlands and riparian zones have received significant attention as urban development alters hydrologic regimes and increases pollutants that impair the biogeochemical and ecosystem functions of wetlands (Groffman et al 2002, Kentula et al 2004, Stander and Ehrenfeld 2009, McKinney et al 2011, Jiang et al 2012. Research on urban lakes, ponds, and storm water detention ponds has addressed issues such as eutrophication, pollution, sedimentation, and shifts in biotic communities (Birch and McCaskie 1999, Lindstrom 2001, Leavitt et al 2006, Novotny et al 2008, Effler et al 2010, Schagerl et al 2010, Van Metre and Mahler 2010, Hamer and Parris 2011, Meter et al 2011, Van Metre 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological characteristics of urban water bodies: mechanisms of change and implications for ecosystem function

Steele

¹

,

Heffernan

²

2014

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. The size, shape, and connectivity of water bodies (lakes, ponds, and wetlands) can have important effects on ecological communities and ecosystem processes, but how these characteristics are influenced by land use and land cover change over broad spatial scales is not known. Intensive alteration of water bodies during urban development, including construction, burial, drainage, and reshaping, may select for certain morphometric characteristics and influence the types of water bodies present in cities. We used a database of over one million water bodies in 100 cities across the conterminous United States to compare the size distributions, connectivity (as intersection with surface flow lines), and shape (as measured by shoreline development factor) of water bodies in different land cover classes. Water bodies in all urban land covers were dominated by lakes and ponds, while reservoirs and wetlands comprised only a small fraction of the sample. In urban land covers, as compared to surrounding undeveloped land, water body size distributions converged on moderate sizes, shapes toward less tortuous shorelines, and the number and area of water bodies that intersected surface flow lines (i.e., streams and rivers) decreased. Potential mechanisms responsible for changing the characteristics of urban water bodies include: preferential removal, physical reshaping or addition of water bodies, and selection of locations for development. The relative contributions of each mechanism likely change as cities grow. The larger size and reduced surface connectivity of urban water bodies may affect the role of internal dynamics and sensitivity to catchment processes. More broadly, these results illustrate the complex nature of urban watersheds and highlight the need to develop a conceptual framework for urban water bodies.

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“…A key contributing factor is rapid urbanization with poor urban planning and design, alongside unsustainable development, which transforms natural landscapes into imperious concrete surfaces with buildings and pavements, effectively reducing the capacity of landscapes to absorb rainwater, so increasing urban runoff, leading to floods (NDRC 2016, Zheng et al 2016. Indeed, the impervious surface area across Chinese cities has been steadily increasing at an annual rate of 6.5% (Ma et al 2014), accompanied by continuous loss of aquatic ecosystems such as lakes and wetlands, along with fragmentation of natural water pathways across cities (Du et al 2010, Xu et al 2011, Jiang et al 2012. As retrofitting the existing urban drainage system is a costly and long-term endeavor to mitigate urban floods, effectively introducing green infrastructure and low impact technologies, as promoted by the sponge city initiative, offers a more realistic, cost-effective and sustainable solution.…”

Section: China's Flooding Problem and Causesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can “Sponge Cities” Mitigate China’s Increased Occurrences of Urban Flooding?

Jiang

¹

,

Zevenbergen

²

,

Fu

³

2017

Aquademia: Water, Environment and Technology

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China is a country with severe water problems. In recent years, urban flooding has become even more frequent, pervasive and severe, threatening China's development. To tackle the issue, China launched a national initiative termed sponge cities with enormous investment commitment. Marking a fundamental shift in water management, this initiative can be an effective approach if China commits to appropriate technical, governance and financial measures to overcome implementation challenges.

show abstract

“…A key contributing factor is rapid urbanization with poor urban planning and design, alongside unsustainable development, which transforms natural landscapes into imperious concrete surfaces with buildings and pavements, effectively reducing the capacity of landscapes to absorb rainwater, so increasing urban runoff, leading to floods (NDRC 2016, Zheng et al 2016. Indeed, the impervious surface area across Chinese cities has been steadily increasing at an annual rate of 6.5% (Ma et al 2014), accompanied by continuous loss of aquatic ecosystems such as lakes and wetlands, along with fragmentation of natural water pathways across cities (Du et al 2010, Xu et al 2011, Jiang et al 2012. As retrofitting the existing urban drainage system is a costly and long-term endeavor to mitigate urban floods, effectively introducing green infrastructure and low impact technologies, as promoted by the sponge city initiative, offers a more realistic, cost-effective and sustainable solution.…”

Section: China's Flooding Problem and Causesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can “Sponge Cities” Mitigate China’s Increased Occurrences of Urban Flooding?

Zevenbergen

¹

,

Jiang

²

,

Fu

³

2017

Aquademia: Water, Environment and Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

China is a country with severe water problems. In recent years, urban flooding has become even more frequent, pervasive and severe, threatening China's development. To tackle the issue, China launched a national initiative termed sponge cities with enormous investment commitment. Marking a fundamental shift in water management, this initiative can be an effective approach if China commits to appropriate technical, governance and financial measures to overcome implementation challenges.

show abstract

Quantifying driving forces of urban wetlands change in Beijing City

Cited by 41 publications

References 15 publications

Morphological characteristics of urban water bodies: mechanisms of change and implications for ecosystem function

Morphological characteristics of urban water bodies: mechanisms of change and implications for ecosystem function

Can “Sponge Cities” Mitigate China’s Increased Occurrences of Urban Flooding?

Can “Sponge Cities” Mitigate China’s Increased Occurrences of Urban Flooding?

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