Urban ecosystems and heavy rainfall – A Flood Regulating Ecosystem Service modelling approach for extreme events on the local scale

Abstract

Increasing urbanisation in combination with a rise in the frequency and intensity of heavy rain events increase the risk of urban flooding. Flood Regulating Ecosystem Services (FRES) address the capacity of ecosystems to reduce the flood hazard and lower damage. FRES can be estimated by quantification of supply (provision of a service by an ecosystem) and demand (need for specific ES by society). However, FRES for pluvial floods in cities have rarely been studied and there is a gap in research and methods on FRES supply and demand quantification.In this study, we assessed FRES of an urban district in the City of Rostock (Germany) for a one-hour heavy rainfall event using the hydrological model LEAFlood. The hydrological model delivered the FRES supply indicators of soil water retention and water retained by canopies (interception). An intersection of the potential demand (based on indicators of population density, land reference value, monuments and infrastructure) and the modelled surface water depth revealed the actual demand. Comparing the actual demand and supply indicated the budget of FRES to identify unmet demand and supply surplus.

Are Soil and Geology Characteristics Considered in Urban Planning? An Empirical Study in Izmir (Türkiye)

“…The second is that, according to results, the reduction in biodiversity is accompanied by a significant impact on highly hydraulically conductible soils (A-type), which, in turn, generate a high risk of pluvial flooding in the newly developed urban areas [99];…”

Challenges Entailed in Applying Ecosystem Services Supply and Demand Mapping Approaches: A Practice Report

“…In comparison, the manifold patterns of ES demand for coastal protection had been mapped by considering the specific flood risks for protected assets (see Figure 4). The indicators (see Table 2) have the additional advantage that they are directly linked to the EU Floods Directive (Directive 2007/60/EC) [56,78].…”

“…It would be advantageous to utilise better the connections to existing legislations or consolidated approaches within the ES concept. Using ES indicators and data [78,82], which are also applied in policies such as the EU Floods Directive (Directive 2007/60/EC), can increase the impact of the ES concept together with the understanding and acceptance of the results amongst local stakeholders [56]. Furthermore, other approaches, such as lifecycle assessments [83][84][85], ecological footprints [86,87], or the emergy evaluation methodology [88,89], have been developed and broadly applied to highlight the contribution of nature and the origin of the natural resources used or the impacts of human activities on natural resources.…”

Adapting Cities to Pluvial Flooding: The Case of Izmir (Türkiye)

“…Within these premises, this work focuses on the second of the points mentioned above while assuming that the knowledge of urban vulnerability is a pre-requisite to "promote and regulate the transition" (third point) to mainstream resilience. Therefore, this work focuses on mapping and assessing the vulnerability of Izmir's urban areas to "cloudburst events" [18]. According to Rosenzweig et al (2019), three basic categories of knowledge support resilience to cloudburst: (1) knowledge of the contemporary weather and future climate conditions that determine cloudburst hazard, (2) knowledge of the vulnerability of urban socio-ecological systems and infrastructure systems, and (3) knowledge of potential strategies for cloudburst management.…”