Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WET HORIZONS (WET HORIZONS - upgrading knowledge and solutions to fast-track wetland restoration across Europe)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-02-29
Wetlands are vital biodiversity hotspots crucial to global carbon cycles, supporting endemic species and serving as essential resources for rural communities. They contribute significantly to the monetary value of natural biomes and provide key services like water purification, flood control, and climate change mitigation by sequestering carbon and regulating greenhouse gas concentrations.
Despite their importance, wetlands are rapidly disappearing worldwide due to factors like agricultural drainage, posing severe threats to biodiversity and exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions. In the EU, wetlands face particularly high risks, with only a fraction remaining in good ecological condition. This environmental degradation underscores the urgent need for restoration efforts to counteract these trends and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
In global agreements on biodiversity, land degradation, and climate, wetlands play a crucial role, aligning with targets set by the Paris Agreement, the UNCCD's Land Degradation Neutrality Programme, and the CBD's post-2020 biodiversity framework. However, policymakers' insufficient understanding of wetlands' significance impedes immediate action, highlighting the need for targeted support to enhance their awareness and translate it into effective restoration strategies.
Despite their importance, wetlands are rapidly disappearing worldwide due to factors like agricultural drainage, posing severe threats to biodiversity and exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions. In the EU, wetlands face particularly high risks, with only a fraction remaining in good ecological condition. This environmental degradation underscores the urgent need for restoration efforts to counteract these trends and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
In global agreements on biodiversity, land degradation, and climate, wetlands play a crucial role, aligning with targets set by the Paris Agreement, the UNCCD's Land Degradation Neutrality Programme, and the CBD's post-2020 biodiversity framework. However, policymakers' insufficient understanding of wetlands' significance impedes immediate action, highlighting the need for targeted support to enhance their awareness and translate it into effective restoration strategies.
Through extensive stakeholder engagement, including surveys, 2 workshops, and interviews, both at EU and national levels, valuable insights have been gained to inform the creation of spatial data tailored to user requirements. The inventory, compilation, and harmonization of peatland data in comprehensive databases for 7 catchments in the project partner countries have been completed. Additionally, the compilation of data on water table dynamics and condition indicators has led to the creation of Earth Observation-based models. These models evaluate hydrological and biological conditions in wetlands, leveraging 276 datasets collected across project catchments. Encouragingly, these models have shown promising results, with up to 90% deviance explained by the model in specific test areas. These advancements represent significant milestones in enhancing the understanding of European wetlands, with ongoing efforts to further improve data quality and accessibility.
An extensive dataset has been compiled, consisting of over 1200 entries of greenhouse gas fluxes and associated environmental variables from different wetland types (i.e. drained, pristine, rewetted, plasticulture, mineral and mixed wetlands). We are in the process of investigating the impact of climate extremes, such as 2018 summer drought, on the carbon emission dynamics of a selected series of peatland sites carrying long-term datasets across Northern Europe. This includes testing the process models’ capability to simulate the effects of extreme events. To better monitor changes in carbon emissions within those ecosystems, we are establishing a method to use machine learning algorithms along with high-resolution remote sensing products. This method has been applied and partially adapted for a rewetted site in Northeast Germany (DE-Zarnekow) as an exemplar site, using UAV orthomosaic imageries and other available high-resolution satellite products.
We have progressed towards the completion of the development and calibration of three process-based models of wetland CO2 and CH4 emissions, ORCHIDEE-PEAT, JS-BACH and DNDC against site observations, and we have started to perform simulations for land use change and drainage applied to peat sites for the long-term evolution of CO2 and CH4 fluxes. A common protocol for performing the land use change simulations has been prepared and will be used for inter-comparison of the model results. The long-term simulations have been started with a common forcing provided by UVSQ to the other modeling groups. PIK and SRUC have completed and submitted a composite database of existing and available data sets developed in WP1-4 and beyond that can be included in WP5 models and approaches for socio-economic assessment. Building upon relevant data for a Scottish case study, the research & foundation work on marginal abatement cost analysis has commenced and continues as planned with the development and application of a basic conceptual and analytical framework.
An extensive dataset has been compiled, consisting of over 1200 entries of greenhouse gas fluxes and associated environmental variables from different wetland types (i.e. drained, pristine, rewetted, plasticulture, mineral and mixed wetlands). We are in the process of investigating the impact of climate extremes, such as 2018 summer drought, on the carbon emission dynamics of a selected series of peatland sites carrying long-term datasets across Northern Europe. This includes testing the process models’ capability to simulate the effects of extreme events. To better monitor changes in carbon emissions within those ecosystems, we are establishing a method to use machine learning algorithms along with high-resolution remote sensing products. This method has been applied and partially adapted for a rewetted site in Northeast Germany (DE-Zarnekow) as an exemplar site, using UAV orthomosaic imageries and other available high-resolution satellite products.
We have progressed towards the completion of the development and calibration of three process-based models of wetland CO2 and CH4 emissions, ORCHIDEE-PEAT, JS-BACH and DNDC against site observations, and we have started to perform simulations for land use change and drainage applied to peat sites for the long-term evolution of CO2 and CH4 fluxes. A common protocol for performing the land use change simulations has been prepared and will be used for inter-comparison of the model results. The long-term simulations have been started with a common forcing provided by UVSQ to the other modeling groups. PIK and SRUC have completed and submitted a composite database of existing and available data sets developed in WP1-4 and beyond that can be included in WP5 models and approaches for socio-economic assessment. Building upon relevant data for a Scottish case study, the research & foundation work on marginal abatement cost analysis has commenced and continues as planned with the development and application of a basic conceptual and analytical framework.
We have already updated the European Peatland Map for DEN, GER, IRE, NOR, POL, NLD, and GBR and created the first version of the European Wetland Map. This collaborative effort has resulted in the development of comprehensive databases, providing detailed information on the location, extent, and characteristics of wetlands.