Does ecosystem service valuation reflect importance of habitat quality and biodiversity in constructed wetlands?
Journal
Journal of Taiwan Agricultural Engineering
Journal Volume
59
Journal Issue
3
Date Issued
2013-01-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Surface flow constructed wetlands (SFCWs) which have commonly used as the off-site mitigation measure for the degraded and loss of wetlands, have been developed to serve for multiple ecosystem functions. Ecosystem functions can be quantified by monetary values using ecosystem service assessment to enhance public recognition, and we can determine the importance of constructed wetlands based on the values of ecosystem services they provided. Biodiversity supporting services is one of the key ecosystem services of SFCWs. However, the biodiversity and habitat quality valuation of wetlands are generally underdeveloped in the current assessment of ecosystem services. Therefore, in this study, we conducted biodiversity survey in two SFCWs in the northern Taiwan and valuated the biodiversity supporting services based on Millennium Eco-system Assessment (MA) aiming to determine if MA could reflect the importance of habitat quality and biodiversity in Taiwan SFCWs. Our results showed that the two study SFCWs were important habitats for many birds in Taiwan including two protected species and five endemic species. Also, these two SFCWs located along the important migratory pathway for migratory birds. The biodiversity of benthic macroinvertebrates of our two study SFCWs was similar to other natural and restored wetlands in different parts of the world. Despite the importance of biodiversity supporting function of these two SFCWs, their monetary values of biodiversity supporting services as calculated by MA was relatively low (<10% of total values). Therefore, it could not be appropriate to use this MA method based on global assessment directly to assess wetlands in Taiwan which is characterized by unique climatic, environmental and ecological conditions. Hence, we proposed some improvement measures of the current MA, and advocated that Sub-Global Assessments for wetland ecosystem services should be developed for tropical and subtropical islands. Thus, this can allow derivation of a more accurate and objective ecosystem service assessment system for Taiwan wetlands and provision of important insights on the policies of constructed wetlands management in Taiwan.
Subjects
Biodiversity | Ecosystem service assessment of wetlands | Surface flow constructed wetlands
Type
journal article