Premium
Ecological restoration of rich fens in Europe and North America: from trial and error to an evidence‐based approach
Author(s) -
Lamers Leon P. M.,
Vile Melanie A.,
Grootjans Ab P.,
Acreman Mike C.,
van Diggelen Rudy,
Evans Martin G.,
Richardson Curtis J.,
Rochefort Line,
Kooijman Annemieke M.,
Roelofs Jan G. M.,
Smolders Alfons J. P.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
biological reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.993
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1469-185X
pISSN - 1464-7931
DOI - 10.1111/brv.12102
Subject(s) - ecosystem services , wetland , restoration ecology , biodiversity , ecosystem , environmental science , carbon sequestration , habitat , environmental resource management , ecology , geography , biology , carbon dioxide
Fens represent a large array of ecosystem services, including the highest biodiversity found among wetlands, hydrological services, water purification and carbon sequestration. Land‐use change and drainage has severely damaged or annihilated these services in many parts of North America and Europe; restoration plans are urgently needed at the landscape level. We review the major constraints on the restoration of rich fens and fen water bodies in agricultural areas in Europe and disturbed landscapes in North America: ( i ) habitat quality problems: drought, eutrophication, acidification, and toxicity, and ( ii ) recolonization problems: species pools, ecosystem fragmentation and connectivity, genetic variability, and invasive species; and here provide possible solutions. We discuss both positive and negative consequences of restoration measures, and their causes. The restoration of wetland ecosystem functioning and services has, for a long time, been based on a trial‐and‐error approach. By presenting research and practice on the restoration of rich fen ecosystems within agricultural areas, we demonstrate the importance of biogeochemical and ecological knowledge at different spatial scales for the management and restoration of biodiversity, water quality, carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services, especially in a changing climate. We define target processes that enable scientists, nature managers, water managers and policy makers to choose between different measures and to predict restoration prospects for different types of deteriorated fens and their starting conditions.