Ecosystem Services in the Wupper Catchment (Northrhine Westphalia, Germany) –Assessment and Comparsion: Assessment and Comparsion
Translated title
Ecosystem Services in the Wupper Catchment (Northrhine Westphalia, Germany) –Assessment and Comparsion
Author
Kaiser, Alena
Term
4. term
Publication year
2016
Submitted on
2016-06-10
Pages
74
Abstract
Økosystemtjenester er de funktioner og goder, naturen leverer til mennesker, som f.eks. rent drikkevand, levesteder for arter, vandrensning samt muligheder for turisme og rekreation. EU’s biodiversitetsstrategi beder medlemslandene om at kortlægge og vurdere sådanne tjenester. I denne afhandling laves en første vurdering af vandrelaterede økosystemtjenester i Wupper-oplandet i Nordrhein-Westfalen, Tyskland, som er stærkt præget af mange dæmninger. Fire tjenester blev vurderet: drikkevandsforsyning, habitatforsyning, vandrensning og turisme & rekreation. Overordnet var niveauerne for drikkevandsforsyning og habitatforsyning relativt lave, vandrensning lå lidt højere, og turisme & rekreation havde høje værdier, især langs Wuppers hovedløb og i mindre grad på de 21 bifloder. På tværs af 52 forvaltningsafsnit blev der ikke fundet klare korrelationer mellem tjenesterne, og vandkvalitet vurderet efter Vandrammedirektivet hang ikke sammen med niveauerne af økosystemtjenester. Tjenesterne blev også sammenlignet efter vandløbenes karakteristika (stærkt modificerede versus mere naturlige strækninger, vandløbstype samt afsnit med eller uden dæmninger). Selve graden af modificering viste ingen signifikante sammenhænge med økosystemtjenesterne, men i afsnit med dæmninger var drikkevandsforsyning og turisme & rekreation indbyrdes korreleret. Arealanvendelse blev desuden inddraget: I afsnit uden dæmninger var vandrensning negativt korreleret med byområder (R² = 0,36). Når der indgår dæmninger, fremkom både positive synergier (tjenester der øges sammen) og negative trade-offs (tjenester der bevæger sig i modsat retning) mellem tjenester og kategorier af arealanvendelse. Studiet giver dermed den første tydelige analyse af flere økosystemtjenester i et flerbrugs-opland i Tyskland.
Ecosystem services are the benefits and functions nature provides to people, such as clean drinking water, habitats for species, water purification, and opportunities for tourism and recreation. The EU Biodiversity Strategy asks member states to map and assess these services. This thesis presents an initial assessment of water-related ecosystem services in the Wupper catchment (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany), which is strongly influenced by numerous dams. Four services were evaluated: drinking water provision, habitat provision, water purification, and tourism & recreation. Overall, drinking water and habitat provision scored relatively low, water purification was slightly higher, and tourism & recreation scored high—mainly along the Wupper’s main channel and less on its 21 tributaries. Across 52 management sections, no clear correlations among the services were found, and water quality as assessed under the Water Framework Directive did not align with the levels of ecosystem services. Services were also compared by stream characteristics (heavily modified versus more natural water bodies, river type, and sections with or without dams). The degree of modification alone showed no significant correlations with services, but in sections with dams, drinking water provision and tourism & recreation were correlated with each other. Land use was also considered: in sections without dams, water purification was negatively correlated with urban areas (R² = 0.36). When dams were considered, several positive synergies (services increasing together) and negative trade-offs (services moving in opposite directions) appeared between services and land-use categories. This study provides the first explicit analysis of multiple ecosystem services in a multi-use river catchment in Germany.
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