Ecosystem Services in the Wupper Catchment (Northrhine Westphalia, Germany) –Assessment and Comparsion: Assessment and Comparsion

Abstract

Økosystemtjenester er defineret som de funktioner af et økosystem som menneskeheden kan drage til fordel (Maes et al., 2012) Ifølge Target 2, action 5 i EU biodiversity strategy, anmodes medlemsstaterne om at kortlægge og vurdere økosystemtjenester (CBD 2005). Formålet med denne afhandling er at udføre en indledende vandrelateret vurdering af økosystemtjenester i Wupper oplandet, (Nordrhein-Westfalen, Tyskland), der er stærkt påvirket af en lang række dæmninger. Derfor er tilgængeligt drikkevand, habitater, vandrensning og turisme & rekreation først vurderet. Den generelle mængde af tilgængeligt drikkevand og habitater er relativt lav, mens vandrensning viser lidt højere score. De høje scores for turisme og rekreation er mere koncentreret i Wupper end i de 21 bifloder. For det andet blev økosystemtjenester undersøgt indenfor en anvendelsesprofil. Her blev ingen direkte korrelationer fundet blandt de 52 sektioner af Wupper oplandet. Desuden korrelerer vandkvaliteten i henhold til vandrammedirektivet ikke med økosystemtjenester. For det tredje er økosystemtjenester sammenlignet med karakteristikker, såsom stærkt modificerede og naturlige vandområder, vandløbstypen samt sektioner med eller uden dæmninger. Mens stærkt modificerede og naturlige vandområder ikke viste signifikante korrelationer blev en korrelation af drikkevand og turisme & fritid i områder ved dæmninger fundet. Endvidere blev arealanvendelsen taget i betragtning. Det blev vist, at i sektioner uden dæmninger, korrelerer vandrensning negativt med byområder (R2 = 0.36). Når man tager dæmninger i betragtning, er flere positive (synergier) og negative (trade-offs) korrelationer af økosystemfunktioner og arealanvendelseskategorier fundet.

Ecosystem services are defined as the provided and potential functions of an ecosystem which are effectively realized regarding human benefits (Maes et al., 2012). According to Target 2, Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, member states are requested to map and assess ecosystem services (CBD 2010). In contrast to water quality monitoring, an ecosystem service assessment is not only referring to the state but the actual functions and processes within an ecosystem. The objective of this thesis is to perform an initial assessment of water-related ecosystem services in the Wupper catchment, (North Rhine Westphalia, Germany) which is highly modified by numerous dams. Therefore, the ecosystem service drinking water provision, habitat provision, water purification and tourism & recreation were assessed. The general level of drinking water provision and habitat provision is relatively low, whereas water purification shows slightly higher scores. The high scores of tourism & recreation are more concentrated on the Wupper than on the 21 tributaries. Also, the ecosystem services were investigated within a use profile. There, no direct correlations were found among the 52 management sections of the Wupper catchment. Furthermore, the water quality as assessed under the Water Framework Directive does not correlate with the ecosystem services. Lastly, ecosystem services are compared by stream characteristics, such as heavily modified and natural water bodies, river type as well as management sections with or without dams. While the modified of water bodies did not show significant correlations with ecosystem services, a correlation of drinking water provision and tourism & recreation in management sections with dams was found. Additionally, land use was taken into account. It was shown that, in management sections without dams, water purification correlates negatively with urban areas (R² = 0.36). When considering dams, several positive (synergies) and negative (trade-offs) correlations of ecosystem services and land use categories were found. Hence, this study provides the first explicit analysis of several ecosystem services for a multi-use river catchment in Germany.

A master thesis from Aalborg University

Ecosystem Services in the Wupper Catchment (Northrhine Westphalia, Germany) –Assessment and Comparsion: Assessment and Comparsion

[Ecosystem Services in the Wupper Catchment (Northrhine Westphalia, Germany) –Assessment and Comparsion]