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Constructed wetlands increase the taxonomic and functional diversity of a degraded floodplain

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Abstract

Numerous wetland restoration projects have been implemented in recent years to mitigate the increasing loss of global wetland surface area caused by human activities. Most of these projects have focused on the local recovery of habitats and species diversity, with little evaluation of functional recovery. We aimed at demonstrating that constructing wetlands on a degraded floodplain increases not only the taxonomic, but also the functional diversity of macroinvertebrate assemblages by providing greater water quality to the local fauna. We studied the macroinvertebrate community using taxonomic and functional diversity indices, and the physicochemical characteristics of three wetlands constructed 5–25 years ago, and three relict natural wetlands on the floodplain of a regulated river (Ebro River, NE Spain). Constructed wetlands demonstrated significantly greater taxonomic abundance and richness of macroinvertebrates than natural wetlands. At the functional level, the richness and Shannon diversity of biological traits relating to reproduction, respiration, dispersal and feeding were also greater in constructed wetlands, which is partly explained by low inorganic nitrogen concentration in these habitats. In contrast, a high content of phosphorus and water organic matter led to the lowest values of taxonomic and functional diversity found in natural wetlands. We conclude that it is essential to consider not only taxonomic but also functional aspects at all stages of a restoration project in order to optimize its long-term efficacy to provide and support key species and functions.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation (National Research Plan CGL2008-05153-C02-01), the Aragon Government (Research Group E61 on Ecological Restoration; Applied Research Consolidated Group-GIMACES E02; and B079/09 pre-doctoral grant), the Caja Inmaculada–Aragon Government (Programa Europa XXI, CB31/11 research mobility grant) and counted with the support of “APN Reserva Natural de los Sotos y Galachos” and “APN Galacho de Juslibol”. B. Gallardo received financial support from the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness, through the Severo Ochoa Program for Centres of Excellence in R+D+I (SEV-2012-0262).We thank M. García and A. Barcos for analysing water samples, and P. Sanchez, L. Miguel, F. Carranza, and J. García for their field assistance. We are also grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments highly improved the quality of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE-CSIC), Campus de Aula Dei, Avda. Montañana 1005, 50059, Zaragoza, Spain

    Cecilia Español & Francisco A. Comín

  2. Environmental Institute, San Jorge University, Autovía A-23 Zaragoza-Huesca Km. 299, 50830, Villanueva de Gállego, Spain

    Cecilia Español & M. Rosa Pino

  3. Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain

    Belinda Gallardo

Authors
  1. Cecilia Español
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  2. Belinda Gallardo
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  3. Francisco A. Comín
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  4. M. Rosa Pino
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cecilia Español.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 5 and 6; Fig. 7

Table 5 Macroinvertebrate taxa occurrence (X) in each of three constructed and three natural wetlands studied in the Ebro Floodplain during winter 2010 (W) and spring 2011 (S)
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Table 6 Biological traits and categories for invertebrate taxa considered in the present study
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Fig. 7
figure 7

Relationship between functional and taxonomic diversity indices. The black and grey lines represent a linear regression with winter (N = 36), and spring samples (N = 32), respectively

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Español, C., Gallardo, B., Comín, F.A. et al. Constructed wetlands increase the taxonomic and functional diversity of a degraded floodplain. Aquat Sci 77, 27–44 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-014-0375-2

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