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Hydrological conditions and herbivory as key operators for ecosystem development in Dutch artificial wetlands

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Grazing and Conservation Management

Part of the book series: Conservation Biology Series ((COBI,volume 11))

Abstract

In western Europe marshes and estuaries have been disappearing in recent centuries due to human activities (e.g. drainage and reclamation for agricultural purposes: Finlayson and Moser, 1991; Duncan, 1992; Schultz, 1992). Wetlands are considered to be vulnerable habitats that deserve special attention for nature conservation (Finlayson and Moser, 1991). In The Netherlands some new wetlands, in total about 30 000 ha, have been created as a result of land reclamation in the past few decades. The international importance of the newly developed wetlands as breeding, wintering and stop-over sites for many bird species is closely related to the pioneer stage of these young areas. Nowadays, these areas are mostly enclosed by dikes and, although of large physical size, are no longer subject to the local water level fluctuation that is typical for natural wetlands.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Integral Freshwater Management and Waste Water Treatment (RIZA), Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, PO Box 17, 8200 AA, Lelystad, The Netherlands

    J. Theo Vulink & Mennobart R. Van Eerden

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  1. J. Theo Vulink
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tropical Nature Conservation and Vertebrate Ecology Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen Agricultural University, Bornsesteeg 69, 6708 PD, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Michiel F. WallisDeVries (Senior Research Scientist) & Sipke E. Van Wieren (Senior Lecturer) (Senior Research Scientist) &  (Senior Lecturer)

  2. Dutch Butterfly Conservation, PO Box 506, 6700 AM, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Michiel F. WallisDeVries (Senior Research Scientist) (Senior Research Scientist)

  3. Laboratory of Plant Ecology, University of Groningen, PO Box 14, 9750 AA, Haren, The Netherlands

    Jan P. Bakker (Professor in Nature Conservation) (Professor in Nature Conservation)

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Vulink, J.T., Van Eerden, M.R. (1998). Hydrological conditions and herbivory as key operators for ecosystem development in Dutch artificial wetlands. In: WallisDeVries, M.F., Van Wieren, S.E., Bakker, J.P. (eds) Grazing and Conservation Management. Conservation Biology Series, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4391-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4391-2_7

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