1. Natural wetlands emerge as the best sites to preserve the diversity of aquatic and riparian vegetation; however, especially in the lowlands, pristine wetlands and aquatic ecosystems have almost completely disappeared through land reclamation and agricultural development. Actions are needed, therefore, to maintain and recreate a wide network of wetlands able to preserve adequate levels of vegetation diversity.
2. Focusing on a complex wetland system located in an overexploited plain, the article entitled ‘The importance of being natural in a human‐altered riverscape: Role of wetland type in supporting habitat heterogeneity and the functional diversity of vegetation’, published in 2016 in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (AQC) explored the role of wetland origin and hydrology as the main drivers of physical and vegetation functional diversity, following a hierarchical sampling approach.
3. The main results reinforced the key contribution of natural sites in maintaining vegetation diversity in heavily impaired riverine contexts, suggesting a direct effect of the interannual and seasonal dynamics of water‐level variations in the observed vegetation patterns.
4. The article offered an important contribution to our knowledge of vegetation patterns in wetlands, partly attributed to the innovative functional, hierarchical approach applied which is able to guarantee reliable data on the distribution patterns of physical heterogeneity and wetland vegetation.
5. The findings of the article have been applied and adopted in a series of technical handbooks designed, inter alia, to support the monitoring programmes of habitats of community interest or vegetation of relevance for aquatic biodiversity conservation. In addition, this article has helped to raise awareness of the essential roles played by wetlands in agricultural landscapes and has emphasized the need for a better synergy between the European Habitats Directive and the Water Framework Directive. Several ecological recovery projects have been funded in line with the results described in the AQC article.

中文翻译：

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将植被格局，湿地保护和生态系统服务联系起来：从出版到应用

1. 天然湿地是保护水生和河岸植被多样性的最佳场所。但是，特别是在低地，原始的湿地和水生生态系统通过土地开垦和农业发展几乎已完全消失。因此，需要采取行动来维持和重建能够维持足够水平的植被多样性的广泛的湿地网络。
2. 该文章聚焦于过度开发平原上的复杂湿地系统，题为``在人类改变的河景中保持自然的重要性：湿地类型在支持生境异质性和植被功能多样性中的作用''，于2016年发表在《水生保护》上：海洋和淡水生态系统（AQC）遵循分层抽样方法，探索了湿地起源和水文学作为物理和植被功能多样性的主要驱动因素。
3. 主要结果加强了自然位点在严重受损的河流环境中维持植被多样性的关键作用，表明观察到的植被格局中水位变化的年际和季节动态的直接影响。
4. 这篇文章为我们对湿地植被模式的了解做出了重要贡献，部分归功于所应用的创新的功能性，分层方法，该方法能够保证有关物理异质性和湿地植被分布模式的可靠数据。
5. 该文章的结论已在一系列技术手册中得到应用和采纳，这些手册除其他外旨在支持对社区感兴趣的栖息地或与水生生物多样性保护有关的植被的监测计划。此外，本文还有助于提高人们对湿地在农业景观中的重要作用的认识，并强调了欧洲人居指令与水框架指令之间更好的协同作用的必要性。根据AQC文章中描述的结果，已经资助了几个生态恢复项目。