The establishment of new lakes has gained momentum throughout Europe and North America as a way to remove nutrients, manage extreme rain events, establish recreational areas, and increase biodiversity. We compared freshwater fish colonization and community development of re-established Lake Fil, a 900-ha lake in Denmark, with fish communities in lakes in close proximity as well as those throughout

Anguilliform-swimming fishes (eels, lampreys) are undergoing large and global declines due partly to an inability to pass dams via traditional fishways. The installation of “eel ladders” (wetted, studded/bristle substrates that permit these fishes to climb over obstructions) offer a potential solution. We examined the behaviour of migrating sub-adult sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) as they approached

The litter interception of rainfall have great effect on the water balance in the hydrological process, especially for the process of infiltration and runoff. Infiltration plays a significant role in soil erosion, evapotranspiration, and overland flow. Runoff generation is a main component of the hydrological cycle, and the simulations of soil moisture can improve infiltration process modeling. And

Denitrification is a major biological source or sink of N2O, an important greenhouse gas, which is a multi-step respiratory process that converts nitrate (NO3−) to gaseous forms of nitrogen (N2 or N2O). In aquatic ecosystems, the residence time and flow length within the streambed can modulate denitrification, which is highly affected by micro-topography of streambed. For the reason, various restoration

Nutrient losses from agricultural areas constitute a major cause for the degradation of aquatic ecosystems worldwide. In this paper, we use the intensively cultivated country of Denmark as an example to synthesise and discuss results, experiences and challenges for an optimised implementation of nutrient transport mitigation measures targeting agricultural nutrient losses to fresh and marine water

Screening new alternative vegetable oil sources as biodiesel feedstocks has attracted worldwide attention as world oil reserves decline and environmental concerns increase. Blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus L.) has recently been identified as a multipurpose crop with optimal economic yield in poor soils. Blessed thistle was seeded into three different site soil conditions (site 1: silt clay loam,

The water quality deteriorated in the middle of the 1970s in the Albufera lake, a shallow Mediterranean coastal lagoon in the east coast of Spain. In few years, the water changed from an oligotrophic status to hypereutrophic as the lagoon received sewage and agrochemicals, lacking adequate sanitation facilities. For more than 40 years, the lake was used as a wastewater treatment plant given the urban

Orthogonal tests were performed to investigate the influence of design parameters of free surface flow constructed wetlands on hydraulic and treatment performances, combined with their differences over different seasons. The four representative hydraulic indicators maintained the same change trends over the three seasons of spring, summer and autumn. The average removal rates of total nitrogen, total

The treatment efficiency of constructed wetlands is strongly related to hydraulic conditions. The occurrences of a dead zone and short-circuiting flow decrease flow uniformity and might decrease hydraulic performance. This study aims to investigate the relationship between spatial flow characteristics and wetland treatment performance. A hydrodynamic and contaminant transport model conducted ten sets

Numerous contributions indicate that the distribution of trees in floodplains is determined by hydrological dynamics and that some plants are more tolerant than others to flood periods, however very little scientific information allows to link the regulation of the pulse regime by the dams with the impacts they produce on river vegetation. We assume that the frequency curves of the trees in the floodplain

In this paper, a numerical model of hydrological and hydrodynamic processes—GAST model (GPU Accelerated Surface Water Flow and Associated Transport) is introduced to simulate the runoff control effect of rain garden based on a two-dimensional dynamic wave method. After validation with an experimental rain garden and a real rain garden in a sponge community, the results indicated a good agreement between

Nutrient loading is an important aspect of reservoir ecosystems that can be affected by climate change. This study explored the effects of climate change on nutrients in the Juam Dam watershed using the Hydrological Simulation Program-Fortran (HSPF). Eight Global Circulation Models (GCMs) under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5 were used to investigate the impact of climate change

Introductions of exotic plants are widespread ecological threats disturbing the carbon and nutrient cycles in global coastal wetlands. Previous studies have found that the invasion has enhanced methane emission through increased primary production and a changed methanogenic pathway. However, the previous studies did not determine the depth profiles of the changes while the depth in the soil profile

This study was carried out about two years after a major landslide took place in Aranayake, Sri Lanka to evaluate geo-ecological status quo (spatial variation of vegetation and geo-environmental variables, and the correlations between them), and to identify spatially explicit landscape units (ecotopes). Sampling was done continuously based on a mesh covering visual landslide patch (disturbed area)

Wetlands dominated by shrubs are ubiquitous features in the Great Lakes Region of North America, yet little is known about the interactions between plants and the environmental conditions of these ecosystems. We measured the response of seven common wetland shrub species and two forbs to soil moisture treatments over a growing season. Average soil moisture content across three treatments ranged from

Quantifying long-term effects of restoration measures on soil carbon (C) and C: nutrient ratios is of great importance for understanding the changes in C cycle of the grassland ecosystem in degradation and restoration, and for managing the grassland for both production and soil C. We investigated soil organic C (SOC) and C: nutrient ratios within the 0–40 cm soil layer in the grasslands restored following

Fertiliser application to restore nutrients lost in the mining process and facilitate early plant establishment and growth is a key step in the restoration of sites disturbed by mining. However, few studies have investigated the effects of different fertiliser types and application methods on mine restoration outcomes, especially in highly biodiverse ecosystems such as the jarrah forest. This forest

Affected by climate variability and human activities, the changes of basin environment have altered runoff, posing new challenges to water resources and land use management strategies, especially in areas with limited water resources. The purpose of this study is to quantify factors that drive the changes in runoff components. Annual runoff data from six hydrological stations in the Weihe River Basin

Climate-related issues constitute an important obstacle for the development of treatment wetland (TW) applications in regions with freezing winter temperatures. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of a new configuration of TWs based on the vertical flow (VF) configuration. The proposed TWs system is planted with a willow species (Salix miyabeana SX67) and including design adaptations

Urban greening is a growing societal demand but consumes large amounts of soil. This massive transfer of soil, typically imported from peri-urban and rural areas, raises questions about the environmental sustainability of such projects. It has been suggested that artificial soils made with urban wastes, also called constructed Technosols, might be a sustainable alternative. In this article, we examined

This study investigates the potential utility of reused materials as an alternative material for commercial substrate and drainage layers. The performances of reused materials were assessed using turf with trays on a roof for two years in Chiba, Japan. Two types of materials, a commercial green roof substrate and cocopeat, were used as the substrate. For the drainage layers, five different materials

Soil microbial community is essential for maintaining and improving ecosystem functioning in ecological restoration practice and is intimately linked with the plant community. However, little is known on how soil microbial communities respond to the functional characteristics of plant communities. Here we investigated the changes in plant community functional attributes, soil properties, and soil microbial

Close-to-nature forest management (CNFM), structure-based forest management (SBFM), and secondary forest comprehensive silviculture (SFCS) are three forest management methods that have been promoted in China. Unfortunately, changes to the canopy structure and understory light characteristics after forest management remain unclear. We compared the canopy structure and light characteristics of a natural

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are generally found in many landscapes. Biocrusts are known to have a key role in terms of soil stabilization but the mechanism of biocrusts is poorly understood. Thus, this work intends to examine the impact of two biocrusts: Cyanobacteria and Chlorophyte, on parameters of cohesive soil erodibility (erodibility coefficient, kd, and critical shear stress, τc) using

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition and land management practices (e.g. mowing) are two major threats to grassland soil seed banks and plant communities. However, the interactive effects of N addition and mowing on soil seed banks and plant communities are poorly quantified. A six-year field experiment was used to examine the responses of soil seed banks and plant communities to N addition (10 g N m−2 year−1)

Afforestation contributes to soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and the restoration of degraded soil. However, the changes in SOC stock following afforestation on sloping land are poorly understood. Here we conduct a quantitative review that synthesizes 239 observations from 31 studies to evaluate the effects of slope gradients on the changes in SOC stock in three soil layers (0–20 cm, 20–40 cm

Seoul's Cheonggye Stream Reconstruction Project removed the concrete road surface that had covered the stream basin for decades to allow sunlight to the stream, reconstructed the stream's channel, restored the surface flow of water by pumping water from the river's downstream to its upstream area, and reintroduced riparian vegetation. Although the project did not fulfill the conditions of ecological

Monitoring forests undergoing restoration is important to evaluate not only the development of trees, but also the recovery of ecosystem functions. The decomposition of the organic matter is an important ecological process, and nutrient cycling in ecosystems is a good indicator of forest ecosystem functions because it responds to physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the vegetation

Soil bioengineering for riverbank stabilization involves the use of living plant materials to treat unstable or eroding riverbanks. These near-natural structures may harbor a higher plant richness and vegetation cover compared to classical civil engineering structures such as ripraps, but little information exists on vegetation dynamics during secondary succession on stabilized riverbanks. We hypothesized

Since past three decades, coral reefs of the world are degrading at large scales due to climate change and through combination of anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Coral reefs in the 21 islands of Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, Southeast coast of Tamil Nadu, India are also greatly damaged by frequent bleaching events, destructive fishing, invasive algal assemblage, sedimentation, diseases

Co-locating green roof (GR) systems with photovoltaic panels (PV) can allow optimal use of roof space for energy production as well as stormwater management. Models for evapotranspiration from integrated Green Roof Photovoltaic Systems (GR-PV) are needed for the design of GR-PV systems. Existing evapotranspiration models can not be used for this purpose due to complex sunlight-shading and wind-sheltering

Various anthropogenic activities result in a continuous discharge of contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs) into the natural environs. The remediation of these substances is an emerging concern to safeguard life on earth. The main aim of this research article is to provide a deep imminent into the available conventional and advanced wastewater treatment processes and to analyze their removal efficiencies

Constructed wetlands have been proven as efficient natural-like technologies to treat different wastewater types. However, phosphorus (P) removal with these systems is still a challenge due to their low performance. This study aims to compare, in microcosm subsurface flow constructed wetland system, the PO4-P apparent balance of five macrophytes (Carex elata All., Juncus effusus L., Phalaris arundinacea

HydroGeoMorphic (HGM) approach could examine relatively more details for wetland functions. However, HGM cannot be utilized in assessing the functional improvement of wetlands because it is limited to evaluating the similarity between the reference and the target wetlands. Therefore, this study proposes the Modified HydroGeoMorphic (MHGM) approach for considering better functions of target wetlands

Pinus pinea is a species of great economic and ecological importance in Lebanon, but there is a lack of knowledge about the distribution of the pine forests, their vegetation dynamics and regeneration. Our study aims to produce the first classification of the pine stands according to their floristic composition and the abiotic factors of the Mount Lebanon region and to analyse natural pine recruitment

From 2009 to 2012, South Korea carried out national-wide construction projects in four rivers; sixteen large-weirs were constructed to control flood risk and to secure water resources. Environmental impact assessment of the weir construction evaluated conditional changes by comparing post-survey records with pre-construction periods. However, the ecological assessment for the weir construction in a

The problem of insufficient water for ecological purposes in the Luanhe River basin requires urgent resolution. The regional hydrological cycle is affected by the Panjiakou-Daheiting Reservoir system and by changes in land use in the upper watershed. Therefore, this system was selected as a study area to simulate ecological reservoir operation and analyze the effects of changes in land use on ecological

Cyanobacteria can cause ecological, economic and human health problems, climate change trends giving them advantage over other phytoplanktonic groups. Management strategies exist to deal with the nuisance, but many are not effective due to the likelihood of cell lysis and toxin release. This study explores the suitability of the use of the invasive and widespread bivalve Corbicula fluminea for cyanobacterial

Mining activities create nutrient-poor sites that can be impacted by heavy metal solubilization. The introduction of plants into these environments can lead to organic matter deposition that can bind metals and limit their migration in the environment. This study aimed to determine which of four pioneer plant species (Alnus alnobetula ssp. crispa, Alnus incana ssp. rugosa, Larix laricina and Picea

The over-enrichment of shallow lakes in nutrients has emerged as one of the main causes of water quality deterioration, and is today a major focus of water quality studies worldwide. In the present work, changes in trophic conditions over three decades (1985–2017) in the largest shallow freshwater lake in Central Europe, Lake Balaton, are assessed using the time series of 10 water quality variables

Constructed wetlands (CW), while providing multiple ecosystem services, bring significant changes in greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions to the atmosphere. To systematically analyze the source-flow-sink of three GHGs (CO2, CH4 and N2O), the Huoshaogou multi-stage free water surface CW in Qinghai Province, China was chosen as the research area. The static chamber-gas chromatography method was utilized to

The presence of pharmaceutical compounds in aquatic ecosystems may affect both biota and human health because these micropollutants are capable of altering the metabolism and reproduction capacity of the live organisms of the aquatic ecosystems. The main route of entry of these pollutants into the aquatic environment is through Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) effluents. Compounds such as diclofenac

Urban nearshore ecosystems are built environments that differ structurally and functionally from the natural ecosystems they replace. Eco-engineering offers the ability to enhance these ecosystems by reducing the impacts of shoreline modification. Recent studies have linked shoreline armoring and pier shade—common features of modified shorelines—to lower foraging rates, altered distribution patterns

Recently an apartment is the most popular type of accommodation owing to lack of real-estate, convenience, and other economic advantages. Most of apartments among the total dwellings expected to keep increasing in South Korea. Influenced by this trend, recent apartment complexes focus on the eco-friendly type. Various eco-friendly landscape structures such as eco-streams or ponds have been built in