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Water
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Wetland Conservation and Ecological Restoration
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Wetland Conservation and Ecological Restoration

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecohydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 2855

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Qing Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research and Development Center for Watershed Environmental Eco-Engineering, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai 519085, China
Interests: wetland ecology; ecological restoration; eco-hydrology; hydrological connectivity; wetland conservation and management; coastal wetland
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tian Xie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Interests: ecological restoration; hydrological connectivity; wetland ecosystems; coastal wetland; estuary wetland
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jiakai Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: wetland ecology; eco-hydrology; ecological restoration; coastal welands; environmental protection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the onset of the Anthropocene, humanity's impact on and capacity to modify the environment have dramatically increased. While securing resources essential for socioeconomic development, this has also exacerbated ecological and environmental problems. The wetland environment is one of the systems most intimately connected with human society, making it particularly susceptible to severe stress caused by human activities. In the 21st century, wetland-related issues have alarmed the global community, manifesting in phenomena such as water quality deterioration, eutrophication, water body depletion, and loss of aquatic biodiversity. These challenges are now prevalent worldwide, prompting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6) to emphasize water safety.

To mitigate such negative impacts, a growing number of wetland restoration efforts have been undertaken in recent years. Ecologists, biologists, and environmentalists have been working on finding more effective solutions to restore degraded wetland ecosystems on a global scale. The concepts of “nature-based solutions”, “adaptive management”, and “ecological networks” seem to offer better prospects, and are now being used to reframe wetland restoration on critical uncertainties reduction, climate change adaptation, and mitigation strategies. As the world enters the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), countries and organizations around the world will pay more attention to the innovation of ecological restoration underpinnings for ensuring that restoration achieves its full potential in delivering social and ecological coordination and, ultimately, sustainable developments.

Therefore, we invite you to contribute your recent research in relation to understanding the ecohydrological processes, environmental effects, and integrated regulation of wetland ecosystems to wetland conservation and management. Potential topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Key ecological process in wetlands and their implications for restoration;
  2. Nature-based solutions in wetlands;
  3. Wetland ecological risks and management;
  4. Wetland biodiversity conservation;
  5. Wetland pollution and control;
  6. Wetland ecological functions improvment;
  7. Wetland conservation and restoration;
  8. Effects of climate change on wetlands and response strategies;
  9. Wetland ecological network protection and management.

Dr. Qing Wang
Dr. Tian Xie
Dr. Jiakai Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ecoydrological processes
  • environmental effects
  • ecological risks
  • biogeochemical processes
  • pollution
  • regulation
  • climate change
  • ecological functions
  • wetland ecosystems

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2254 KiB  
Article
Awareness and Behaviors of Beijing Residents Regarding Wetland Conservation
by Lichun Mo and Botao Yan
Water 2025, 17(3), 375; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17030375 - 30 Jan 2025
Viewed by 417
Abstract
Wetlands are among the most important ecosystems worldwide, playing an irreplaceable role in maintaining ecological balance and ensuring human well-being. This study conducted a questionnaire survey of 1008 residents across 16 districts in Beijing to systematically analyze their awareness, attitudes, and behaviors regarding [...] Read more.
Wetlands are among the most important ecosystems worldwide, playing an irreplaceable role in maintaining ecological balance and ensuring human well-being. This study conducted a questionnaire survey of 1008 residents across 16 districts in Beijing to systematically analyze their awareness, attitudes, and behaviors regarding wetland conservation. The results indicate that the majority of residents hold a positive attitude towards wetland conservation, with over 90% supporting the expansion of wetland areas and 82% considering wetland protection more important than economic development. Regarding willingness to pay, residents tend to prefer small donations, with the highest proportion willing to contribute less than CNY 100 annually, while 92.5% expressed a willingness to support wetland conservation through volunteer work. Residents’ behaviors are significantly influenced by the geographical location and functional configuration of wetlands, with higher visit rates observed at wetlands closer to urban areas, such as Shichahai Wetland and Summer Palace Wetland. This study also reveals that public awareness of wetland ecological functions is lacking, particularly in terms of biodiversity conservation and water quality improvement. The findings provide a scientific basis for enhancing wetland conservation policies and improving public awareness and actions for wetland protection in Beijing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wetland Conservation and Ecological Restoration)
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23 pages, 5729 KiB  
Article
Estimation of Ecological Water Requirement and Water Replenishment Regulation of the Momoge Wetland
by Hongxu Meng, Xin Zhong, Yanfeng Wu, Xiaojun Peng, Zhijun Li and Zhongyuan Wang
Water 2025, 17(1), 114; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17010114 - 3 Jan 2025
Viewed by 607
Abstract
Ensuring the ecological water requirements (EWR) suitable for wetlands are upheld is essential for maintaining the stability and health of their ecosystems, a challenge faced by wetlands globally. However, previous studies on EWRs estimation lack a comprehensive consideration of wetlands and still suffer [...] Read more.
Ensuring the ecological water requirements (EWR) suitable for wetlands are upheld is essential for maintaining the stability and health of their ecosystems, a challenge faced by wetlands globally. However, previous studies on EWRs estimation lack a comprehensive consideration of wetlands and still suffer from the problem of rough time scales. Prior studies have predominantly concentrated on its core and buffer zones, neglecting a comprehensive analysis of the wetland’s entirety and failing to account for the seasonal variations in EWRs. To fill this gap, we proposed a novel framework for estimating EWRs wetland’s entirety to guide the development of dynamic water replenishment strategies. The grey prediction model was used to project the wetland area under different scenarios and designed water replenishment strategies. We then applied this framework in a key wetland conservation area in China, the Momoge Wetland, which is currently facing issues of areal shrinkage and functional degradation due to insufficient EWRs. Our findings indicate that the maximum, optimal, and minimum EWRs for the Momoge Wetland are 24.14 × 108 m3, 16.65 × 108 m3, and 10.88 × 108 m3, respectively. The EWRs during the overwintering, breeding, and flood periods are estimated at 1.92 × 108 m3, 5.39 × 108 m3, and 8.73 × 108 m3, respectively. Based on the predicted wetland areas under different climatic conditions, the necessary water replenishment volumes for the Momoge Wetland under scenarios of dry-dry-dry, dry-dry-normal, dry-normal-dry, and normal-normal-normal are calculated to be 0.70 × 108 m3, 0.49 × 108 m3, 0.68 × 108 m3, and 0.36 × 108 m3, respectively. In years characterized by drought, the current water replenishment projects are inadequate to meet the wetland’s water needs, highlighting the urgent need for the implementation of multi-source water replenishment techniques to enhance the effectiveness of these interventions. The results of this study provide insights for annual and seasonal water replenishment planning and multi-source water management of wetlands with similar problems as the Momoge Wetland. With these new insights, our novel framework not only advances knowledge on the accuracy of wetland ecological water requirement assessment but also provides a scalable solution for global wetland water resource management, helping to improve the ecosystem’s adaptability to future climate changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wetland Conservation and Ecological Restoration)
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17 pages, 5939 KiB  
Article
Effects of Atmospheric Particulate Matter on Microbial Communities in Wetland Ecosystems
by Ying Liu and Zhenming Zhang
Water 2025, 17(1), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17010066 - 30 Dec 2024
Viewed by 475
Abstract
As an important component of urban ecosystems, changes in microbial communities in urban wetland ecosystems have a profound impact on human beings. In this paper, we studied the changes in microbial communities in urban wetland ecosystems (three major interfaces: atmosphere, foliage and water) [...] Read more.
As an important component of urban ecosystems, changes in microbial communities in urban wetland ecosystems have a profound impact on human beings. In this paper, we studied the changes in microbial communities in urban wetland ecosystems (three major interfaces: atmosphere, foliage and water) under the background of atmospheric pollution by high-throughput techniques. The α-diversity of microorganisms at each interface showed that the species richness of the sample communities did not differ significantly at different levels of contamination and it was all at a high level. And the β-diversity showed a significantly larger between-group gap than within-group gap between the samples. The functions predicted a higher metabolic function in water samples and atmospheric samples, and a higher function of microorganisms harmful to humans in the microbial community on the leaf surface. Further analysis of the correlation between atmospheric particulate matter and environmental microorganisms revealed that the atmospheric microbial communities that were strongly negatively correlated with TSP, PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 were Actinobacteriota, Cyanobacteria, and Verrucomicrobiota. Among the microbial communities on the leaf surface, only Bacteroidota was strongly positively correlated with total suspended particle (TSP), particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10), particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5) and particles with a diameter of 1 micrometers or less (PM1). As for the microbial communities in the water column, Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Campilobacterota, and Deferribacteres were strongly and positively correlated with the different particle sizes. There was no significant correlation between the functions of the three interfacial microorganisms and the particle size of the atmospheric particles. This paper studies the structure and function of microbial communities within three interfaces at three pollution levels and explores the resulting changes with the aim of providing directions for monitoring urban wetland ecosystems and for species diversity conservation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wetland Conservation and Ecological Restoration)
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15 pages, 7944 KiB  
Article
Spatial Differences in Soil Nutrients Along a Hydrographic Gradient on Floodplains in Dongting Lake
by Jiayi Li, Yuanmi Wu, Dong Peng, Mingzhu Chen, Lingli Peng, Beth A. Middleton and Ting Lei
Water 2024, 16(24), 3674; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16243674 - 20 Dec 2024
Viewed by 439
Abstract
The spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients is crucial for the water bird and whole floodplain wetland ecosystem in large lakes, and it is influenced by the dramatic water level changes and sedimentation progress in West Dongting Lake (WDL). Soil samples were collected at [...] Read more.
The spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients is crucial for the water bird and whole floodplain wetland ecosystem in large lakes, and it is influenced by the dramatic water level changes and sedimentation progress in West Dongting Lake (WDL). Soil samples were collected at various soil depths along the Yuan River and Li River that feed into WDL. The concentrations of soil total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and soil grain size were tested. The stoichiometric ratios of C, N, P, and the mean value of soil grain size (Mz) were calculated. The differences of soil TOC, TN, TP and the stoichiometric ratio at different sites and soil depths were compared. Linear regression was used to explore the relationships of Mz and nutrient concentrations, and relationships between TOC, TN, and TP. Redundancy analysis was used to explore the relationship between soil nutrients, heavy metal concentrations, and plant community diversity. The results showed that the distributions of soil TOC, TN, and TP concentrations differed across regions in west Dongting Lake along the Yuan and Li Rivers. Total organic carbon concentration differed at different sedimentation depths. Soil grain size showed negative effect with soil TOC, TN, and TP concentrations in this region. Plant community diversity correlated positively with soil TOC and negatively with Hg. West Dongting Lake was N limited despite the high wet deposition of N. It could potentially be attributed to the insufficient presence of aerobic environments for microbes during intermittent flooding of the floodplain, coupled with feeble mineralization. This study can provide valuable insights for the conservation of water bird habitats and wetland ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wetland Conservation and Ecological Restoration)
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15 pages, 8215 KiB  
Article
Influence of Flood Events on the Ecological Characteristics of Bolboschoenus planiculmis: Implications for Restoration of Grus leucogeranus Habitats
by Long Chen, Mingye Zhang, Shouzheng Tong, Yu An, Chunzi Zhao, Yuan Xin and Jiaxin Zhang
Water 2024, 16(24), 3672; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16243672 - 20 Dec 2024
Viewed by 432
Abstract
Flood events severely damage the biodiversity and ecological functions of wetlands, posing a major threat to the health and stability of wetland ecosystems. Plants play a crucial role in maintaining the stability and balance of these ecosystems by providing food and habitat for [...] Read more.
Flood events severely damage the biodiversity and ecological functions of wetlands, posing a major threat to the health and stability of wetland ecosystems. Plants play a crucial role in maintaining the stability and balance of these ecosystems by providing food and habitat for various organisms. Although the wetland plants’ responses to flooding events have been extensively studied, the multi-level ecological characteristics (on the community, population, and individual plant level) of these plants in response to flooding have not yet been investigated. In this study, the community structure and ecological characteristics of Bolboschoenus planiculmis under different flooding conditions and plant traits were studied. The results revealed significant differences in the community composition and species diversity under various flooding conditions. Under continuous flooding, the number of species was three times greater than under seasonal flooding conditions. Flood events showed a significant impact on population density and coverage of B. planiculmis. The population density and coverage were 76.10% and 66.70% higher in seasonal flooding conditions than in continuous flooding conditions. Under seasonal flooding conditions, the allocation of total biomass and bulb biomass was greater than that observed under continuous flooding conditions. The results of the correlation analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that the water level is a critical factor influencing the variations in the multi-level ecological features of the B. planiculmis community under different flooding conditions. This study suggests that maintaining seasonal flooding is essential for the natural restoration of B. planiculmis wetlands. These findings demonstrate that flood events significantly affect the ecological characteristics of B. planiculmis and offer valuable guidelines for the near-natural restoration of Grus leucogeranus habitats. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wetland Conservation and Ecological Restoration)
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