Application of Community Climate Change Adaptation Assessment Tools for Climate Adaptation Planning in Yala Wetlands Complex, Lake Victoria Basin, Kenya

Yala Wetland is a complex of Nzoia and Yala rivers that drain their waters into Lake Victoria, but face various pressure which is thought to originate from the impacts of climate change. The riparian communities are generally poor and use the wetland resources for small-holder livelihood activities. This paper describes how community climate change adaptation assessment (C3A2) tools were applied to identify resilient community-level adaptation options and would inform local climate adaptation planning. Eight participatory C3A2 tools were applied for data collection in which two (adaptation attributes and story-telling) were administered at the meso or local government (County) level while all the eight tools (community protocol, risk mapping, techno-transect, resilience ranking, community calendars, story-telling, adaptation attributes and give back) were administered at the micro or community level. Qualitative research method was adopted and 80 respondents (20 at meso and 60 at micro) were purposively selected for the study. Data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and plenary discussions. Data were analyzed at four levels: pre-analysis in situ, daily team triangulation, team conclusions, and cross-community reporting. The study found that communities experienced climate risks that tended to shift along with prolonged and irregular hydro-meteorological events, which affected their capacities for adaptation especially the resource-constrained individuals and vulnerable households. Drought (45%) and flood hazards (39%) were the most felt strongly. Drought was manifested mainly by prolonged dry-spell, increased atmospheric temperatures, and strong winds while floods were characterized by unpredictable and short but high-intensity rainfall with associated loss of lives and property damage. Women, children, and poor households were the most exposed to climatic hazards. Farm/agro-forestry was the most perceived adaptation strategy for drought, flood, and soil erosion while alternative livelihoods particularly ecotourism was the commonly perceived adaptation strategy for human-wildlife conflict (HWC). Three community-based adaptation action plans (CBAP) were prepared to guide future village-level planning and development. The CBAPs were used to identify three sample projects which were funded by the donor and implemented by the community. The C3A2 approach provides adequate participatory tools that can be applied in the lake and river basins, and potentially other ecosystems to guide the development of community-based adaptation plans and resilient community-based adaptation projects with wider local acceptance especially those geared towards designing programs for climate-smart livelihoods. However, the application of the methodology may be site-specific and the tools can be administered based on local scenarios and the availability of resources.

Study on Qianling Lake Restoration with Artificial Wetland

The ecological restoration of water quality in Qianling Lake was conducted by artificial wetland, which transformed N and P in wastewater into essential matters in organism tissues, so pollutants discharged into Qianting Lake were reduced for the purpose of restoration.

Investigation and Research on Biodiversity of Chen Lake Wetland

Plant diversity, animal diversity and ecosystem diversity in the wetland were studied with field investigation and statistical analysis, and then biodiversity of Chen Lake wetland was also valued. The results showed that the reasonable utilization and protection for biodiversity of Chen Lake wetland gave important contribution to improving the regional environment and sustainable development of Wuhan, and even the middle-lower Yangtze area.

Evaluation on Non-use Value of Dianchi Lake Wetland Using CVM

[Objective] This study was to analyze the personal Willingness to Pay （WI-P） on the non-use value of Dianchi lake wetland and the influential factors. [Method] Questionnaire was designed according to the Contingent Valuation Method （CVM） to investigate people of different occupations at different ages, based on which the evaluation on non-use value of Dianchi lake wetland was carried out. And the relationship between WTP and social characteristics were analyzed by using non- parametric estimation. [Result] The average WTP on Dianchi lake wetland is 150.03- 217.66 yuan per person every year, and the total WTP is 626-909 million yuan ev- ery year. Age, education and residence of the respondents have remarkable influ- ence on the VVTP. The influence of education level and residence on option value is significant; bequest value is significantly correlated with age; while there is no significant relationship between existence value and social characteristics. [Conclusion] The evaluation on the non-use value of Dianchi lake wetland is important for the scientific development and utilization of wetland resources.

Landscape ecological assessment and eco-tourism development in the South Dongting Lake Wetland, China

As an important resource and the living environment of mankind, wetland has become gradually a highlight, strongly concerned and intensively studied by scientists and sociologists. The governments in the world and the whole society have been paying more and more attention on it. The Dongting Lake of China is regarded as an internationally important wetland. For a rational development and protection of the wetland, an investigation and studied on its resources and its value to tourism in the South Dongting Lake was conducted, to create an assessment system of the ecological landscapes, and to evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively the value of wetland landscape to the eco-tourism. The results showed that the scenic value of the South Dongting Lake Wetland satisfied the criterion of AAAA grade of China national scenic attraction. The eco-tourism value of the landscape cultures in the South Dongting Lake Wetland was discussed with emphasis. It were formulated that a principle and frame of sustainable exploitation of the wetland landscapes and it was proposed as well that establishing a Wetland Park and developing eco-tourism in the South Dongting Lake. Wetland is a fragile ecosystem with low resistance to the impact of the exploitation. Thus, we must pay intensively attention to the influence of exploitation on the landscape, take the ecological risk in account to employ a right countermeasure and avoid the negative affection.

Eco-compensation effects of the wetland recovery in Dongting Lake area

Eco-compensation is an environmental economic instrument for internalization of external cost. Returning farmland to lake is one of the important parts of restoring wetland ecosystem function in the Yangtze River Valley of China. Whether the project of lake recovery can be successful depends on the compensation to the farmers who have lost their original benefits and contributed to the wetland ecosystem recovery by returning farmland to lake. Aiming at the wetland recovery of the Dongting Lake, the practical implementation of pro- grams of the lake recovery and flood control in this area has been challenged by the heavy task of population resettlement, so it is an ideal area for case studies to reach the academic objectives proposed as the above. Based on field survey and experimentation, this research evaluated the benefit losses of the resettled farmers and the increased values of ecosystem service functions caused by wetland recovery, and furthermore, the value of eco-compensation for relocated farmers was calculated by considering the combination of the farmers＇ compensation appeal. The value of eco-compensation for relocated farmers in the Dongting Lake area was 6084.5 yuan per household by synthetic analysis of the effects on wetland ecosystem restoration. Moreover, this article took Dongting Lake area as a case to study and explore the basic issues of the eco-compensation by returning farmland to lake, that was who should pay, who should be paid, how much the payment was and what the payment means was, which sought the mechanisms of wetland restoration eco-compensation and prompted the people＇s enthusiasms for ecological restoration.

Effects of Water-table Depth and Soil Moisture on Plant Biomass, Diversity, and Distribution at a Seasonally Flooded Wetland of Poyang Lake, China

Hydrological regime has been widely recognized as one of the major forces determining vegetation distribution in seasonally flooded wetland. Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China, has been encountering dramatic changes in hydrological conditions in last decade, which greatly influenced the wetland vegetations. To explore the relationships between hydrology and vegetation distri- bution, water-table depth, soil moisture, species composition, diversity and biomass were measured at a seasonally flooded wetland section at Wucheng National Nature Reserve. Three plant communities, Artemisia capillaris, Phragmites australis and Carex cineras- cens communities, were examined which are zonally distributed from upland to lakeshore with decreasing elevation. Canonical corre- spondence analysis （CCA）, spearmen correlation and logistic regression were adopted to analyze the relationships between vegetation characteristics and hydrological variables of water-table depth and soil moisture. Results show that significant hydrological gradient exist along the wetland transect. Water-table demonstrates a seasonal variation and is consistently deepest in A. capillaris community （ranging from q）.5 m above ground to ＋10.3 m below ground）, intermediate in P. australis community （-2.6 m to ＋7.8 m） and shallow- est in C. cinerascens community （-4.5 m to ＋6.1 m）. Soil moisture is lowest and most variable in A. capillaris community, highest and least variable in P. australis community, and intermediate and moderate variable in C. cinerascens community. The CCA ordination indicated that variables of water-table depth and soil moisture are strongly related to community distribution, which explained 81.7% of the vegetation variations. Species diversity indices are significantly positively correlated with soil moisture and negatively correlated with moisture variability, while above- and belowground biomass are positively correlated with moisture. Above- and belowground biomass present Gaussian models along the gradient of average water-table depth in growing season, while species diversity indices show bimodal patterns. The optimal average water-table depths for above- and belowground biomass are 0.8 m and 0.5 m, respectively, and are 2.2 m and 2.4 m for species richness and Shannon-Wiener indices, respectively. Outcomes of this work improved the under- standings of the relationship between hydrology and vegetation.

Valuation of Lake and Marsh Wetlands Ecosystem Services in China

Wetlands are highly productive natural ecosystems, providing valuable goods and services. There is growing interest in transferring ecosystem service value from the existing wetlands studied to other wetlands ecosystems at a large geographic scale. The benefit transfer method uses the known values from wetlands to predict the value of other wetland sites. This methodology requires only limited time and resources. The present study calculated the value of the ecological services provided by lake and marsh wetlands in China in terms of biodiversity indices, water quality indices and economic indices. Basic data on wetlands were obtained through remote sensing images. The results show that: 1) The total ecosystem service value of the lake and marsh wetlands in 2008 was calculated to be 8.1841 × 1010 United States Dollars(USD), with the marsh and lake wetlands contributing 5.6329 × 1010 and 2.5512 × 1010 USD, respectively. Values of marsh ecosystem service were concentrated in Heilongjiang Province(2.5516 × 1010 USD), Qinghai Province(1.2014 × 1010 USD), and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region(1.1884 × 1010 USD). The value of the lakes were concentrated in Tibet Autonomous Region(6.223 × 109 USD), Heilongjiang(5.810 × 109 USD), and Qinghai(5.500 × 109 USD). 2) Waste treatment and climate regulation services contributed to 26.29% and 24.74% respectively, of the total ecosystem service value of the marsh wetlands. Hydrological regulation and waste treatment contributed to 41.39% and 32.75%, respectively, of the total ecosystem service value of the lake wetlands. 3) The total ecological service value of the lake and marsh wetlands was 54.64% of the total service value of natural grassland ecosystems and 30.34% of the total service value of forests ecosystems in China.

Ecosystem Health Assessment of Honghu Lake Wetland of China Using Artificial Neural Network Approach

Honghu Lake,located in the southeast of Hubei Province,China,has suffered a severe disturbance during the past few decades.To restore the ecosystem,the Honghu Lake Wetland Protection and Restoration Demonstration Project(HLWPRDP) has been implemented since 2004.A back propagation(BP) artificial neural network(ANN) approach was applied to evaluatinig the ecosystem health of the Honghu Lake wetland.And the effectiveness of the HLWPRDP was also assessed by comparing the ecosystem health before and after the project.Particularly,12 ecosystem health indices were used as evaluation parameters to establish a set of three-layer BP ANNs.The output is one layer of ecosystem health index.After training and testing the BP ANNs,an optimal model of BP ANNs was selected to assess the ecosystem health of the Honghu Lake wetland.The result indicates that four stages can be identified based on the change of the ecosystem health from 1990 to 2008 and the ecosystem health index ranges from morbidity before the implementation of HLWPRDP(in 2002) to middle health after the implementation of the HLWPRDP(in 2005).It demonstrates that the HLWPRDP is effective and the BP ANN could be used as a tool for the assessment of ecosystem health.

Relationship between community type of wetland plants and site elevation on sandbars of the East Dongting Lake,China

Plant communities on sandbars were important, and restoration of degraded wetland were significant to biological conservation in the East Dongting Lake region. In this study, typical wetland community types on sandbars and their site elevation were surveyed to explore relationship between community distribution and site elevation. Results show that eight major communities in this region were wetland communities dominated by Juncus effusus, Carex brevicuspis, Polygonum hydropiper, Salix triandra, Oenanthe Javanica, Phalaris arundinacea, Miscanthus sacchariflorus and Phragmites communis respectively. These communities had obvious constructive species and companion species, while site elevation could affect community composition and their species diversity. On sandbars in the East Dongting Lake, vegetation was largely composed of hygrophytes companied with a few mesophytes. The higher the site elevation was, the nearer the site was to the water, and the lower community diversity became. Except soil humidity and site elevation, growth period of plants after inundation could also affect species richness in the communities.

Shrinking and Drying up of Baiyangdian Lake Wetland:A Natural or Human Cause?

The shrinking and drying up of wetlands in arid and semiarid areas of China have been widely observed in the recent years, but there has been no consensus on whether the aggravation is caused by human activities or by global climate warming. For a better understanding of the cause, this study investigates the dynamic changes of Baiyangdian Lake wetland over the last 40 years. It is shown that since the 1980s, Baiyangdian Lake has suffered from an insufficient water input and shrunk considerably. By using SPSS 11.0, this study urines a detailed Analysis on the signifficance of the effects of the possible driving factors for the degradation. It is identified that the North China Plain has been warrnin~ up significantly in recent years, which causes a significant reduction in the precipitation and inflow to the lake. Although human disturbances such as the irrigation and storage of water in reservoirs do not play a decisive role, they accelerate the degradation and their effects should be minimized.

Wetland vegetation biomass estimation and mapping from Landsat ETM data: a case study of Poyang Lake

Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China. This paper conducted a digital and rapid investigation of the lake’s wetland vegetation biomass using Landsat ETM data acquired on April 16, 2000. First, utilizing the false color composite derived from the ETM data as one of the main references, the authors designed a reasonable sampling route for field measurement of the biomass, and carried it out on April 18–28, 2000. Then after both the sampling data and the ETM data were geometrically corrected to an equal-area projection of Albers, linear relationships among the sampling data and some transformed data derived from the ETM data and the ETM 4 were calculated. The results show that the sampling data is best relative to the band 4 data with a high correlation coefficient of 0.86, followed by the DVI and NDVI data with 0.83 and 0.80 respectively. Therefore, a linear regression model, which was based on the field data and band 4 data, was used to estimate the total biomass of entire Poyang Lake, and then the map of the biomass distribution was compiled.

THE PRELIMINARY STUDY ON LANDSCAPE CULTURE ORIENTATION AND EXPLOITATION OF THE SOUTH DONGTING LAKE WETLAND

Dongting Lake is internationally a n important wetland.We studied and s ummarized the conception,func-tion,classification and current situation of the wetland-landscape cu lture in this region.The results showed that the cul-ture of Dongting Lake wetland was ric h in diversity,which are the Rice Cul tivation Culture,high-balustrade dwelling,Nuo Culture,Ship Culture,Dragon Bo at Culture,Chu Culture,Ancient Arc hitecture Landscape,Wetland Foodstuff and Cuisine Culture,Civil Art,Historic Heritage and Cultural Relics,Revolutionary Sites and Ruins,and Production and Living Culture,etc.We also evaluated the eco-tourism value of wetland l andscape culture,and analyzed its f eatures and orientation.The results revealed t hat the south Dongting Lake wetland p lays a key role on the Changjiang(Yangtze)River reaches civilization and Chinese civilization,even has great influence on the global civilization.We summ arized that the soul of the south Dongting Lake Cultu re was Wetland Culture,Water Cultur e,Rice Cultivation and Chu Culture.The thoughts,principles and approaches of sustainable exploitation and ut ilization of the wetland landscape c ulture were formulat-ed and suggested.

Assessment on soil fertility of Dongting Lake wetland area (China) based on GIS and fuzzy evaluation

Using soil data of the Second National Field Survey,the soil fertility of wetland ecosystem of Dongting Lake was evaluated by using the technology of GIS and method of fuzzy evaluation.Integrated with the wetland actuality of Dongting Lake and particularity of paddy,seven factors (including soil organic matter,total nitrogen,total phosphorus,total potassium,available phosphorus,available potassium,and pH value),closely related with soil fertility,were chosen to establish the index system of synthetical evaluation.Based on the effect degree of each selected index on soil fertility,a judgment matrix was built,and the weight coefficient was determined by the method of correlation coefficient.Finally,under the support of the spatial analysis module of GIS (Geographic Information System),the spatial distribution properties of soil fertility in wetland ecosystem of Dongting Lake were studied.The results show that the soil fertility of Dongting Lake wetland ecosystem is not very good,and the area of type III and type IV achieves 69.8%.As a result,many countermeasures should be taken to improve the soil fertility.As for the spatial properties,the soil fertility level of central and west Dongting Lake is much higher than that of north and south part.The soil fertility of paddy field surpasses that of red soil,and the contents of soil organic matter and total nitrogen in paddy field are large.

Population sizes and group characteristics of Siberian Crane(Leucogeranus leucogeranus) and Hooded Crane(Grus monacha) in Poyang Lake Wetland

Both the Siberian Crane(Leucogeranus leucogeranus) and Hooded Crane(Grus monacha) have limited population sizes and are considered endangered by domestic Chinese and international agencies.To document the current size of their respective populations and characterize their groups,between October 2012 and April 2013 we undertook fieldwork at four nature reserve areas within the Poyang Lake wetlands.We divided Poyanghu National Nature Reserve(PYH) into the Wucheng(PWC) and Hengfeng areas(PHF),because each are each located in different counties.Our fieldwork showed that the Siberian Crane occurred mainly in PYH(364 in the PHF,158 in the PWC) and the Nanjishan Wetland National Nature Reserve(NJS,with 200 individuals).The Hooded Crane was mainly distributed in PYH(302 in the PHF and 154 in the PWC).Family groups accounted for more than 50% of the total number of groups among both species,with Hooded Cranes forming more family groups than Siberian Cranes.Typically,these groups were formed of two adults with one offspring(Siberian Crane),and two adults with two offspring(Hooded Crane),with the mean family group size of the Siberian Crane and Hooded Crane being respectively 2.65±0.53(n=43) and 3.09±0.86(n=47) individuals per group.The mean collective group size of the Siberian Crane and Hooded Crane included 28.09±24.94(n=23) and 28.94±27.97(n=16) individuals per group,respectively,with the proportion of juveniles among Hooded Cranes being more than double that seen among the Siberian Cranes.

Establishment and Utilization Plan of Shangshe Lake Wetland Nature Reserve

According to biodiversity of Shangshe Wetland Nature Reserve, the protection region from interior to exterior can be divided into a core zone which is to protect succession and reproduction in local environment, a buffer zone which is to control ill effects on the core zone, and a test zone which is to protect relevant facilities. In addition, utilization and development principles and measures of the protection region were discussed.

Impact of Drain Effluent on Surficial Sediments in the Mediterranean Coastal Wetland: Sedimentological Characteristics and Metal Pollution Status at Lake Manzala, Egypt

Surface sediments were collected from Lake Manzala, the Mediterranean coastal wetland located to the east of the Nile Delta, Egypt, to assess the effect of drain effluent on the spatial variations of sedimentary characteristics and heavy metal pollution. Grain-size compositions, textures, and heavy metal distribution patterns in sediments are presented using GIS technique. Results of the analysis of the sediment showed a clear effect of drain effluent, with an increase in fine fractions and homogeneous suspensions in transportation mode. Lake sediments were dominated by sandy mud textures, and mode of transportation was homogeneous sus- pension and rolling. Spatial distribution of heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, and Pb) was studied in the lake’s surficial sediments, along with their relationship to drain effluent and their contamination status in the ecological system. Heavy metal pollution status was assessed by means of accepted sediment quality guidelines and contamination assessment methods (contamination factor, con- tamination degree, modified contamination degree, geo-accumulation, and enrichment factor). Among the determined heavy metals, Pb had the most ecological risk. Generally, the heavy metals in the surface sediments indicated pollution risk ranging from moderate to considerable, particularly, in those sites facing drains and inlets that had the highest toxic effluent. The results were interpreted by statistical means. A cluster analysis defined areas facing drain discharge and inlets as separated groups. ANOVA indicated that most of the sedimentation and studied metals directed this clustering.

Shifts of sediment bacterial community and respiration along a successional gradient in a typical karst plateau lake wetland(China)

Bacteria are important regulators of carbon cycling in lakes and are central to sediment ecosystem processes.However,the sediment microbial communities and their respiratory responses to the lake wetland succession are poorly understood.In this study,we collected sediment samples from four different succession points(the Potamogeton lucens zone,the Scirpus tabernaemontani zone,the Scirpus triqueter zone,and the Juncus effusus zone)in the Caohai Wetland of the Guizhou Plateau(China).The bacterial communities at these succession points were studied using a high-throughput sequencing approach.The sediment microbial respiration(SR)was measured using static chambers in the field and basal respiration(BR)was determined in the laboratory.The results show that the dominant bacterial taxa in the sediment was Proteobacteria(34.7%),Chloroflexi(17.8%),Bacteroidetes(7.3%),Acidobacteria(6.6%),and Cyanobacteria(6.1%).Principal coordinate analysis showed that the microbial community structure differs significantly at different sampling points along the successional gradient,indicating that the bacterial community structure is sensitive to the lake wetland succession.Different hydrological regimes and soil characteristics such as NH_(4)^(+)-N,Fe^(2+),Mn^(2+),and sediment organic carbon(SOC)content may be important factors responsible for the differences in the sediment microbial characteristics of the different successional stages in the Caohai wetland.Additionally,it was found that the SR increased significantly from the P.lucens zone to the J.effusus zone,but BR had the opposite response.The shifts in the bacterial community structure along the successional gradient may be the main reason for the observed differences in sediment respiration.

Implications of Papyrus (<i>Cyperus papyrus</i>L.) Biomass Harvesting on Nutrient Regulation in Nyando Floodplain Wetland, Lake Victoria, Kenya

Harvesting of papyrus biomass plays a significant role in regulating ecosystem services of which one of them is nutrient uptake and cycling. Despite Lake Victoria’s wetlands being important, little is understood about its role in nutrient uptake and removal. Although there have been studies done in these wetlands, there is inadequate understanding on the implication of unselective biomass harvesting on the water quality of Lake Vitoria. At the same time, these wetlands are threatened by livelihood-related pressures which are driven by extreme hydrological regimes. This study focused on Nyando floodplain wetland located in the Eastern part of the shores of Lake Victoria which is a lifeline to many rural communities living around the lake. Papyrus biomass harvesting was assessed in two study sites of Nyando wetland and at different seasons in order to determine its implication on nutrient regulating services. Participatory tools, field survey, observation, field measurements and laboratory analysis were used. Harvesting of papyrus removed 530.6 Kg N/g DM/ha/day and 97 Kg P/g DM/ha/day in Ogenya while 771.2 Kg N/g DM/ha/day and 109.2 Kg P/g DM/ha/day were removed in Wasare. However, addition of nutrients to the wetland may lead to the problem of eutrophication especially at the site where interaction of wetland and lake water occurs. Understanding the role of papyrus harvesting patterns is crucial for better planning and management of this complex resource in a changing environment.

Distribution of wetlands and salt lakes in the Yadong region of Tibet based on remote sensing, and their geo-climatic environmental changes

Based on the 16 scenes GF-1 satellite multi-spectral remote sensing images,through the adoption of data processing methods including orthorectification,geometric rectification,data fusion and image mosaic,integrated with field surveys,the remote sensing interpretation signs for the inland wetland types have been built,and the remote sensing survey of inland wetlands in Yadong region has been initiated,with six types of inland wetlands recognized in Yadong region,namely permanent rivers,seasonal rivers,lakes,salt lakes,alpine meadows,and inundated land.The spatial distribution characteristics and the spreading rules of these wetlands have also been revealed.Based on full understanding of the overall characteristics of the inland wetlands in the Yadong region,using the three phases of TM images acquired in 1989,2003 and 2008 as well as the PMS2 data gathered by GF-1 in 2014,and the wide-range data(WFV3)gathered by GF-1 in 2020.As to the typical salt lakes,a long-time salt lakes transition study was carried out.The results show that the typical salt lakes in Yadong have been shrinking in the past three decades.The average annual shrinkage of Duoqing Co(Co means lake in Tibetan)was stronger than that of Gala Co,which are respective 87.30 hectares(usually short as ha;1 ha equals to 0.01 km^(2))/a and 24.20 ha/a;the shrinkage degree of Gala Co was higher than that of Duoqing Co,shrank by 59.27% and 35.73% respectively.Based on the remote sensing survey results and an integrated analysis of the predecessors’researchers,the reason for the shrinkage of the salt lakes is more inclined to geological factors.Geological process is manifested by a series of extensional faults at the bottom of the lake basin generated from tectonic activities,providing fluid infiltration channels,and inducing the eventual leakage of lake water to the lower strata.The result provides an important instance for understanding the evolution characteristics of wetlands and salt lakes in specific environment of the Tibetan Plateau.