F3.2 Constructed lacustrine wetlands

F3. Artificial wetlands biome

F3

Profile summary

Full profile at https://global-ecosystems.org/explore/groups/F3.2

Brief description

Small farm dams, wastewater ponds and mine pits generally form lake-like environments, common in humid and semi-arid climates world-wide. Nutrient inputs vary greatly depending on purpose and surrounding land uses. They are often warm and shallow, and biological productivity and diversity vary widely depending on the cover and state of fringing vegetation, with the most diverse examples rivalling equivalent natural wetlands. Aquatic plants, plankton, algae and waterbugs may dominate in the shallows, supporting amphibians, turtles, fish, and waterbirds.

Key features

Small, shallow open waterbodies with high or low productivity depending on nutrient subsidies and complexity of littoral zones and benthos Relatively simple trophic networks with algae, macrophytes, zooplankton, aquatic invertebrates and amphibians.

Overview of distribution

Scattered across all regions of the world.

Map description

Freshwater ecoregions (Abell et al. 2008) were identified as containing major or minor occurrences of these functional groups if: i) their descriptions mentioned features consistent with those identifed in the profile of the Ecosystem Functional Group; and ii) if their location was consistent with the ecological drivers described in the profile. The selections were check by expert reviewers. Occurrences were mapped at 30 arc seconds spatial resolution..

Map code and version: F3.2.web.orig v1.0. DOI

Version history

Profile versions

  • v2.1 (2022-04-06): JL Nel; RT Kingsford; B Robson; M Kelly-Quinn; LJ Jackson; R Harper; DA Keith.1
  • v2.01 (NA): NA.
  • v2.0 (2020-06-01): JL Nel; RT Kingsford; B Robson; M Kelly-Quinn; LJ Jackson; R Harper; DA Keith.
  • v1.0 (2020-01-20): JL Nel; RT Kingsford; LJ Jackson; DA Keith.

Available maps

Read more details about the current map versions here.

  • Indicative Map (code: F3.2.WM.nwx, version v1.0)

Read more details about older or alternative versions of maps for this functional group.

  • Indicative Map: requires review (code: F3.2.IM.orig, version v1.0)
  • Web navigation: superceeded (code: F3.2.web.orig, version v1.0)

References

Main references

References used in the different versions of the profiles.

  • Chester ET, Robson BJ (2013) Anthropogenic refuges for freshwater biodiversity: Their ecological characteristics and management Biological Conservation 166: 64 – 75 DOI:10.1016/j.biocon.2013.06.016
  • Downing JA, Prairie YT, Cole JJ, Duarte CM, Tranvik LJ, Striegl RG, McDowell WH, Kortelainen P, Caraco NF, Melack JM, Middelburg JJ (2006) The global abundance and size distribution of lakes, ponds, and impoundments Limnology and Oceanography 51: 2388-2397 DOI:10.4319/lo.2006.51.5.2388
  • Kloskowski J, Green AJ, Polak M, Bustamante J, Krogulec J (2009) Complementary use of natural and artificial wetlands by waterbirds wintering in Doñana, south‐west Spain Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 19: 815-826 DOI:10.1002/aqc.1027

Map references

References used in the different versions of the maps (current and discarded).

  • Abell R, Thieme ML, Revenga C, Bryer M, Kottelat M, Bogutskaya N, Coad B, Mandrak N, Contreras Balderas S, Bussing W, Stiassny MLJ, Skelton P, Allen GR, Unmack P, Naseka A, Ng R, Sindorf N, Robertson J, Armijo E, Higgins JV, Heibel TJ, Wikramanayake E, Olson D, López HL, Reis RE, Lundberg JG, Sabaj Pérez MH, Petry P (2008) Freshwater ecoregions of the world: A new map of biogeographic units for freshwater biodiversity conservation, BioScience 58: 403–414. DOI:10.1641/B580507
  • Messager, M.L., Lehner, B., Grill, G., Nedeva, I., Schmitt, O. (2016) Estimating the volume and age of water stored in global lakes using a geo-statistical approach Nature Communications 13603 DOI:10.1038/ncomms13603
  • Ramankutty, N., A.T. Evan, C. Monfreda, and J.A. Foley (2008) Farming the planet: 1. Geographic distribution of global agricultural lands in the year 2000 Global Biogeochemical Cycles 22, GB1003 DOI:10.1029/2007GB002952

Footnotes

  1. This is the current version available at official site.↩︎