EcoSummit 2016 in Montpellier, France

From 26th of August to 1st of September I attended EcoSummit 2016 in Montpellier, France.  EcoSummit 2016 focused on the ecology of terrestrial ecosystems and all habitats that are integrated within those ecosystems, including river networks, wetlands and coastlines, as well as on fragile ecosystems that are more likely to suffer the consequences of climate change and anthropogenic pressure. With agriculture being intensified we need to grow awareness of the need to preserve and use sustainably world resources.
 
John Phillip Gripe giving a talk about functional ecology
 
I had the chance to present a new take on my work at the conference in the track “Small-Scale Green Infrastructures to Mitigate Degradation of Agricultural Landscapes” on:
“Identifying feasible wetland locations in catchments using LiDAR”

LiDAR provides highly detailed information on the topography. In wetland ecosystems, the soil moisture is strongly correlated with the topography and consequently with vegetation distribution. The objective of the current study was to provide a method to map the most feasible locations for nutrient removal wetlands.A digital elevation model (DEM) (1 m resolution) was hydrologically corrected and hydrological modelling was performed in ArcGIS 10.3. For determining suitable areas for wetlands several derivatives were calculated from DEM – slope, Strahler stream order and Topographical Wetness Index. We created probability maps based on those three indicators. We used visual checking from high-resolution (0.4 m) orthophotos and DEM to see if the predicted wetland areas were reasonable. Finally, all probability maps were combined together into one wetland probability map. Orthophotos from years 2005-2014 were used to validate the results. Historical orthophotos were used to determine feasible sites’ historical land use.

LiDAR based topographical data were successfully used to identify feasible sites for wetland construction. However, this method might not be so effective in watersheds with very flat terrain. Terrain analysis enabled to identify feasible areas mostly close to the streams and most of the suitable sites were found to be areas that had recently been wetlands which means that farmers are unlikely willing to invest money to reconstruct wetlands to the same areas that had been drained.
Identified feasible locations for wetland restoration.


I would kindly like to acknowledge my co-authors Chris Tanner and Sandy Elliott from NIWA and Ülo Mander from the Department of Geography, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia and Hydrosystems and Bioprocesses Research Unit, National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (Irstea), Antony, France.



Location: Montpellier, France

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