Humans have increased the discharge of pollution, altered water flow regime and modified the morphology of rivers. All these actions have resulted in multiple pressures on freshwater ecosystems, ...undermining their biodiversity and ecological functioning. The European Union has adopted an ambitious water policy to reduce pressures and achieve a good ecological status for all water bodies. However, assessing multiple pressures on aquatic ecosystems and understanding their combined impact on the ecological status is challenging, especially at the large scale, though crucial to the planning of effective policies. Here, for the first time, we quantify multiple human pressures and their relationship with the ecological status for all European rivers. We considered ecological data collected across Europe and pressures assessed by pan-European models, including pollution, hydrological and hydromorphological alterations. We estimated that in one third of EU's territory rivers are in good ecological status. We found that better ecological status is associated with the presence of natural areas in floodplains, while urbanisation and nutrient pollution are important predictors of ecological degradation. We explored scenarios of improvement of rivers ecological status for Europe. Our results strengthen the need to halt urban land take, curb nitrogen pollution and maintain and restore nature along rivers.
•A methodology to assess and value water ecosystem services is proposed.•The approach links pressures, ecological status and delivery of ecosystem services.•Biophysical indicators and economic ...methods per type of service are provided.•The approach can be used to assess the benefits of restoration of aquatic ecosystems.•The results are relevant for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive.
Ecosystem service concepts can offer a valuable approach for linking human and nature, and arguments for the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. Despite an increasing interest in the topic, the application of these concepts for water resource management has been hampered by the lack of practical definitions and methodologies. In this study we review and analyse the current literature and propose an approach for assessing and valuing ecosystem services in the context of water management. In particular, to study the link between multiple pressures, ecological status and delivery of ecosystem services in aquatic ecosystems under different scenarios of measures or future changes. This is of interest for the development of River Basin Management Plans under the EU Water Framework Directive. We provide a list of proxies/indicators of natural capacity, actual flow and social benefit for the biophysical assessment of the ecosystem services. We advocate the use of indicators of sustainability, combining information on capacity and flow of services. We also suggest methods for economic valuation of aquatic ecosystem for each service and spatial scale of application. We argue that biophysical assessment and economic valuation should be conducted jointly to account for the different values of ecosystem services (ecologic, social and economic) and to strengthen the recognition of human dependency on nature. The proposed approach can be used for assessing the benefits of conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems in the implementation of the EU water policy.
We quantify main ecosystem services (i.e. the contribution of ecosystems to human well-being) provided by rivers, lakes, coastal waters and connected ecosystems (riparian areas and floodplains) in ...Europe, including water provisioning, water purification, erosion prevention, flood protection, coastal protection, and recreation. We show European maps of ecosystem service capacity, flow (actual use), sustainability and efficiency. Then we explore the relationship between the services and the ecosystem condition at the European scale, considering the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems, reported under the EU Water Framework Directive, as a measure of the ecosystem integrity and biodiversity.
Our results indicate that a higher delivery of the regulating and cultural ecosystem services analysed is mostly correlated with better conditions of aquatic ecosystems. Conversely, the use of provisioning services can result in pressures on the ecosystem. This suggests the importance of maintaining good ecological condition of aquatic ecosystems to ensure the delivery of ecosystem services in the future. These results at the continental scale, although limited to the ecosystem services under analysis, might be relevant to consider when investing in the protection and restoration of aquatic ecosystems called for by the current EU water policy and Biodiversity Strategy and by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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•We quantify main ecosystem services of rivers, lakes, coastal waters in Europe.•We show European maps of water ecosystem service capacity, flow and sustainability.•We explore the link between ecosystem services and conditions (ecological status).•Higher ecosystem service delivery is mostly correlated to better ecological status.•The results show the relevance of protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems.
The European Parliament recently called for urgent measures to halve food waste in the EU, where consumers are responsible for a major part of total waste along the food supply chain. Due to a lack ...of data on national food waste statistics, uncertainty in (consumer) waste quantities (and the resulting associated quantities of natural resources) is very high, but has never been previously assessed in studies for the EU. Here we quantify: (1) EU consumer food waste, and (2) associated natural resources required for its production, in term of water and nitrogen, as well as estimating the uncertainty of these values. Total EU consumer food waste averages 123 (min 55-max 190) kg capita annually (kg cap yr), i.e. 16% (min 7-max 24%) of all food reaching consumers. Almost 80%, i.e. 97 (min 45-max 153) kg cap yr is avoidable food waste, which is edible food not consumed. We have calculated the water and nitrogen (N) resources associated with avoidable food waste. The associated blue water footprint (WF) (the consumption of surface and groundwater resources) averages 27 litre per capita per day (min 13-max 40 l cap d), which slightly exceeds the total blue consumptive EU municipal water use. The associated green WF (consumptive rainwater use) is 294 (min 127-max 449) l cap d, equivalent to the total green consumptive water use for crop production in Spain. The nitrogen (N) contained in avoidable food waste averages 0.68 (min 0.29-max 1.08) kg cap yr. The food production N footprint (any remaining N used in the food production process) averages 2.74 (min 1.02-max 4.65) kg cap yr, equivalent to the use of mineral fertiliser by the UK and Germany combined. Among all the food product groups wasted, meat accounts for the highest amounts of water and N resources, followed by wasted cereals. The results of this study provide essential insights and information on sustainable consumption and resource efficiency for both EU policies and EU consumers.
•In EU nutrient pollution harms aquatic ecosystems condition and their services.•Current nutrient load to European seas is 3.3–4.1 TgN/y and 0.26–0.30 TgP/y.•EU policy measures could decrease the ...nutrient export to the seas −14% N and −20% P.•Widening the nutrient imbalance in coastal ecosystems, affecting eutrophication.•Further nutrient reductions could be possible by a combination of measures.
Intensive agriculture and densely populated areas represent major sources of nutrient pollution for European inland and coastal waters, altering the aquatic ecosystems and affecting their capacity to provide ecosystem services and support economic activities. Ambitious water policies are in place in the European Union (EU) for protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems under the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. This research quantified the current pressures of point and diffuse nitrogen and phosphorus emissions to European fresh and coastal waters (2005–2012), and analysed the effects of three policy scenarios of nutrient reduction: 1) the application of measures currently planned in the Rural Development Programmes and under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD); 2) the full implementation of the UWWTD and the absence of derogations in the Nitrates Directive; 3) high reduction of nutrient, using best technologies in wastewaters treatment and optimal fertilisation in agriculture. The results of the study show that for the period 2005–2012, the nitrogen load to European seas was 3.3–4.1 TgN/y and the phosphorus load was 0.26–0.30 TgP/y. Policy measures supporting technological improvements (third scenario) could decrease the nutrient export to the seas up to 14% for nitrogen and 20% for phosphorus, improving the ecological status of rivers and lakes, but widening the nutrient imbalance in coastal ecosystems (i.e. increasing nitrogen availability with respect to phosphorus), affecting eutrophication. Further nutrient reductions could be possible by a combination of measures especially in the agricultural sector. However, without tackling current agricultural production and consumption system, the reduction might not be sufficient for achieving the goals of EU water policy in some regions. The study analysed the expected changes and the source contribution in different European regional seas, and highlights the advantages of addressing the land-sea dynamics, checking the coherence of measures taken under different policies.
The contribution illustrates an integrated assessment framework aimed at evaluating the relationships between multiple pressures and water body status for the purposes of river basin management.
The ...framework includes the following steps. (1) Understanding how the different pressures affect the status of water bodies. This entails the characterization of biophysical state variables and the definition of a causal relationship between pressures and status. Therefore this step involves interaction between experts bearing ecological understanding and experts providing models to represent the effect of pressures. (2) Identifying the relevant pressures to be addressed through appropriate measures to improve the status of water bodies. (3) Evaluating reduction targets for the relevant pressures identified in a river basin, by weighting the effort associated to reducing individual pressures and the potential benefits in terms of water body status. (4) Designing management measures through a creative process and political discussion of alternative options, balancing costs, benefits and effectiveness based on engineering and economic analysis. (5) Simulating scenarios of implementation of a programme of measures in order to check their effectiveness and robustness against climate and land use change.
We discuss the five steps of the assessment framework, and particularly the interaction between science and policy at the different stages. We review the assessment tools required at each step and, for setting optimal pressure reduction targets (step 3), we propose and illustrate a simplified multicriteria approach based on semi-quantitative assessment, which produces frontiers of optimal trade-offs between effort spent on measures, and achievements.
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•We propose a five-steps integrated assessment framework for river basin management measures.•The framework regulates the relation between scientific insights and the design of management measures.•In the framework, we propose a simple method to set pressure reduction targets.•We highlight how the interaction between science and policy unrolls at the different steps.•Separating place and role of science and politics is required in decision support.
•We analyse how ecosystem service concepts are used in EU water policy implementation.•Five case studies are compared: Italy, United Kingdom, Romania, Belgium and Portugal.•Legal and planning ...instruments implementing the Water Framework Directive are examined.•Water ecosystem services are analysed and discussed with panels of stakeholders.•Stakeholders opinion on benefits, risks and knowledge gaps on ecosystem services is examined.
In this research we explored how the concepts and approaches of ecosystem services are currently used in water management in Europe, in the application of River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) developed for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Five case studies have been considered, located in the River Basin Districts of the Po river (Italy), Scotland (United Kingdom), Scheldt river (Belgium), Danube river (Romania), Sado and Mira rivers and Ribeiras do Algarve (Portugal). These cases represent different regional contexts of application of this EU water policy, with specific socio-economic drivers and environmental issues. Each case study has developed an operational framework to analyse ecosystem services in practice together with a group of local stakeholders. In each regional case, we examined how EU water policy and RBMPs are implemented, considered legal and planning instruments from the national to the local scale, and we analysed the use of ecosystem service terms and concepts in the relevant planning instruments. In parallel, we explored the view of local stakeholders and water managers on the topic, collecting their opinion on three major aspects: the usefulness of the concepts and approaches of ecosystem services for WFD river basin management plans, the risks and benefits of their use, and the knowledge needs to put the concepts into practice. The major drawback of the ecosystem service approach seems to be the challenge for practitioners of understanding new concepts and methodologies, while the major advantages are that it highlights all the hidden benefits of a water body in good health and promotes multi-functionality and sustainability in water management. The results of this study provide a picture across Europe of the current use of the concepts of ecosystem services in the RBMP and relevant insight on the opinion of local stakeholders and water managers.
The European environmental legislation on water, in particular the 2000 Water Framework Directive, requires the evaluation of nutrient pressures and the assessment of mitigation measures at the river ...basin scale. Models have been identified as tools that can contribute to fulfill these requirements. The objective of this research was the implementation of a modeling approach (Geospatial Regression Equation for European Nutrient losses (GREEN)) to assess the actual nitrogen pressures on surface water quality at medium and large basin scale (European scale) using readily available data. In particular the aim was to estimate diffuse nitrogen emissions into surface waters, contributions by different sources (point and diffuse) to the nitrate load in rivers, and nitrogen retention in river systems. A comprehensive database including nutrient sources and physical watershed characteristics was built at the European scale. The modeling partially or entirely covered some of the larger and more populated European river basins, including the Danube, Rhine, Elbe, Weser, and Ems in Germany, the Seine and Rhone in France, and the Meuse basin shared by France and Belgium. The model calibration was satisfactory for all basins. The source contribution to the in‐stream nitrogen load, together with the diffuse nitrogen emissions and river nitrogen retention were estimated and were found to be in the range of values reported in the literature. Finally, the model results were extrapolated to estimate the diffuse nitrogen emission and source apportionment at the European scale.
Changes in climate, either long or short-term changes, can alter significantly the hydrological behavior of catchments. A statistical analysis of a thirty-four year time series of meteorological data ...collected in the Vantaanjoki watershed (Southern Finland) shows an increase in temperature and precipitation. The hydrological model SWAT was applied to the Vantaanjoki watershed in order to assess the impact of the measured transient climate change on the hydro-biogeochemical behavior of the catchment. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated for a period extending from 1965 to 1998. The model performance was evaluated comparing the measured and predicted time series for flow, suspended solids, total nitrogen and total phosphorus at the watershed outlet. The model was then run for the same period with climatic data where the observed increase in temperature and precipitation was removed using non-parametric techniques. It was shown that the observed climate change was responsible for the decrease of the snow cover and increase of winter runoff. On an annual basis, small increases were noted in nutrient losses, however, with significant seasonal differences. Globally, the observed climate change was responsible for an increased contribution of diffuse nutrient losses to the total nutrient load. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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