Freshwater ecosystems in protected areas : conservation and management

301 Pages·2018·37.18 MB·English

by  Arthington, Angela H., Finlayson, C. Max, Pittock, Jamie

Freshwater Ecosystems in
Protected Areas
Freshwater ecosystems have the greatest species diversity per unit area and many
endangered species. This book shows that, rather than being a marginal part
of terrestrial protected area management, freshwater conservation is central
to sustaining biodiversity. It focuses on better practices for conserving inland
aquatic ecosystems in protected areas, including rivers, wetlands, peatlands,
other freshwater and brackish ecosystems, and estuaries.
The authors define inland aquatic ecosystems, showing just how diverse and
widespread they are. They examine the principles and processes that are essential
for the conservation of freshwater ecosystems and aquatic species. Major catego-
ries of threats to freshwater ecosystems and the flow-on implications for protected
area design are described. Practical case studies are used to illustrate principles
and practices applied around the world. Specific management needs of the main
types of freshwater ecosystems are considered, as well as the management of
freshwaters in the broader landscape, showing how natural resource governance
processes can be harnessed to better manage freshwater biodiversity. The book
offers commentary on how to adapt freshwater conservation practices to climate
change and ends with an insightful synthesis.
C. Max Finlayson is Director of the Institute for Land, Water and Society and
Professor for Ecology and Biodiversity at Charles Sturt University, Australia, and
the Ramsar Chair for the Wise Use of Wetlands at IHE Delft, The Netherlands.
He is a visiting Professor at the Institute for Wetland Research in the China
Academy of Forestry.
Angela H. Arthington is an Emeritus Professor in the Australian Rivers Institute
at Griffith University, Australia.
Jamie Pittock is an Associate Professor in the Fenner School of Environment and
Society at The Australian National University, Australia.
Earthscan Studies in Water Resource Management
Water Policy, Imagination and Innovation
Interdisciplinary Approaches
Edited by Robyn Bartel, Louise Noble, Jacqueline Williams and Stephen Harris
Rivers and Society
Landscapes, Governance and Livelihoods
Edited by Malcolm Cooper, Abhik Chakraborty and Shamik Chakraborty
Transboundary Water Governance and International Actors in
South Asia
The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basin
Paula Hanasz
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the Nile Basin
Implications for Transboundary Water Cooperation
Edited by Zeray Yihdego, Alistair Rieu-Clarke and Ana Cascao
Freshwater Ecosystems in Protected Areas
Conservation and Management
Edited by C. Max Finlayson, Angela H. Arthington and Jamie Pittock
Participation for Effective Environmental Governance
Evidence from European Water Framework Directive Implementation
Edited by Elisa Kochskämper, Edward Challies, Nicolas W. Jager and Jens Newig
China’s International Transboundary Rivers
China’s International Transboundary Rivers
By Lei Xie and Jia Shaofeng
For more information and to view forthcoming titles in this series, please visit the
Routledge website: http://www.routledge.com/books/series/ECWRM/
Freshwater Ecosystems in
Protected Areas
Conservation and Management
Edited by C. Max Finlayson,
Angela H. Arthington and
Jamie Pittock
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
 2018 selection and editorial matter, C. Max Finlayson, Angela H.
Arthington and Jamie Pittock; individual chapters, the contributors.
The right of C. Max Finlayson, Angela H. Arthington and Jamie
Pittock to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and
of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
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ISBN: 978-0-415-78700-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-78714-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-22638-5 (ebk)
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Contents
Editor biographies vii
Contributor biographies viii
Preface xiv
List of figures xvi
List of tables xix
List of boxes xx
1 An introduction to issues for managing freshwater
ecosystems in protected areas 1
C.M. FINLAYSON, A.H. ARTHINGTON AND J. PITTOCK
2 Freshwater ecosystem types and extents 17
G.R. MILTON AND C.M. FINLAYSON
3 Freshwater ecological principles 34
A.H. ARTHINGTON, C.M. FINLAYSON AND J. PITTOCK
4 Defining and enhancing freshwater protected areas 54
V. HERMOSO, M. THIEME, R. ABELL, S. LINKE AND E. TURAK
5 What is different about freshwater protected areas? 70
N. DUDLEY, D. JUFFE-BIGNOLI AND M. KETTUNEN
6 Managing threats to freshwater systems within
protected areas 84
J. PITTOCK, L. BAUMGARTNER, C.M. FINLAYSON, J.D. THIEM,
J.P. FORBES, L.G.M. SILVA AND A.H. ARTHINGTON
7 Conserving freshwater species in protected areas 110
E. TURAK AND J. PITTOCK
vi Contents
8 Managing specific freshwater ecosystems 144
A.H. ARTHINGTON, C.M. FINLAYSON, D.J. ROUX, J.L. NEL, W. RAST,
R. FROEND, J. TURPIE AND L. VAN NIEKERK
9 Freshwater protected area corridors 177
J. PITTOCK, M. THIEME, E. BLOM AND D. WILLEMS
10 Planning ecologically: the importance of management
at catchment scales 190
R. FLITCROFT, C. LITTLE, J. CABRERA AND I. ARISMENDI
11 Planning for the protection and management of
freshwater ecosystems inside and outside protected areas 204
J.L. NEL AND D.J. ROUX
12 Managing freshwater protected areas in the global
landscape 221
C.M. FINLAYSON, N.C. DAVIDSON, P.A. GELL,
R. KUMAR AND R.J. MCINNES
13 Climate change and the management of freshwater
protected areas 242
C.M. FINLAYSON AND J. PITTOCK
14 Freshwater ecosystems in protected areas: a synthesis 256
C.M. FINLAYSON, A.H. ARTHINGTON AND J. PITTOCK
Index 273
Editor biographies
C. Max Finlayson is Director of the Institute for Land, Water and Society and
Professor for Ecology and Biodiversity at Charles Sturt University, Australia,
and the Ramsar Chair for the Wise Use of Wetlands at IHE Delft, The
Netherlands. He is a visiting Professor at the Institute for Wetland Research
in the China Academy of Forestry. His work covers the ecology and inventory
of wetlands, including the impacts of invasive species, water pollution and cli-
mate change, and policy and management responses. He has formerly worked
with the Australian Government, the International Water Management
Institute and Wetlands International and has been a technical advisor to the
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands since the early 1990s. He has been involved
in global assessments on climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem services,
water management, and the status of wetlands. In 2017 he was made a Fellow
of the Society of Wetland Scientists.
Angela H. Arthington is an Emeritus Professor in the Australian Rivers Institute,
Griffith University, Australia. She is a research ecologist focusing on river
and fish conservation, especially through the science and management of
environmental flows. Her research findings underpin several globally adopted
environmental flow frameworks (DRIFT, ELOHA). Angela has edited
three Special Issues on biodiversity conservation and environmental flows,
produced over 220 papers and book chapters, and numerous research and
consultancy reports for Australian and international agencies. Environmental
flows research culminated in “Environmental Flows: Saving Rivers in the
Third Millennium” (2012, University of California Press). Angela received
the honorary “Making a Difference Award” (2015) from the US Instream
Flow Council.
Jamie Pittock is an Associate Professor in the Fenner School of Environment and
Society at The Australian National University, Australia. His work focuses
on policies for conservation of freshwater biodiversity. In particular, he works
on the positive synergies and conflicts among policies for conservation of bio-
diversity, responses to climate change and supply of energy, food and water.
Prior to returning to academia in 2007, Jamie worked for a range of Australian
and international environmental organisations. He was Director of WWF
International’s global freshwater program from 2001–2007.
Contributor biographies
Robin Abell is with The Nature Conservancy’s Global Water Program. Her
work focuses on developing and advancing tools and approaches for freshwa-
ter biodiversity conservation. She was the lead for Freshwater Ecoregions of
the World, has explored how to incorporate freshwater biodiversity consid-
erations into commodity certification programs, has developed a framework
for freshwater protected areas, and most recently led an effort to quantify the
co-benefits of source water protection globally. Previously, she worked in
World Wildlife Fund US’s Conservation Science Program.
Ivan Arismendi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fisheries and
Wildlife at Oregon State University, USA. He is a quantitative aquatic ecolo-
gist interested in the role of natural variability and human-related disturbances
on freshwaters across multiple spatial and temporal scales. His research focuses
on freshwater–terrestrial links, invasive species, and the consequences of cli-
mate change on freshwaters. He is also interested in issues related to diversity
and inclusion in science.
Lee Baumgartner is an Associate Research Professor specialising in fisheries and
river management issues and is based within the Institute for Land, Water and
Society at Charles Sturt University, Australia. Much of his research is applied
and has fed back into adaptive management strategies which have resulted in
state, national and global policy development. Recently, he has been involved
in research activities in the lower Mekong Basin; specifically understanding
mechanisms to help fisheries recover from human disturbance and quantifying
the value of fish in a food security context.
Diego Juffe Bignoli is a Senior Programme Officer in the Protected Areas pro-
gramme at the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre
(UNEP-WCMC). He holds a bachelor degree in agronomy and a master’s
degree in environmental management. Diego has worked for five years in the
agribusiness sector and for over eight in conservation of nature. Previously,
he worked for the International Union for Conservation of Nature on The
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and on Key Biodiversity Areas and
Contributor biographies ix
biodiversity policy. Today, his work focuses on the World Database on
Protected Areas.
Esther Blom is an ecologist from the Utrecht University. At IUCN Netherlands
she worked for the small grants for wetlands fund. She studies the high alti-
tude wetlands of Nepal and the Tibetan Plateau for The Mountain Institute.
Furthermore, she headed the freshwater team of WWF Netherlands for a dec-
ade with a specific focus on Chinese and Dutch river systems. Currently, she
is the vice director of a Dutch NGO called ARK that is focused on nature
development.
Jorge Cabrera is a forest engineer. He is a senior consultant in forestry economics,
ecological economics, markets and forestry management. He was the head of
the regional office of the Forestry Institute, Chile (INFOR) from 1979–2014
and leader of several projects related to ecosystem services payments.
Nick C. Davidson is an Adjunct Professor at Charles Sturt University, Australia
and is a consultant on wetland conservation and wise use, and on migratory
waterbirds. He was the Deputy Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands from 2000 to 2014, with responsibility for delivery of scien-
tific, technical and policy guidance, and communications. Previously he
worked for the UK’s national government conservation agencies on coastal
wetland inventory, assessment, information systems and communications,
and as International Science Coordinator for the global NGO Wetlands
International.
Nigel Dudley is a consultant ecologist, adjunct fellow at the University of
Queensland and chair of the natural solutions theme of the IUCN World
Commission on Protected Areas, focusing on the ecosystem services from pro-
tected areas. His work focuses particularly on ecosystem services, broad-scale
approaches to conservation, and the planning and management of protected
areas; it includes planning and implementing field and research projects, pro-
duction of technical reports and research papers and international policy. He
has worked in over 60 countries around the world.
Peter A. Gell is a professorial research fellow at Federation University Australia
(Ballarat). His research focuses on wetland paleoecology where he examines
records of ecological condition spanning centuries to provide temporal con-
text for understanding the nature, causes and trajectories of change. He is a
member of the scientific steering committee of Future Earth’s core project Past
Global Changes (PAGES) and leads the Aquatic Transitions working group
that examines the impact of humans on the world’s wetlands and the dynam-
ics of the ecological response to disturbance.
Marianne Kettunen is Principal Policy Analyst at the Institute for European
Environmental Policy and deputy chair of the natural solutions theme of the
IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. She has worked previously at