Extensive global wetland loss over the past three centuries - Article in Nature
08 February 2023: In an article published today in Nature an international research team led by Stanford University has reconstructed where and when wetlands were converted between the years 1700 and 2020, and why this was done. The Division Agronomy was involved in the study by providing information on agricultural projects to convert wetlands as well as about drainage in irrigated agriculture.
At least 3.4 million square kilometres of wetlands were mostly converted for use as farmland during the period studied: an area roughly the size of India. Wetland ecosystems have declined by about 21 to 35 percent over the past 300 years due to human intervention. This is far less than the 50 to 87 per cent loss estimated in previous studies. The lower estimate is probably due to the fact that the study did not focus solely on regions with historically high wetland losses. Wetland loss was greatest in the mid-20th century, with regional concentrations in Europe, the USA and China. More than 80 per cent of the former natural wetlands have been drained in Ireland, Hungary, Lithuania, Germany and Italy. In general, the former wetlands in the temperate regions have been particularly badly affected, while the remote boreal-arctic peatlands have remained comparatively intact.
This first systematic, data-based analysis of the extent of wetland loss worldwide over such a long period of time will contribute to a better understanding of the causes of wetland loss and the new data will enable to better quantify the effect of these land use changes in follow-up studies, for example on climate change, the loss of biodiversity, as well as on productivity increases in agriculture.
Additional information:
Article published in Nature
Article published in Nature (for readers without subscription to the journal
Link to a commentary by Nicholas J. Murray (James Cook University, Townsville, Australien)
Press release of the University Göttingen
Contact at the Division Agronomy:
- Prof. Dr. Stefan Siebert, Tel. 0551-39-24359, stefan.siebert@uni-goettingen.de
Top: The Pietzmoor is the largest natural wetland in the Lüneburger Heide, Northeast Niedersachsen.
Center: Map of cumulative percent wetland loss per pixel estimated from 1700 to 2020 (yellow to red colors) and map of regions with dense present-day wetland and with low rates of loss (blue colors). This map shows the differences in the geographic distribution of anthropogenically-impacted wetlands versus non impacted wetlands and can be used to prioritize regions of wetland protection and restoration.
Bottom: The Orshinski Mokh peatland in Tver Province of the Russian Federation. A quarter of the peatland was drained for peat extraction between 1950-1990 primarily as fuel for a power station and supported a large settlement (Foto: Kirill Shakhmatov).