Research

Published: 08.01.08

Six years of field research conducted by the university in Estonia has just culminated in the handing over to Estonian stakeholders of eight fully automated wetland monitoring stations with the aim of achieving sustainable nature conservation management. 

The research, coordinated by Dr Chris Joyce and Dr Niall Burnside in the School of Environment and Technology, was funded by the UK government's Darwin Initiative and the Earthwatch Institute to the tune of over £250,000.

Estonia supports some of the best coastal wetlands for biological diversity in Europe but they are threatened by environmental impacts such as abandonment of grazing management and climate change, which could force a rise in the level of the Baltic Sea.

Working in conjunction with the Estonian State Nature Conservation Centre, this project focused on three coastal wetlands of international importance for their birds, plants and other wildlife. It set about quantifying key threats to wetland biodiversity based upon extensive field research, the results of which have recently been published in the international Journal of Vegetation Science.

It also identified the need for an integrated monitoring system of wetland hydrology and wildlife which could be used to assess the success of restoration management schemes and to promote sustainable management. The monitoring system, consisting of eight linked field stations measuring ground water level, soil moisture, vegetation and bird species, was established and demonstrated during the project and has now been taken on by the Estonian partners to sustain their conservation efforts.

The results of the project have also been used to inform agri-environmental policies in the Baltic States and to improve monitoring of nature reserves within the European Union.

With the completion of this phase of the Estonian research, Drs Joyce and Burnside are now planning the next stage, which will use a differential GPS to map the micro-topography of the Estonian wetlands to quantify their sensitivity to predicted sea level rise under climate change scenarios.