Restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity

Methods, tools and products

WaterVision Nature (WWN) is a freely available tool that calculates the effects of climate change, nitrogen deposition and water management on the terrestrial vegetation of nature areas. The tool’s applications include the assessment of the effects of water management, water abstraction and nitrogen deposition on nature, the identification of development opportunities for nature, and the assessment of the effectiveness of restoration measures. 

ESTAR (Eco-Statistical Tool to Analyse Relevés) and INDICA are software tools for the analysis of vegetation plots (relevés). Among other things, these tools provide a classification of the moisture regime (‘aquatic’, ‘wet’, ‘moist’ and ‘dry’), and calculate the average indicator values for salinity, moisture regime, nutrient-availability and acidity. ESTAR’s uses include that of an early warning tool: early changes in the species composition relate to changes in the water resource management. INDICA is used primarily as a comprehensive measurement tool for various metrics, and works on the basis of vegetation inventory. 

The ecological requirements of habitat types bdescribe in table format the range of groundwater levels in which habitat and vegetation types usually occur in the Netherlands. These tables are often used to provide a spatial picture of the impact of water management and water abstraction on nature, to substantiate the need to implement measures, and to determine the effectiveness of measures.

Projects

KWR works within various projects on the restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity. Here are a few examples: 

• Dune water utilities face big challenges in the management and restoration of dry dune grasslands: as a consequence of the nitrogen deposition, and the associated extra accumulation of nitrogen in the soil, the ecological quality of these grasslands deteriorates considerably. Lower levels of nitrogen deposition would allow for the restoration of biodiversity. The Restoration of dry dune grasslands after high nitrogen deposition project looked at the role of organic matter in the availability of nitrogen in the soil, and the relationship this has with the biodiversity of dry dune grasslands.

• Beginning in 1999, the water abstraction activities of Evides Waterbedrijf in the Middel and Oostduinen dunes were extensively modified for the purpose of enhancing the sustainability of the open, artificial infiltration, and restoring the wet and dry dune nature. Based on 30-year data on water levels, chemistry and vegetation, the project studied whether the nature restoration objectives were actually achieved. 

• Groundwater is crucially important for nature in stream valleys. This was the reason that a multi-year project was launched on the best way of measuring so-called seepage fluxes and translating the data into computer models. The research will determine which measurement methods are most effective, and how the models might be improved. 

• As a result of the decades-long use of fertilisers on agricultural lands in infiltration areas, the seepage-dependant nature areas in stream valleys are increasingly affected by polluting substances. On a commission from the Knowledge Network for Nature Restoration and Management (OBN), KWR carried out research into the effect of such harmful substances, and looked at how managers can best deal with them. 

• Low-productive habitat types have for many decades been affected by high nitrogen deposition. To preserve and restore these low-productive habitat types, nitrogen mitigation measures have been implemented. This Joint Research Programme (‘Waterwijs’) project investigated the effectiveness of two frequently applied measures: deposition of calcareous sand on dry grasslands and sod cutting in dry heaths. The research was carried out both in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.