Combating eutrophication in Sweden : Importance of constructed wetlands in agricultural landscapes

The Wetland Centre at Halmstad University was commissioned by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Board of Agriculture to evaluate the effects of artificially created wetlands in Sweden between the years 1996 and 2002 with regard to nutrient retention and biodiversity. The creation of these wetlands has been financed either by Rural Development Support (RDS: Miva, Project support or Lmiva without Project support) or by Local Investment Programmes (LIP). The results are presented separately for the four different categories of constructed wetlands: Constructed wetlands financed by LIP (Local Investment Programmes) (1998-2002). Constructed wetlands financed by PS (Project Support) (2000-2002). Constructed wetlands financed by Miva (Restoration and Establishment of Wetlands and Ponds on Arable land and Semi-natural Grazing land) (1996-1999). Constructed wetlands financed by Lmiva (RDS wetlands that only get management support) (2000-2002). The main purpose of this study has been to evaluate the extent to which wetlands created by means of these different support systems have contributed to reduced eutrophication and increased biodiversity. The purpose has not been to evaluate individual wetlands but to give an overview of the differences in efficiency between the various support systems and, to some extent, the difference in results between various geographical regions within Sweden. It has therefore been necessary to include a large number of wetlands in the evaluation, which means that extensive field sampling in the individual wetlands has not been possible. The estimates concerning nutrient retention has therefore been based on modelling, and the biodiversity has been assessed by using dragonflies (Odonata) as indicator organisms. Information on 908 wetlands with a total area of 2860 hectares financed by RDS has been compiled and registered. In terms of area, these wetlands divide into 1815 ha financed by Miva, 920 ha financed by PS and 125 ha by Lmiva. In addition, 274 wetlands created by means of LIP, with a total area of 439 ha, have been registered. Field surveys and sampling has been conducted in more than 100 wetlands randomly selected from this register. It is mainly the results from these selected wetlands that are presented here