Ecology, functioning and management of wetland systems

This special issue of Environmental Science and Pollution Research highlights selected papers presented at the 8th Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) European Chapter International Conference “Wetland Systems: Ecology, Functioning and Management”, which was held in Padova, Italy, from 1st to 4th September 2013, under the patronage of the Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural resources, Animals and Environment—DAFNAE of the University of Padova. The SWS series of conferences, which began in Bangor, Wales, in 2006, has a history of being interdisciplinary, covering a range of environmental and technical aspects for the conservation, management and sustainable use of wetlands. In this line, the 2013 Conference brought together academics, professionals and policy makers to discuss the most recent advances, approaches and strategies in the fields of ecology, functioning and management of wetland systems. The conference agenda included the following sessions: pollution removal and geochemistry, wetlands and global change, wetlands vegetation, wetland management, peatlands and pollution. The topics are in the frame of the “wise use” concept of wetlands, defined by the Ramsar Convention (1971) as “the maintenance of their ecological character, achieved through the implementation of ecosystem approaches, within the context of sustainable development”. The wise use has therefore at its heart the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and their resources, for the benefit of humankind. It is evident that experts of different disciplines have to be involved in the delineation of the steps towards the best utilisation of wetlands. In this sense, the contributions presented at the 8th SWS European Chapter Conference provided new findings in basic knowledge on vegetation, geochemistry cycles, inter relationships between wetlands and climate change as well as on applicative aspects regarding management and pollution control. This multidisciplinary approach gives continuity to the spirit of the International events organised by wetland experts of the DAFNAE Department, started in 2007 with the International Conference on “Multifunctions of Wetland Systems” held in Legnaro, Italy (Borin et al., 2009), and followed by the co-organisation of the IWA 12th International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control, held in Venice, Italy, in 2010. Among all the works presented at the 8th SWS European Chapter Conference, 12 papers were accepted and included in this special issue. These papers highlighted current research on greenhouses gases emissions, peatlands management and evolution, use of plants inmicropollutant removal, potential of wetland systems to treat sludge and liquid fraction of digestate, possible use of wetland plants as renewable energy sources and application of a standardised method to assess the ecologic impact on planning projects. In particular, Mander et al. (2014) presented results on greenhouse gas emissions by riparian buffers in relation to groundwater table manipulation and age of grey alder stand in Estonia, finding that flooding significantly increases CH4 emissions, but decreases CO2 and N2O emission. The age of grey alder did not affect CO2 and methane emissions, while older alders induced higher N2O emission than younger due to higher N concentration in soil.