Wetland productivity determines trade-off between biodiversity support and greenhouse gas production.

Establishing wetlands for nutrient capture and biodiversity support may introduce trade-offs between environmentally beneficial functions and detrimental greenhouse gas emissions. Investigating the interaction of nutrient capture, primary production, greenhouse gas production and biodiversity support is imperative to understanding the overall function of wetlands and determining possible beneficial synergistic effects and trade-offs. Here, we present temporally replicated data from 17 wetlands in hemi-boreal Sweden.

Improving environmental and biodiversity monitoring in the Baltic Sea using DNA barcoding of Chironomidae (Diptera).

As for many other regions, environmental and biodiversity monitoring of the brackish Baltic Sea suffers from low species resolution for several taxa. One such case is the benthic larvae of midges Chironomidae (Diptera), which are estimated to constitute about 30% of the macrozoobenthos species of the Baltic Sea and are important indicators of environmental quality. We assessed the usefulness of COI (cytochrome oxidase I) gene barcoding to improve species resolution and its potential for implementation in monitoring programmes.

High species richness of Chironomidae (Diptera) in temporary flooded wetlands associated with high species turn-over rates.

Species richness and species turn-over of Chironomidae was studied in irregularly flooded wetlands of the River Dalälven flood-plains in central Sweden. The chironomid fauna, sampled with emergence traps in six wetlands over six summers, contained as much as 135 species, and the cumulative species curves indicated that the regional species pool contain several more species. Recurrent irregular floods may have induced this high chironomid species richness and the high species turn-over in the temporary wetlands, as the dominance between terrestrial and aquatic species shifted between years.

Production of wetland Chironomidae (Diptera) and the effects of using Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis for mosquito control.

Massive mosquito nuisance problems, caused by the flood-water mosquito Aedes sticticus, occur after floods in the flood plains of the River Dalälven, central Sweden. Since 2002, the biological mosquito larvicide Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) has been used to control these mosquitoes.