This is a key document on NBS that sets out an assessment framework for NBS projets. The global standards for NBS is a self assessment that consists of 8 criteria and indicators which assess a number of benefits provided by NBS. It is a key document if you wish to assess your NBS project.
This review document reviews the role beavers play in stream and water resource management. The document seeks to answer the following research questions: How does beaver activity affect the functioning of rivers and streams and water resources? What are the potential benefits and limitations of the ecosystem engineering capabilities of beavers for ecosystem restoration and environmental management in Scotland? What are the remaining knowledge gaps for which further research is needed?
This paper looks at various aspects of floodplain management. For example, floodplain delineation, causes of disturbance, ecosystem services provided by floodplains and measures that can be utilised to mitigate flood events.
Depending on their management, riparian buffer strips have been shown to benefit water quality, biodiversity and mitigate flood risk. Given the multifunctional nature of riparian buffer strips, this review explores the need to identify the mechanisms and conflicts by which they operate in order to promote targeted management of explicit environmental pressures. The review considers the effects of nutrient loadings, soil saturation, vegetation and buffer management on their performance and recommends the integration of various measures at catchment scales to ensure riparian buffers can confer greatest benefit.
The positive water quality effects of a range of agricultural practices were reviewed to assess their effectiveness and the timescale by which their benefits were exhibited. These practices included improved landscape engineering, improved crop management and reductions in farming intensity. The study recommends that policy makers intending to implement environmental management practices consider the spatial and temporal scales by which specific measures are effective and measurable.
The role of the hyporheic zone (HZ) in mediating the nutrient turnover of surface waters is well accounted for in academic literature, but river restoration strategies rarely explicitly target the HZ. This review describes the importance of vertical and horizontal connectivity between the HZ and surface and groundwaters, and the HZ microbial community which govern the biogeochemical processing of nutrients. The review calls for carefully designed experiments which asses hyporheic rehabilitation strategies at streambed and catchment scales.
This paper reviews the removal efficiency of five different measures addressing nitrate and phosphorus pollution in agricultural catchments in 11 countries worldwide: (i) free water surface constructed wetlands, (ii) denitrifying bioreactors, (iii) controlled drainage, (iv) saturated buffer zones and (v) integrated buffer zones. Metanalyses showed that all five measures reduced nitrate loading of polluted waters and often acted as sinks for phosphorus. Importantly, there was large variation in the performance of the measures which are linked to differences in design, catchment runoff characteristics and hydrology.
This paper describes the main mechanisms by which nitrogen is removed from agricultural wastewater and details the effectiveness of 4 important forms of NBS in nitrogen uptake and attenuation, namely: Constructed Wetlands, Riparian Buffer Strips, Vegetated Channels and Water Sediment Control Basins. The paper also describes recent research on the harvesting of nitrogen captured in NBS such as the harvesting of duckweed from ponds receiving agricultural wastewater and processing the duckweed to produce animal feed and fertiliser.
This technical review paper focuses on methods to model both natural and human-made in-channel wood (or leaky barriers). It looks at a number of modelling techniques highlighting those methods which are the most popular but also looking at the benefits and challenges of certain modelling approaches.
This is a useful review article that looks at the benefits and challenges behind Natural Flood Management. It contains useful boxes that set out some examples. The academic paper has been writen as a primer; therefore it is accessable to a wide range of readers.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
This project is funded under the EPA Research Programme 2021-2030 and co-funded by OPW. The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.