QUANTIFICATION  OF HYDROLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF INLAND WETLANDS

Wetlands perform certain hydrological functions (flood attenuation, groundwater recharge, baseflow maintenance, etc). However, the quantitative description of such functions is limited. With regard to flood control function, for example, it is unclear to what extent different types of wetlands of different sizes and in different geographic regions affect flood attenuation, or which types of floods are being affected.

This Database is intended as an inventory of quantitative statements on wetland functions from various sources. The core of this database is based on the information provided in a review paper Bullock, A. and Acreman, M., 2003. The role of wetlands in the hydrological cycle. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 7(3), 358-389. Each quantitative statement in this database is associated with the type of wetland, function, location, size, study type, etc. The user can examine consistency of conclusions about certain wetland functions within a single or several wetland types, extract information for a particular country/ region or type of wetland study.

It is recommended that the first time visitors familiarize themselves with database fields. Apart from some obvious ones like, author, year of study, local wetland term or country of study, there are also more complex fields such as hydrological types of wetlands, basis for inference of wetland function, type of study used and hydrological indices / characteristics. Support Tables explain these details. Explanations of specific terms and codes used are also provided while browsing the database. The references, which have been used to date to create this database, are listed in the List of References.

Wetland specialists are encouraged to submit entries to this database. Submitting an entry will take a few minutes. The full reference supplied with the entry will be added to the list of references, and contact details – to the "list of contributors". The rest of your entry will go to the Moderator Buffer. Every time a new entry is submitted, the Moderator is automatically informed by e-mail and ensures that the new entry matches with the database template, not duplicated, etc. The entry is then placed into the main database. Entries reflecting studies in developing countries, studies not formally published or published in grey or not easily accessible literature sources are most welcome.

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