Ecosystem Services: Lessons From the Past for a Sustainable Future - Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Change - page 123

The multiscaled and complex problem of water management demands creative approaches
that incorporate water use efficiency, ecological restoration, as well as adaptation strategies
(Wolfe et al. 2007). In the Fort Resolution and the Slave River Delta, Northwest Territories,
palaeoecology is being integrated in to a broader socioecological, cultural, and economic
context. Natural and social sciences alongside traditional knowledge are included in a collab-
orative learning process that seeks to understand the needs of local residents, and responds
to community concerns (Wolfe et al. 2007). Throughout, the focus has been on developing
community partnerships, which provide opportunities for natural scientists to communicate
the complexities and uncertainties surrounding climate change and water availability, and
for residents to contribute to positive water management outcomes (Figure 6.4).
The integration of knowledge of past, present, and future is essential to good water man-
agement. The combination of modelling, palaeo-data and different future scenarios, provides
a powerful tool in the quest for adaptation and sustainability of water resource management.
For example, comparison of palaeo proxies with modelled data is being used to establish tar-
gets for the Everglades ecosystem of Florida, USA (Sklar et al. 2005). Here, the palaeo-records
from the past 2,000 years show shallower and more saline water associated with drainage
and water abstraction beginning in the nineteenth century (Willard and Cronin 2007, Gaiser
et al. 2006). The palaeo-records show fluctuations between wet and drought conditions,
when vegetation shifted between deepwater and drought-tolerant forms. After some
droughts, vegetation bounced back, but at other times, for example in the MWP, new trajecto-
ries were initiated and different, long-lived communities developed, including tree islands
and sawgrass ridges (Chmura et al. 2006, Willard et al. 2006). The Natural Systems Model
simulates the hydrologic behaviour of the pre-drainage Everglades based on recent climatic
records. Comparison with baseline data from palaeoecological records suggests that more
freshwater inflows will be needed if freshwater marshes and estuaries of the Everglades and
Florida Bay are to be restored (Marshall III et al. 2009). Other models utilize palaeoecological
evidence in understanding the feedbacks between land-cover change, regional climate, and
hydrology. Outputs from a coupled regional atmospheric-ecosystem dynamic model (RAMS)
suggest that changes in land cover may have decreased summer precipitation by 10-12%, and
increased diurnal temperature variability. This suggests that wetland restoration has implica-
tions for temperature and rainfall, and an adaptive approach to land use management will be
needed in order to maximize the chances of a sustainable restoration strategy for the Ever-
glades (Willard and Cronin 2007).
There is an emerging role for palaeo-databases in setting restoration and management tar-
gets for freshwater systems, allowing local effects like water abstraction and land-use change
in water catchments to be set in the context of regional climatic drivers (Gell 2010, Battarbee
et al. 2011). In Europe, a metadatabase has been established that contains palaeolimnological
evidence from almost 1,000 lakes, enabling the effects of eutrophication and acidification to
be tracked over time, through study of changing diatom assemblages and phosphorous con-
tent (Battarbee et al. 2011). In Australia, the OZPACS network is integrating records of limno-
logical change (Fitzsimmons et al. 2008, Gell et al. 2013). Such databases can be used to define
reference conditions for lake management and restoration, enabling the effects of changing