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Ecosystem services of wetlands in the landscape
Brynychová, Kateřina ; Petrtýl, Miloslav (advisor) ; Svobodová, Veronika (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to get to know and understand the importance of eco-system services which wetlands provide in the country. Only thorough understanding and evaluation of ecological functions of wetlands in the country can lead to the sustainable management and securing of wetland protection. Ecological functions of wetlands depend on the natural processes (physical, chemical, and biological) which take place in them. The processes taking place in wetlands provide benefits to people; these are called eco-system services, whose values are determined by a man.
Wetland is a unique biotype which is formed on the border between a land and a water ecosystem. It is characteristic of a special organism habitat whose existence requires a continuous influence of surface water for their prosperity, or at least very high levels of subsurface waters.
The thesis focuses on the function of wetlands in the hydrological regime of the country, on collecting of nutrients, biomass production, water-banks stabilization, erosion protection, landscape formation by water flows, and their role in flood suppression, energy dissipation, and microclimate stabilization.
All natural wetland areas in the Czech Republic are currently more or less affected by human activity. By majority they are damaged mainly due to intensive agricultural efforts. For these reasons wetlands should start getting integrated in the agricultural landscape.
The significance of wetlands on the one hand and their serious exposure to damage on the other hand is reflected also in the international agreement on the protection of wetlands, the Ramsar Convention. The most important wetlands of the Czech Republic are listed in the Register of Wetlands of International Significance according to the Ramsar Convention.
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