Wetland and Human Ecology

Javier Martínez López

PhD Student

University of Murcia (Murcia, Spain)

Kenyon College (OH, USA)

Mediterranean salt-marshes: Camargue (France)

Freshwater ecosystems assessment

Freshwater Ecosystems in Patagonia

Freshwater ecosystems assessment

Patagonian Wetlands (Chile)

Freshwater ecosystems assessment

Patagonian Rivers (Chile)

Freshwater ecosystems assessment

Patagonian Lakes (Chile)

Freshwater ecosystems assessment

Mediterranean salt-marshes: Murcia (Spain)

Freshwater ecosystems assessment

Wetland values

Wetland values

• Adapted flora and fauna

• Bird migrations

• Nutrients retention

• Carbon storage

• Floodings control (sponges)

Ecological Indicators

Wetland research

Great Lakes Wetlands (OH, USA)

Freshwater ecosystems assessment

Study objects and methods

Vegetation -LIDAR

Dynamic Modelling

Land uses - Landsat

Wetland research

Topography & Hydrology - DEM

Wetland loss in the last decades

Global Change

Gilbert Garcin

Environmental Research Framework

Global Sustainability crisis:

• Natural Resources:

– Freshwater and topsoil crisis (terrestrial systems)

– Fisheries collapse (marine systems)

– Energy crisis

– Waste crisis

• Global warming

• Biodiversity loss

• Financial crisis

How do we measure development?Indicators: what we measure affects what we do

Driving forces

Gilbert Garcin

Values crisis?Earth Day 1971

52nd Biennale (Venice, Italy 2007)

Environmental Impact

Gilbert Garcin

New Paradigms

Cradle to Cradle Design (McDonough & Braungart)

Nested product life cycles

Waste = Food

New Paradigms

• Education on values: personal, social, cultural, intercultural and environmental (holistic thinking)

• Corporate Social Responsibility: ethical banking, local trade.

The FLOWmarket Institute

The FLOWmarketNext generation luxury

Danish Design Centre, Copenhagen 2007

The Flow principles

• Individual Flow: Balanced physical, mental and spiritual growth

• Collective Flow: Balanced cultural, economical, social and technological growth

• Environmental Flow: Balanced environmental growth

Thank you for your attention!