Effects of Consumptive Water Use on Biodiversity in Wetlands of International Importance

Wetlands are complex
ecosystems that harbor a large diversity of
species. Wetlands are among the most threatened ecosystems on our
planet, due to human influences such as conversion and drainage. We
assessed impacts from water consumption on the species richness of
waterbirds, nonresidential birds, water-dependent mammals, reptiles
and amphibians in wetlands, considering a larger number of taxa than
previous life cycle impact assessment methods. Effect factors (EF)
were derived for 1184 wetlands of international importance. EFs quantify
the number of global species-equivalents lost per m2 of
wetland area loss. Vulnerability and range size of species were included
to reflect conservation values. Further, we derived spatially explicit
characterization factors (CFs) that distinguish between surface water
and groundwater consumption. All relevant watershed areas that are
contributing to feeding the respective wetlands were determined for
CF applications. In an example of rose production, we compared damages
of water consumption in Kenya and The Netherlands. In both cases,
the impact was largest for waterbirds. The total impact from water
consumption in Kenya was 67 times larger than in The Netherlands,
due to larger species richness and species’ vulnerability in
Kenya, as well as more arid conditions and larger amounts of water
consumed.