Accounting for Wetlands in Biocapacity

Wetlands play a critical role in climate regulation and ecosystem services provision. However, their transitional nature and variable hydrology complicate precise definition and consistent assessment across the globe, leading to data gaps and limited representation in environmental accounting frameworks. The Footprint (EF) and Biocapacity (BC) are paired sustainability indicators that together describe the balance between human demand on nature and the biosphere’s regenerative capacity. This thesis integrates wetlands as a distinct category in the Biocapacity framework using global datasets on wetland area and productivity to construct national accounts for Iceland, Sweden, and Germany from 1961 to the present. A sensitivity analysis evaluates how alternative data sources and methodological choices influence results relative to a 2022 reference scenario. Findings reveal that although Biocapacity outcomes are sensitive to spatial and methodological assumptions, wetland contributions remain largely overshadowed by larger and more productive land-use categories. The current Biocapacity system boundaries don’t adequately capture wetland functions or management histories through the omission of carbon stocks, land degradation and land-use emissions, challenging key assumptions of the framework and indicating the need for more nuanced representation of complex ecosystems. Nevertheless, including wetlands improves the framework’s potential to communicate wetland ecosystem service provision to the general public.

Abstract extracted from on the University of Iceland’s institutional repository, where you will also find the full thesis

Watch Petra’s Presentation to Learn More