Are wetlands efficient at absorbing nutrients? —a case study of selected wetlands in Uusimaa.

Abstract

Humans, plants, and animals all benefit greatly from clean water. The world we live in today is always changing, and so is our environment. Human activities such as agriculture and urbanisation have an impact on our ecosystem by causing eutrophication and pollution, among others. To fight these environmental problems, humans chose to construct wetlands to reduce eutrophication. As a result, the goal of this study is to evaluate six wetlands in the western Uusimaa region and determine if they serve the function of trapping and retaining nutrients, to compare nutrients concentration at inflow and outflow positions and to analyse the land use and soil type of catchment areas and link them to nutrients runoff. The nutrient runoff from the catchment areas depends on the land use. Data were collected over an eight-month period and examined in laboratories - graphs, charts, and statistical analyses were also used to analyse the data set. The results of the statistical tests revealed that there was a significant difference in the level of phosphorus from catchment areas between inflow and outflow sites of Furuborgsvägen wetland: however, there was no significant difference between Söderlandsvägen and Västankvarnsvägen wetlands. Based on our sampling, I concluded that wetland 2 is the only wetland that functions optimally, i.e., it is the only wetland that prevents eutrophication: however, the other two wetlands are recently constructed and their efficiency will most likely improve over time.