Considering the potential for natural wetlands to store and retain water in the landscape,restored and constructed wetlands are increasingly implemented as Nature‐BasedSolutions (NBS) to mitigate downstream flooding. However, there is a frequent lack ofknowledge of the performance of NBS, and particularly wetlands, and how to best selectperformance indicators to measure their effectiveness. The aim of this study was to assessthe flood regulation services of multiple constructed wetlands at catchment scale. TheSWAT+ model was used to assess the impacts of 35 constructed wetlands in the 193 km2Råån catchment in southwest Sweden. The assessment was based on a paired simulationscenario, with and without wetlands, and performance was evaluated based on impacts onthe downstream river hydrograph (peak flow rate, time-to-peak, recession curve shape,daily streamflow average) as well as event-based (daily average streamflow for differentprecipitation ranges), descriptive (average wetland storage capacity), consequential(overbank flooding) and social (social acceptance) indicators. The results implied that theflow regulating capability of the modeled wetlands was directly related to their outflowmechanisms. The wetlands had an average storage capacity of 0.38 m3 per m2 area butbecause the wetlands seemed to frequently exceed their maximum storage capacity duringhigh flow events, and the excess water was immediately spilled downstream, the wetlandsprovided limited flood regulation services. There were no visible impacts on thehydrograph-related indicators and the daily streamflow average was reduced by anegligible 0.02%. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in wetlandperformance between small and heavy rainfall events and the model output showed nosigns of overbank flooding for either wetland scenario. In terms of social acceptance, recentwetland projects in Råån catchment seem to have been well-received by farmers andlandowners in the area. However, lack of wetland-specific data, such as volume and dailyinflow and outflow data, as well as other model uncertainties, motivated a low confidencegrade for the indicators. In fact, if indicator values are to be useful tools in the futureintegration of wetlands as nature-based solutions, in-situ monitoring data of wetland waterbalance components are required. To support future policies and decision-making, adaptedtools and further research are needed to assess the impact of NBS on upstream-downstream processes. / Naturliga våtmarkers förmåga att hålla kvar och lagra vatten i landskapet gör attrestaurerade och anlagda våtmarker alltmer implementeras som naturbaserade lösningarför att mildra översvämningar i nedströms belägna områden. Det råder dock brist påkunskap om hur effektiva naturbaserade lösningar är och hur nyckelindikatorer bäst kanväljas för att mäta hur väl dessa system fungerar. Syftet med denna studie var att utvärderaanlagda våtmarkers förmåga att mildra översvämningar i ett avrinningsområde. SWAT+modellen användes för att bedöma påverkan av 35 anlagda våtmarker i Råånsavrinningsområde (193 km2) utanför Helsingborg. Bedömningen baserades på ettsimuleringspar, med och utan våtmarker, och effektiviteten utvärderades baserat påhydrografens egenskaper (flödestopp, stegringsfasen, recessionsfasen, daglig medel-vattenföring) samt med en nederbördsbaserad (daglig medelvattenföring för olikanederbördsintervall), beskrivande (genomsnittlig lagringskapacitet), konsekvensbaserad(översvämmad mark) och social (social acceptans) indikator. Resultatet antydde att denflödesreglerande förmågan hos de modellerade våtmarkerna var direkt kopplad till derasutflödesmekanismer. Våtmarkerna hade en genomsnittlig lagringskapacitet på 0.38 m3 perm2 yta men eftersom de ofta verkade överskrida sina maximala lagringskapaciteter underhögflöden, och överskottsvattnet omedelbart släpptes igenom nedströms, tillhandahöllvåtmarkerna en mycket begränsad flödesdämpande funktion. Det fanns inga synligaeffekter på de hydrografrelaterade indikatorerna och den dagliga medelvattenföringenminskade med försumbara 0.02%. Dessutom sågs inga signifikanta skillnader mellan småoch kraftiga nederbördshändelser och modellen visade inga tecken på översvämmad markför något av våtmarksscenarierna. Vad gäller social acceptans tycks de senastevåtmarksprojekten i Rååns avrinningsområde ha tagits emot väl av lantbrukare ochmarkägare i området. Bristen på våtmarksspecifika data, såsom volym och dagliga in- ochutflödesdata, samt andra modellosäkerheter medförde dock ett lågt förtroende förindikatorerna. Om indikatorvärden ska vara användbara verktyg i den framtida integ-reringen av våtmarker krävs uppmätta data över våtmarkernas vattenbalanskomponenter.För att stödja framtida beslutsfattande behövs även anpassade verktyg och ytterligareforskning för att bedöma påverkan av naturbaserade lösningar på uppströms-nedströmsprocesser.

Human activities on land have a direct and cumulative impact on water and other natural resources within a catchment. This land-use change can have hydrological consequences on the local and regional scales. Sound catchment assessment is not only critical to understanding processes and functions but also important in identifying priority management areas. The overarching goal of this doctoral thesis was to design a methodological framework for catchment assessment (dependent upon data availability) and propose practical catchment management strategies for sustainable water resources management. The Nyangores and Ruiru reservoir catchments located in Kenya, East Africa were used as case studies. A properly calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrologic model coupled with a generic land-use optimization tool (Constrained Multi-Objective Optimization of Land-use Allocation-CoMOLA) was applied to identify and quantify functional trade-offs between environmental sustainability and food production in the ‘data-available’ Nyangores catchment. This was determined using a four-dimension objective function defined as (i) minimizing sediment load, (ii) maximizing stream low flow and (iii and iv) maximizing the crop yields of maize and soybeans, respectively. Additionally, three different optimization scenarios, represented as i.) agroforestry (Scenario 1), ii.) agroforestry + conservation agriculture (Scenario 2) and iii.) conservation agriculture (Scenario 3), were compared. For the data-scarce Ruiru reservoir catchment, alternative methods using digital soil mapping of soil erosion proxies (aggregate stability using Mean Weight Diameter) and spatial-temporal soil loss analysis using empirical models (the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation-RUSLE) were used. The lack of adequate data necessitated a data-collection phase which implemented the conditional Latin Hypercube Sampling. This sampling technique reduced the need for intensive soil sampling while still capturing spatial variability. The results revealed that for the Nyangores catchment, adoption of both agroforestry and conservation agriculture (Scenario 2) led to the smallest trade-off amongst the different objectives i.e. a 3.6% change in forests combined with 35% change in conservation agriculture resulted in the largest reduction in sediment loads (78%), increased low flow (+14%) and only slightly decreased crop yields (3.8% for both maize and soybeans). Therefore, the advanced use of hydrologic models with optimization tools allows for the simultaneous assessment of different outputs/objectives and is ideal for areas with adequate data to properly calibrate the model. For the Ruiru reservoir catchment, digital soil mapping (DSM) of aggregate stability revealed that susceptibility to erosion exists for cropland (food crops), tea and roadsides, which are mainly located in the eastern part of the catchment, as well as deforested areas on the western side. This validated that with limited soil samples and the use of computing power, machine learning and freely available covariates, DSM can effectively be applied in data-scarce areas. Moreover, uncertainty in the predictions can be incorporated using prediction intervals. The spatial-temporal analysis exhibited that bare land (which has the lowest areal proportion) was the largest contributor to erosion. Two peak soil loss periods corresponding to the two rainy periods of March–May and October–December were identified. Thus, yearly soil erosion risk maps misrepresent the true dimensions of soil loss with averages disguising areas of low and high potential. Also, a small portion of the catchment can be responsible for a large proportion of the total erosion. For both catchments, agroforestry (combining both the use of trees and conservation farming) is the most feasible catchment management strategy (CMS) for solving the major water quantity and quality problems. Finally, the key to thriving catchments aiming at both sustainability and resilience requires urgent collaborative action by all stakeholders. The necessary stakeholders in both Nyangores and Ruiru reservoir catchments must be involved in catchment assessment in order to identify the catchment problems, mitigation strategies/roles and responsibilities while keeping in mind that some risks need to be shared and negotiated, but so will the benefits.:TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY........................................................................ i DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENT WORK AND CONSENT ............................. ii LIST OF PAPERS ................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... iv THESIS AT A GLANCE ......................................................................................... v SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ vi List of Figures......................................................................................................... x List of Tables........................................................................................................... x ABBREVIATION..................................................................................................... xi PART A: SYNTHESIS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 Catchment management ...................................................................................1 1.2 Tools to support catchment assessment and management ..............................4 1.3 Catchment management strategies (CMSs)......................................................9 1.4 Concept and research objectives.......................................................................11 2. MATERIAL AND METHODS................................................................................15 2.1. STUDY AREA ..................................................................................................15 2.1.1. Nyangores catchment ...................................................................................15 2.1.2. Ruiru reservoir catchment .............................................................................17 2.2. Using SWAT conceptual model and land-use optimization ..............................19 2.3. Using soil erosion proxies and empirical models ..............................................21 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION..............................................................................24 3.1. Assessing multi-metric calibration performance using the SWAT model...........25 3.2. Land-use optimization using SWAT-CoMOLA for the Nyangores catchment. ..26 3.3. Digital soil mapping of soil aggregate stability ..................................................28 3.4. Spatio-temporal analysis using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) 29 4. CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE METHODS USED ......................................31 4.1. Assessing suitability of data for modelling and overcoming data challenges...31 4.2. Selecting catchment management strategies based on catchment assessment . 35 5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................36 6. REFERENCES ............................ .....................................................................38 PART B: PAPERS PAPER I .................................................................................................................47 PAPER II ................................................................................................................59 PAPER III ...............................................................................................................74 PAPER IV ...............................................................................................................88

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It is my contention that through activating participatory design and community engagement strategies, in conjunction with innovative construction methods that address issues of resource scarcity, the standard of living and level of accessibility to critical resources in impoverished portions of Honduras can be drastically improved. The newly provided model of construction can be done it such a way that it is cost effective in its building method, and provides highly sought after scarce critical resources. This allows participants to allocate more of their finances towards other necessary resources they normally would not be able to acquire. A new community center designed to address the issues of resource scarcity and job opportunities will stand as a first built model with the intent that the methods of construction and innovations employed will be replicated in further applications. The center will be innovative in its construction in such a way that it recognizes local building practices, and brings some new ideas to them allowing for a method of construction that is both improved and more affordable. The center will also take a fresh look at ways the community can address issues of food and water through architectural innovations. The intent is that the success of the center’s combined interventions will encourage local people to replicate the design ideas in their own residential applications. This will improve the quantity of resources available in the community and also start to build a new job market for installing the newly desirable systems. Resource scarcity has wreaked havoc on the typical Honduran villages’ sense of community. Hondurans are in constant competition with their neighbors for scarce critical resources required to sustain life. These resources include, food, water, shelter, and employment opportunities. Violent conflict often arises within communities as individuals compete with their neighbors for the basic necessities required to sustain life. While architecture alone cannot solve all the issues that contribute to the problem of violence, a new center with a program that builds community and provides needed resources stands to potentially curb neighborhood conflict and begin the community healing process. The center stands as not only a replicable model, but also as an immediate community element to bring neighbors back together physically in daily interactions and emotionally in the new resources being provided.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Water quality analysis forms the basis in assessing and monitoring catchments. As urban development continuously increase, pollution sources increase in either point source (wastewater treatment works, industrial effluents) and/or non-point source origin (storm water discharge, domestic pollutants), accumulating pollutants in the environment. It was only recently discovered that certain pollutants have subtle disrupting effects on the endocrine system resulting in health related problems associated with the reproductive system and thyroid system (growth and development) of animals and potentially humans. Natural water resource management proves to include limited biological assays measuring endpoints for cytoxicity, inflammatory activity and endocrine disruption. The broad objective of this study was therefore to include several bioassays, not normally used in municipal (City of Cape Town) monitoring programmes, along with water quality data collected by the City of Cape Town. The Eerste/Kuils River catchment system, Western Cape, under the auspices of the City of Cape Town was chosen, and although this catchment does not contribute to drinking water resources, is subjected to a range of anthropogenic influences (industrial effluents, household wastewater, agricultural runoff). Within the short time-frame available for this study (six months) two months, July (following a dry summer and autumn season) and October (following a wet winter and early spring season) were selected for water quality monitoring. Spatial variation (with relevance to specific point and non-point contamination) among sampling sites were also obtained by choosing several (n=10) along the catchment. Specific aim of the study therefore included: Firstly (Chapter 2), the use of in vitro bioassays, lactate-dehydrolises assay (LDH) for cytotoxic activity, pro-inflammatory hormone Interleukin-6 (IL-6) secretion by human blood cells and a specific Salmonella ELISA for faecal contamination, in conjunction with routine chemical and biological (mostly microbiological) monitoring activities. The study indicated significant variation among sites in all microbiological measures as well in IL-6 secretion and Salmonella presence. Between months, variations were also evident in certain variables. Secondly (Chapter 3), two bioassays using the yolk precursor protein, vitellogenin (Vtg) as endpoint was implemented in a) an in vitro Xenopus laevis liver slice assay (five day exposure) and b) an in vivo Zebrafish (Danio rerio) bioassay (seven day exposure) assessing estrogenic activity in the Eerste/Kuils River catchment. Although estrogen spiked positive control water samples stimulated Vtg production in vitro as well as in vivo, no dramatic estrogenic activity was measured at any of the selected sites. Thirdly (Chapter 4), a bioassay using the thyroid controlled metamorphosis in Xenopus laevis tadpoles to assess effects on the thyroid hormonal system was implemented. Thyroid stimulatory activity, compared with a negative control sample, was measured at two sites along the catchment. Although the practical implementation of the tadpole semi-static exposure protocol (water replacement) proved to be labour intensive, all the added bioassays proved to be valuable tools to add valuable information regarding water quality. It is clear that more research related to anthropogenic influences along the Eerste/Kuils River catchment system are needed, specifically in monitoring monthly variations to better understand annual variation in several of the endpoints studied. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Waterkwaliteit vorm die basis vir die evaluering en monitering van opvangsgebiede. Voortdurende stedelike ontwikkeling gee aanleiding tot ‘n toename in die voorkoms van besoedelstowwe in die natuurlike omgewing deur gelokaliseerde (punt) bronne (rioolwerke/industriële uitvloeisel) en/of nie gelokaliseerde (nie punt) bronne (vloed uitlaat/huishoudelike uitvloeisels) van besoedeling. Dit het onlangs aan die lig gekom dat van hierdie chemise besoedelstowwe subtiel die endokriene sisteem versteur en so aanleiding gee tot gesondheidsprobleme in terme van die voortplantingsisteem en tiroied sisteem (groei en ontwikkeling) by diere en moontlik ook die mens. Daar is beperkte gebruik van biologiese toetse wat inligting verskaf oor sitotoksiteit, inflammatoriese aktiwiteit en endokriene versteuring. Die doel van hierdie studie was dus om van hierdie biologiese toetse, wat normaalweg nie deel uitmaak van die roetine munisipale (Stad van Kaapstad) opvangsgebied monitering nie, gebruik te maak. Die Eerste-, Kuilsrivier, Wes Kaap, onder beheer van Stad Kaapstad is gekies en alhoewel die opvangsgebied nie water bydra tot drinkwaterbronne nie, word die opvangsgebied beïnvloed deur verskeie mensgemaakte bronne van besoedeling (afloop vanuit omliggende lanbougebiede). Binne die kort tydsraamwerk van die projek (ses maande) is besluit om twee maande, Julie (volg ‘n droë somer en herfs seisoen) en Oktober (volg ‘n nat winter en vroeë lente seisoen) vir water kwaliteit monitering te kies. Ruimtelike variasie langs die loop van die opvangsgebied is ingesluit deur moniteringspunte (n=10), met in ag name van die potensiële besoedelingsbronne. Spesifieke doelwitte van die projek sluit in: Eerstens (Hoofstuk 2), om die in vitro biotoetse, laktaat hidrolise (LDH) vir sitotoksisiteit, proinflammatoriese hormoon Interleuikin-6 (IL-6) vir inflammatoriese aktiwiteit, vrygestel deur menslike bloedselle en ‘n Salmonella ELISA vir ontlasting besoedeling saam met bestaande chemise en biologiese (hoofsaaklik migrobiologiese) veranderlikes te gebruik. Die studie het getoon dat beduidende variasie in alle mikrobiologiese toetse asook IL-6 vrystelling en Salmonella voorkoms bestaan het tussen versamelpunte. Maandelikse variasie in sekere van die veranderlikes het ook voorgekom. Tweedens (Hoofstuk 3), is twee biotoetse wat die dooiervoorloperproteïen, vitellogeen (Vtg) as eindpunt gebruik geimplimenteer in a) ‘n in vitro Xenopus laevis lewersnit biotoets (vyf dag blootstelling) en b) ‘n in vivo Zebravis (Danio rerio) biotoets (sewe dag blootstelling) om estrogenisiteit in die Eerste-, Kuilsrivier opvangsgebied te evalueer. Alhoewel, die estrogeen behandelde positiewe kontrole water monsters Vtg produksie veroorsaak het in beide die in vitro lewer-kulture en in vivo vistoets, is geen dramatiess estrogeniese aktiwiteit by enige van die moniteringspunte gevind nie. Derdens (Hoofstuk 4), is ‘n biotoets wat die tiroïedbeheerde metamorfose in Xenopus laevis paddavisse gebruik om effekte op die tiroïedsisteem te evalueer. Die differensiële stimulering (versnelling), in vergelyking met ‘n negatiewe kontrole watermonster, van die tiroied sisteem is by twee moniteringspunte in die opvangsgebied waargeneem. Alhoewel die praktiese implementering van die paddavis semi-statiese (water word gereeld vervang) biotoets arbeidsintensief is, het alle bykomstige biotoetse waardevolle bykomstige inligting oor water kwaliteit verskaf wat ‘n belangrike bydrae tot ingeligte bestuursbesluite kan verleen. Dit is duidelik dat meer navorsing int verband met die menslike invloed langs die Eerste-, Kuilsrivier opvangsgebied nodig is, veral met maandlikse monitering vir seisoenale veranderinge.

Le changement climatique dû à l'augmentation des émissions de gaz à effet de serre est considéré comme l'un des principaux défis pour les êtres humains dans 21ème siècle. Il conduira à des changements dans les précipitations, l'humidité atmosphérique, augmentation de l'évaporation et probablement augmenter la fréquence des événements extrêmes. Les conséquences de ces phénomènes auront une influence sur de nombreux aspects de la société humaine. Donc, il y a une nécessité d'avoir une estimation robuste et précise de la variation des facteurs naturels dus au changement climatique, au moins dans les événements de cycle et d'inondation hydrologiques pour fournir une base solide pour atténuer les impacts du changement climatique et s'adapter à ces défis. Le but de cette étude est de présenter une méthodologie pour évaluer les impacts de différents scénarios de changement climatique sur une zone inondable du bassin de la rivière côtière dans la région centrale du Viet Nam - bassin versant de Vu Gia Thu Bon. Les simulations hydrologiques sont basées sur un modèle hydrologique déterministe validé qui intègre la géologie, les sols, la topographie, les systèmes fluviaux et les variables climatiques. Le climat de la journée présente, sur la période de 1991-2010 a été raisonnablement simulée par le modèle hydrologique. Climat futur (2091-2100) information a été obtenue à partir d'une réduction d'échelle dynamique des modèles climatiques mondiaux. L'étude analyse également les changements dans la dynamique des inondations de la région de l'étude, le changement hydrologique et les incertitudes du changement climatique simulation. / Climate change due to the increase of greenhouse gas emissions is considered to be one of the major challenges to mankind in the 21st century. It will lead to changes in precipitation, atmospheric moisture, increase in evaporation and probably a higher frequency of extreme events. The consequences of these phenomena will have an influence on many aspects of human society. Particularly at river deltas, coastal regions and developing countries, the impacts of climate change to socio-economic development become more serious. So there is a need for a robust and accurate estimation of the variation of natural factors due to climate change, at least in the hydrological cycle and flooding events to provide a strong basis for mitigating the impacts of climate change and to adapt to these challenges. The aim of this study is to present a methodology to assess the impacts of different climate change scenarios on a flood prone area of a coastal river basin in the central region of Viet Nam – Vu Gia Thu Bon catchment. The hydrological simulations are based on a validated deterministic hydrological model which integrates geology, soil, topography, river systems and climate variables. The present day climate, over the period of 1991-2010 was reasonably simulated by the hydrological model. Future climate (2091-2100) information was obtained from a dynamical downscaling of the global climate models. The study also analyzes the changes in the flood dynamics of the study region, the hydrological shift and the uncertainties of climate change simulation.

The growing demand for clean water has led to the adoption of the EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60 EC). New legislation has a major impact on the water management and the national economy and provides numerous requirements, including "good status" of all water bodies. The Framework Directive also implies the need for an economic analysis of the optimal process to achieve good status by using the cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). The application of this method in water management is struggling with a number of methodological complications. One of the affected areas in the Czech Republic is the catchment of the Orlik Reservoir that faces excessive eutrophication. Eutrophication is caused by excessive introduction of phosphorus. The main sources of phosphorus are municipal wastewater, aquaculture and agriculture. As illustrated by professional research mentioned in this work and the actual processing of CEA of the catchment of the Orlik Reservoir, a wide range of methodological problems can be avoided by using appropriate tools. This thesis also presents that achieving of good status of the catchment would require annual cost of CZK 602 million. The most significant cost bearers are according to the CEA fisheries and municipalities.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The Kuils River Catchment is an urban river catchment that forms part of the larger Kuils-Eerste River system draining the eastern half of the Cape Metropolitan Authority area and Stellenbosch Municipality. Rapid urbanisation has resulted in the encroachment of residential and industrial areas into the river system through channelization and sewage disposal. This research project intends to assess the quality of surface runoff in the Kuils River catchment and determining non-point source pollutant loading rates in the catchment using GIS-based modelling. The study results show how modelled potential sources of surface runoff and NPS pollutants using desktop GIS analysis tools in a sequential process that involved different levels of software applications could explain the characteristics of the catchment. With the help of the Expected Mean Concentration (EMC) values associated with surface runoff from land use/covers, NPS pollutant loads were assessed downstream towards the Kuils River Catchment outlet using the Nonpoint Source Pollution and Erosion Comparison Tool (N-SPECT) based in ArcGIS. The outputs from this model consist of predicted annual pollutant loading (mg/mvyear) for each Kuils-Eerste River that occurs in the catchment. The results have shown clearly the spatial distribution of sources of particular pollutants in the catchment. Further or advanced processing knowhow with this model might provide far reaching insights into the problem and it is however recommended that these results produced using N-SPECT be compared to those of other hydrologic models using the same inputs.

Vi lever i en urbaniserad värld och mer än hälften av jordens befolkning bor i städer globalt. God tillgång och tillgänglighet till bostadsnära grönområden har påvisats öka vår psykiska och fysiska hälsa. Världshälsoorganisationen (WHO) och Förenta nationerna (FN) har båda antagit program med mål att öka och säkra tillgängligheten till grönområden. I detta examensarbete jämförs fyra olika metoder för att analysera nuläget av tillgång och tillgänglighet i Falkenberg. Analysen genomförs i tre steg. I steg 1 definieras de grönområden som ingår i analysen. I steg 2 jämförs buffert- och nätverksanalys och i steg 3 beräknas tillgängligheten med 2 modeller av Two-Step Floating Catchment Area metoden (2SFCA). De polygonbaserade beräkningar som sker med buffert- och nätverksanalys beräknar tillgången ensidigt och beräknar den spatiala tillgängligheten eller befolkningstrycket på ett grönområde. Med 2SFCA-metoderna kombineras tillgången och efterfrågan i samma analys. Analysen finner att cirka 90 % av invånarna i Falkenberg har tillgång till bostadsnära grönområden inom 300 meter, dock är både tillgång och tillgänglighet lägre i de centrala delarna av tätorten. I studien jämförs traditionella metoder för att beräkna den spatiala tillgängligheten så väl som nyare metoder. 2SFCA-metoderna beräknas med och utan avståndsviktning. I vidare studier vore det intressant att implementera en kvalitetsaspekt där så väl ett grönområdes kvalitet som dess avstånd avgör attraktionskraft. / More than half of the world population live in cities or urban areas today. Urban green spaces (UGS) have been found to have an impact on the mental and physical well-being of urban citizens. The World health organisation (WHO) and United Nations (UN) both have set goals to increase and secure the accessibility to UGS, especially for children and young people. The aim of the study is to measure the spatial accessibility to UGS in Falkenberg, Sweden. The work consists of three steps. Step 1 is to define what constitutes a green space. Step 2 aims to compare buffer and network analysis to determine which method is best suited for the third step. Step 3 is to measure the accessibility by using the Two-step Floating Catchment Area Method (2SFCA) and thereafter integrate a Gaussian distance decay to the function and conduct the measures with the Enhanced two-step floating catchment area method (E2SFCA).  Step 2 finds that there is no major difference in access to green space between the buffer and network analysis as approximately 90 % of the population have access to green space within 300 meters from their home. In step 3 the implementation of the 2SFCA Method finds that 13 % has no access to UGS and 41 % has a low accessibility score. By introducing the distance decay function the population with low-mid to high-mid accessibility score increases as well as the overall accessibility. This is due to the nature of E2SFCA which does not treat the distance threshold dichotomous. Further studies could benefit from implementing a probability function to the E2SFCA method to incorporate the attraction to a UGS by using the qualitative values in combination with the distance.

The European Water Framework Directive 2000 established a new emphasis for the management of freshwaters by setting ecologically-based water quality targets that are to be achieved through holistic, catchment-scale, ecosystem management. However, significant knowledge gaps exist in the understanding of the cumulative effectiveness of multiple mitigation measures on a number of pollutants at a catchment scale. This research contributes to improved understanding of the effectiveness of an ecosystem management approach to deliver catchment-scale water quality improvements on the National Trust Holnicote Estate on Exmoor, UK. This research is part of a larger multi-objective project funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), to demonstrate the benefits of land use interventions for the management of flood risk. This thesis evaluates the effects of upland ditch blocking on physico-chemical and biological parameters of water quality in an upland Horner Water catchment one year after habitat restoration, and establishes a solid baseline for the monitoring of the effects of current and future land management changes in a lowland, intensively managed, agricultural Aller catchment. The spatial variability of soil physical and chemical properties (bulk density, total carbon (TN), nitrogen (TN), C:N ratio, δ15N, total phosphorus (TP), inorganic phosphorus (IP), organic phosphorus (OP)) and water quality determinands (suspended sediment (SS), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total particulate carbon (TPC), total oxidised nitrogen (TON) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP)) in the two study catchments with contrasting land use has been characterised and linked to the prevailing land use. Agricultural land use resulted in extensive homogenisation of soil properties. The spatial dependence of all soil properties, except for bulk density and δ15N, was stronger in the agricultural than the semi-natural catchment (nugget:sill ratio 0.10-0.42 in the Aller and 0.15-0.94 in Horner Water), while bulk density, TP, inorganic phosphorus (IP), organic phosphorus (OP), C:N ratio, δ15N and carbon storage showed a longer range of spatial auto-correlation in the agricultural catchment (2,807-3,191 m in the Aller and 545-2,599 m Horner Water). The central tendency (mean, median) of all soil properties, except for IP and δ15N, also differed significantly between the two catchments (P < 0.01). The observed extensive alteration of soil physical and chemical properties in the agricultural catchment is likely to have long-term implications for the restoration of ecosystem functioning and water quality management. The intensive land use seems to have resulted in an altered ‘catchment metabolism’, manifested in a proportionally greater total fluvial carbon (dissolved and particulate) export from the agricultural than the semi-natural catchment. The agricultural catchment supported significantly higher DOC concentrations (P < 0.05) and the quality of DOC differed markedly between the two study catchments. The prevalence of more humic, higher molecular weight compounds in the agricultural catchment and simpler, lower molecular weight compounds in the semi-natural catchment, indicated enhanced microbial turnover of fluvial DOC in the agricultural catchment as well as additional allochtonous terrestrial sources. During an eight month period for which a comparable continuous turbidity record was available, the estimated SS yields from the agricultural catchment (25.5-116.2 t km2) were higher than from the semi-natural catchment (21.7-57.8 t km2). Further, the agricultural catchment exported proportionally more TPC (0.51-2.59 kg mm-1) than the semi-natural catchment (0.36-0.97 kg mm-1) and a similar amount of DOC (0.26-0.52 kg mm-1 in the Aller and 0.24-0.32 kg mm-1 in Horner Water), when normalised by catchment area and total discharge, despite the lower total soil carbon pool, thus indicating an enhanced fluvial loss of sediment and carbon from the intensively managed catchment. Whilst detection of catchment-scale effects of mitigation measures typically requires high resolution, resource-intensive, long term data sets, this research has found that simple approaches can be effective in bridging the gap between fine scale ecosystem functioning and catchment-scale processes. Here, the new macro-invertebrate index PSI (Proportion of Sediment-sensitive Invertebrates) has been shown to be more closely related to a physical measure of sedimentation (% fine bed sediment cover) (P = 0.002) than existing non-pressure specific macro-invertebrate metrics such as the Lotic Index for Flow Evaluation (LIFE) and % Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera & Trichoptera abundance (% EPT) (P = 0.014). Further testing of PSI along a pronounced environmental gradient is recommended as PSI and % fine bed sediment cover have the potential to become a sensitive tool for the setting and monitoring of twin sedimentation targets. Upland ditch management has not had any discernible effect on water quality in the semi-natural upland catchment one year after restoration, which may be due to the short-term post-restoration monitoring period but may also reflect benign effects of large-scale earth moving works on this high quality environment. The conceptual understanding of catchment processes developed in this thesis suggests that cumulatively, the recently completed mitigation works in the lowland agricultural catchment will likely result in reduced sediment and nutrient input into the aquatic environment. However, further research is needed to build on this detailed baseline characterisation and inform the understanding of the effectiveness of combined mitigation measures to reduce the flux of multiple contaminants at the catchment scale.