A manmade stormwater wetland in Kalmar, SE Sweden, sized 1 ha and receiving water from residential and road areas, was monitored over the first years after inundation with respect to chemistry and biology. Water flow and chemistry was analysed in years 2-4, mainly on a monthly basis, but, in the final year, every second month. This revealed that total nitrogen, according to the Swedish Environmental Quality Criteria (EQC), typically showed moderate or high concentrations, whereas total phosphorous levels were very high or extremely high. Metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn) concentrations were low or moderate in terms of EQC. Yearly average reduction of nitrogen was 173 kg ha(-1) y(-1), tending to increase over time, and for phosphorous 12.1 kg ha(-1) y(-1), tending to decrease. Vegetation analysis was performed in years 1-4 by noting all species in 27 consecutive zones around the wetland system. This showed that one year after filling with water, the vegetation was already well established with >30 plant species in the entire pond system, and this increased only slightly. After four years, the shoreline vegetation cover had become denser, especially with larger graminoids such as common reed (Phragmites australis) and sea club-rush (Bolboschoenus maritimus), and submersed vegetation almost disappeared. There was a tendency for common species to become more dominant, and for less common species to become rarer. Using sweep net sampling of benthic invertebrates during years 0-2, ca 50 species/higher taxa were observed during the first year, largely because of the appearance of many beetles, especially dytiscids. However, these decreased the following years. Apart from these animals, in the first few months the invertebrate colonisation was dominated by chironomids and corixids, whereas later prominent increases were noticed for the isopod Asellus aquaticus, the snail Physa fontinalis, and the mayfly nymph Cloeon dipterum. The results are discussed in terms of wetland values for biodiversity and nutrient reduction, suggesting that these objectives seem possible to combine in stormwater wetlands.