MANAGING THE EFFECTS OF
MULTIPLE STRESSORS ON
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS UNDER
WATER SCARCITY
Contact information
Project Coordinator
Prof. Damià Barceló, CSIC [email protected]
Project Deputy Coordinators
Dr. Alícia Navarro, CSIC [email protected]
Laia Sabater, CSIC [email protected]
www.globaqua-project.eu
The research leading to GLOBAQUA received funding from the European
Union’s Seventh Programme under grant agreement No 603629
BACKGROUND
Currently freshwater systems are under threat by a variety of stressors,
such as organic and inorganic pollution, geomorphological alterations,
land cover change, water abstraction, invasive species and pathogens. The interaction between stressors can result in complex effects
on organisms and ecosystems, with implications to water bodies’ ecological status and their ecosystem services.
Persistent stressors such as water scarcity can limit biodiversity and
economic activities in entire regions. In addition, water scarcity can
drive the effects of other stressors acting on river ecosystems, leading to intermittency in water flow, and having implications on hydrologic connectivity, negative side-effects on biodiversity, water quality,
and ecosystem functioning. The joint occurrence of a number of
stressors (chemical, geomorphological, biological) under water scarcity may produce novel and unfamiliar synergies and most likely very
pronounced effects.
This is the rationale of the EU-funded project GLOBAQUA (Managing
the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems under water
scarcity). GLOBAQUA aims at identifying the prevalence and interaction among stressors under water scarcity in order to improve the
knowledge on relationships among multiple stressors and to improve
water management practices and policies.
The project received funds under the Theme FP7- ENV.2013.6.2-1
‘Water resources management under complex, multi-stressor conditions’.
SPECIFIC GOALS
GLOBAQUA aims at improving the scientific knowledge on the relationships between multiple stressors to identify potentially synergistic
linkages, and to assess how these interactions determine changes in
the chemical and ecological status of water bodies. Special attention
will be given to the role of water scarcity and to the relationships
between biota and stressors under this condition. This envisages an
integrative approach of effects on water quality, organisms and ecosystems function and services. Moreover, GLOBAQUA aims at establishing cause-effect relationships between multiple levels using inte-
grative modelling. The alteration of ecosystem services related to the
effects on socio-economic development will be investigated as well.
GLOBAQUA will contribute at improving water management practices
and policies by taking into consideration the influence of multiple
stressors. This will be performed through the analysis of current policies and the definition of scenarios of alternative management practices and policies (e.g.: the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/
EC) and other related regulations).
EXPECTED IMPACTS
• Better understanding of the relationships between multiple stressors
and their impacts on organisms and ecosystems
• Definition of how multiple stressors under water scarcity determine
changes in the chemical and ecological status of several basins, and
implications for water management practices and policies within the
EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and other related regulations
APPROACH
The project will last five years, from February 2014 to January 2019.
GLOBAQUA will focus on six case-study river basins, which encompass a rich set of socio-ecological conditions (mountainous areas,
highly populated regions, agricultural and industrial areas), and a wide
geographic coverage.
Two of the basins are located in the Mediterranean European region
(Ebro - Spain and Evrotas - Greece), and one basin in North Africa
(Souss Massa - Morocco). One continental basin (Sava – Slovenia,
Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia), one Alpine basin (Adige
- Italy) and one UK river basin (Anglian River - UK) provide further outlook on the implications between multiple stressors and water quality
and quantity. In some of the basins (Adige, Sava and Evrotas) an
extensive field work will collect information, while in Anglian and Souss
Massa the existing data will be used to evaluate different management
scenarios.
Field work will be complemented with manipulative field experiments
and indoor experimental approaches using artificial channels.
Module IMPLICATIONS will focus on:
• relating changes in stressors with those in diversity and ecosystem functioning, and in ecosystem services
• characterizing the socio-economical setting of case-study basins
• defining the impact of water scarcity on ecosystem services in
economic terms
Module ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT will define the impact
of multiple stressors on water quality, quantity, and ecosystems, and
the potential implementation of the major findings on European policy.
In particular it will:
• develop a model framework to assess scenarios affecting availability, quality and demand of water at the European scale
• define the implications of the stressors interactions for the European policy
Module DISSEMINATION will guarantee:
• communication of the results to researchers, policy makers, water managers, and land planners
• training programs for different end-users
• cooperation with stakeholder and scientific panels.
STRESSORS
GLOBAL CHANGE
PHYSICAL HABITAT
ALTERATION
BIOLOGICAL ELEMENTS
ECOSYSTEM
FUNCTIONING
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
EFFECTS ON HUMAN
WELLBEING
PRIORITIZATION OF
STRESSOR IMPACT
MANAGEMENT
LAND USE
WATER
POLICIES
WATER SCARCITY
Module RECEPTORS will analyse the effects of the stressors on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Research will be based on:
• manipulative laboratory experiments using artificial streams
• each-scale measurements
• basin-scale surveys
POLLUTANTS
PATHOGENS AND
INVASIVE SPECIES
RECEPTORS
Module STRESSORS aims to understand the mechanisms behind
the multiple stressors acting in each case study. It will involve:
• the collection of existing data from basin authorities and previous
research projects, as well as the experimental data generated
within the project
• the creation of climatic, socioeconomic and land-use scenarios
for the impact modelling
• the analysis of surface and groundwater hydrological patterns,
sediment and pollutant transport, quality of the physical habitat
and the fate of inorganic and organic pollutants
THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
GLOBAQUA is organised through highly integrated WPs grouped in
five main Modules:
GLOBAQUA TARGET BASINS
ANGLIAN
EBRO
ADIGE
SAVA
EVROTAS
SOUSS MASSA
CONSORTIUM
BELGIUM/ITALY
JRC - Joint Research Centre - European
Commission
CANADA
INRS - Institut National de la Recherche
Scientifique
GERMANY
LMU - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen
EKUT - Eberhard Karls Universitaet
Tuebingen
UFZ - Helmholtz Zentrum Fuer Umweltforschung
SPAIN
CSIC - Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas
UB - Universitat de Barcelona
ICRA - Fundacio Institut Catala de Recerca de l’aigua
UPV/EHU - Universidad del Pais Vasco
FRANCE
CNRS - Centre National de da Recherche
Scientifique
GREECE
HCMR - Hellenic Centre for Marine Research
ATHENA - Athena Research and Innovation Center in Information Communication
& Knowledge Technologies
ITALY
AEIFORIA srl
UNIPD - Universita degli Studi Di Padova
UNITN - Universita degli Studi Di Trento
MOROCCO
IAVCHA - Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire Hassan II
NETHERLANDS
ALTERRA - Stichting Dienst Landbouwkundig Onderzoek
TNO - Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek
WU - Wageningen University
SERBIA
IBISS - Institut za Bioloska Istrazivanja
SLOVENIA
JSI - Institut Jozef Stefan
SWEDEN
SMHI - Sveriges Meteorologiska och Hydrologiska Institut
UNITED KINGDOM
IMPERIAL - Imperial College of Science,
Technology And Medicine