An innovative model for environmental interpretation in freshwater ecosystems: the case of a solar-wind cruise through Lake Sanabria (NW Spain)

Flávio Ferreira Pinto de Resende (1907–1967): A portuguese scientist and hero‐botanist, and his forays into systematics

Freshwater ecosystems are vital for global biodiversity and ecosystem services. Freshwater ecosystems are susceptible to the impacts of environmental change, which may cause irreversible damage to these ecosystems upon which huge amount of biodiversity and ecosystem services are dependent. Within the next few decades the climate change will have considerable ecological impacts on most of the fresh water ecosystems as per the current climatic predictions. Different freshwater ecosystems will be affected differently by climate change. One of the most important and major impact to be caused by climate change will be on fresh water flow regime. The speed of climate change will be abrupt and uneven rather than slow and even. Impacts caused by climate change on freshwater ecosystems will be visible both physically and chemically. It is very hard and more complex to forecast the impact on freshwater recourses due to climate change. In most of the cases, climate change together with other man made pressures will cause much damage to freshwater ecosystems. It is very difficult to predict impact of climate change on freshwater ecosystems in the next few decades using current global climate models. Rather than focusing on impact assessment a risk–based approach should be adopted to assess and respond to climate change. A number of measures are required to protect freshwater ecosystems such as reducing extraction of water from ground and surface water, maintaining water flows, management of macrophytes, artificial oxygenation and mixing, sediment removal etc. so that fresh water ecosystems are not affected largely by small climate induced changes. When a diversity of healthy habitats of freshwater ecosystems can be maintained, the assimilative ability of freshwater ecosystems will be further strengthened. Incorporation of long lasting, observed study data with models and manipulative experiments will assist the progress of mechanistic, and hence predictive, perceptive of responses to future climate change.

Adapting fisheries management to the spatial variability in the reproductive cycle: the case of the sword razor clam in Galicia (NW Spain)

Growing evidence suggests that freshwater ecosystems incur exacerbated impacts during drought due to anthropogenic activities. This has prompted calls for the development of drought management strategies that more effectively incorporate these ecosystems. Efforts to examine how drought management instruments care for freshwater ecosystems are scarce, limited to a few geographic regions, and do not systematically analyse each of the elements of the drought management process. In this study, we review drought management instruments in 26 countries or regions within countries to assess the extent and the manner with which freshwater ecosystems are considered. We apply an analytical framework integrating knowledge from drought management, ecological risk assessment and ecological drought to extract data from these instruments and identify patterns and gaps. Results indicate that care for freshwater ecosystems in drought management is as yet at an early stage. This is reflected in the limited inclusion of freshwater ecosystems across critical elements of the drought management process, as well as significant shortcomings in how these ecosystems are considered. We synthesise these shortcomings in four gaps. First, the socio-ecological perspective of ecological drought, particularly regarding the combined natural-human causes of drought impacts on freshwater ecosystems, is often lacking in drought definitions, exposure and vulnerability assessments. Second, despite their importance to ecosystems, there is limited consideration of variables related to groundwater, water quality, and aquatic habitats in freshwater ecosystem indicators, exposure assessments and measures. Third, the duration, frequency and timing of drought, which are relevant to the ecology of freshwater ecosystems, are rarely considered in drought indicators and measures. Finally, exposure and vulnerability assessments often lack a comprehensive understanding of ecological drought risk in freshwater ecosystems. We discuss these gaps and provide an outlook towards more integrated and sustainable drought policy and management.

Inland freshwater shallow lake ecosystem degradation is indistinctly intertwined with human-induced factors and climate variability. Changes in climate and human-induced factors significantly influence the state of lake ecosystems. This study provides evidence of the driver, pressure, state, impact, and response (DPSIR) indicators for freshwater lake ecosystem dynamics, taking Lake Malombe in Malawi as a case study. We used the DPSIR framework and Tobit model to achieve the study’s objectives. The study’s findings indicate that top-down processes gradually erode Lake Malombe’s ecosystem state. The lake resilience is falling away from its natural state due to increasing rates of drivers, pressures, and impacts, indicating the lake ecosystem’s deterioration. The study shows that demographic, socio–economic, climatic drivers, pressures, state, and responses significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the lake ecosystem’s resilience. The study suggests that substantial freshwater ecosystem management under the current scenario requires a long-term, robust, and sustainable management plan. The findings from this study provide a roadmap for short-term and long-term practical policy-focused responses, particularly in implementing a freshwater ecosystem restoration programs in Malawi and Africa more broadly.

Geospatial mapping of carbon estimates for forested areas using the InVEST model and Sentinel-2: A case study in Galicia (NW Spain)

Testing the detection and discrimination potential of the new Landsat 8 satellite data on the challenging water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in freshwater ecosystems

Global lake systems have undergone rapid degradation over the past century. Scientists and managers are struggling to manage the highly degraded lake systems to cope with escalating anthropogenic pressures. Improved knowledge of how lakes and social systems co-evolved up to the present is vital for understanding, modeling, and anticipating the current and future ecological status of lakes. Here, by integrating paleoenvironmental, instrumental and historical documentary resources at multi-decadal scales, we demonstrate how a typical shallow lake system evolved over the last century in the Yangtze River Basin, an urbanized region containing thousands of shallow lakes. We find abrupt ecological shift happened in the lake ecosystem around the 1970s, with the significant reorganization of macrophyte, diatom and cladocera communities. The lake social-ecological system went through three stages as the local society transformed from a traditional agricultural before 1950s to an urbanized and industrialized society during the recent thirty years. The timing and interaction between social, economic and ecological feedbacks govern the transient and long-term dynamics of the freshwater ecosystem. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for the long-term dynamics and feedbacks between ecological, social and economic changes when defining safe operating spaces for sustainable freshwater ecosystem management.

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The forest value chain is key to the European transition to a climate-neutral economy. Sustainable forest management is essential for this task. To plan sustainable forest management, it is essential to track forest resources in relation to their feasibility for wood supply. This means considering the constraints that may limit the incorporation of these resources into the forest value chain. Maps adapted to specific regional constraints and to the characteristics of specific forests are essential for performing sustainable forest management at a local scale. This study presents a methodology for the integrated analysis of geospatial data focused on classifying the land and the forest resources of a region according to their feasibility for wood supply. It produces maps of the feasibility for wood supply in an area and of the existing forest resources at a 10 m spatial resolution. This was done by integrating information about the legal and technical constraints present in the area according to decision rules. The land was classified into three classes: favorable, intermediate or unfavorable. Additionally, updated forest-oriented land cover maps were produced to analyze the feasibility for wood supply of the forest resources present in the region. It was found that 42% of the Eucalyptus spp., 48% of the conifers and 30% of the broadleaves in the study area were located in favorable areas. These maps would help in the quest for more sustainable forest management in the region and aid in boosting the competitiveness of the regional forest value chain.

Anthropogenic and climatic factors enhancing hypolimnetic anoxia in a temperate mountain lake

The feeding ecology and distribution of the Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis has been extensively studied during the breeding season in European freshwater habitats, but there is much less known about the ecology of this species in marine and brackish habitats. This study aims to (1) document the presence of Common Kingfishers in marine habitats of Galicia (NW Spain), based on a database of bird sightings collected in mainland Galicia (2004–2020) and on the Cíes Islands (Coast of Galicia; 2008–2019), and (2) study their diet in marine habitats, analyzing 17 pellets collected during autumn and winter in a coastal salt lagoon on the Cíes Islands. During autumn and winter, the number of observations of the species in mainland Galicia were higher in marine habitats than in freshwater habitats (χ21 = 10.88, P < 0.001). Moreover, Common Kingfishers visit the Cíes Islands mostly during autumn and winter (98.6% of observations). Both datasets show that marine habitats are very important for wintering birds. In the coastal lagoon on the Cíes Islands, the Common Prawn Palaemon serratus was the most frequent prey (41.7%), accounting for the highest percentage of the total biomass (68%); much more than the second most frequent prey, gobies (Gobiidae; 35.5%). This finding is exceptional in Europe, since only a few studies report shrimp as a prey item for Common Kingfishers, probably due to the lack of data from marine habitats during winter.

Galicia (NW Spain) has a dense river network constituted by small coastal rivers, which present a high number of freshwater endemics. However, in the last two decades there has been a steep increase on the records of freshwater invaders on the region, and these constitute an important threat for its freshwater biodiversity. Most of the exotic species present in Galicia have been previously recorded in other areas of the Iberian Peninsula. The temporal analysis of the evolution of the records of invasions in Galicia and in the rest of the Iberian peninsula, shows that the tendency adjust to a decreasing linear regression, with species introduced after 1995 in other Iberian areas being almost immediately present also in Galicia. Detailed analysis of pathways of introduction underlines the important role of aquarium trade on these results, which needs to be regulated if we want to stop or at least retard the introduction of new invasive species on freshwater habitats.

Polychaete exploitation in Galicia (NW Spain): Challenges, advances, and pathways for sustainable resource management

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Understanding the impacts of human activity on the environment is critical to water resources planning and ecosystem services sustainability.&amp;amp;#160; The goal of this work is to develop decision making and support tools for natural resources conservation and assessment at the Lower Mekong River basin by leveraging satellite observations of Earth, physical hydrological modeling (doi:10.3390/rs10060885), and freshwater health index framework (doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.040).&amp;amp;#160; The approach adopted in this work relied on a comprehensive suite of hydrological data products and a regional hydrological decision support system application for the Lower Mekong River basin compiled and developed to improve water accounting and floodplain management. &amp;amp;#160;The social-ecological framework named the freshwater health index (FHI) takes account of the interplay between governance, stakeholders, freshwater ecosystems and the ecosystems services they provide. &amp;amp;#160;Various dam reservoir scenarios have been examined based on stakeholder engagement to enhance the results of the integrative social and ecological nature of fresh waters at the Srepok, Sesan, and Sekong (3S) River basins of the Lower Mekong.&amp;amp;#160; Preliminary results represented by ecosystem vitality indicator has corroborated seasonal flow patterns change in response to water storage capacity increase.&amp;amp;#160; For instance, current modeled reservoirs at the 3S River basin exhibit a deviation from natural flow decrease of 10% when compared with baseline reservoirs.&amp;amp;#160; Governance and Stakeholders role has been found critical to the health of the 3S freshwater ecosystem.&amp;amp;#160; The approach methodology utilized in this work employing the integration of satellite earth observation data and hydrological modeling to investigate ecosystem freshwater health is applicable on a global scale.&amp;amp;#160; This work is part of an ongoing research partnership work between the National Aeronautical and Space Agency (NASA) and the Conservation International (CI) dedicated to improving natural resources assessment for conservation and sustainable management.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;