Abstract
Each lake complex must be understood before attempting any regional synthesis leading us to view these water-bodies as indicators of regional climate change. Therefore, in order to improve knowledge of these Mediterranean biotopes, we examined the dependence of the fringes of hygrophilous communities surrounding the water-bodies (green fringes) on their hydrological and geomorphological features. The climate of the western sector of this massif is cryo–oromediterranean, where thawing produces 53 hm3 of run-off and 11 hm3 of sub-surface flow. Part of this water is stored in 123 water-bodies located from 2480 to 3200 m a.s.l., 72 of which (58%) are located on the south-facing Mediterranean watershed. The total surface of the water sheet is approximately 170,000 m2, and volume is approximately 215,000 m3, of which 140,000 m3 (65%) are stored in the south-facing water-bodies. Green fringes surrounding 84 water-bodies have a total surface area of approximately 186,000 m2. Surprisingly, the more xeric Mediterranean watershed holds 58 such fringes (149,000 m2, 80%) while 26 are found on the Atlantic watershed (38,000 m2, 20%). Green fringes are mainly associated with small water-bodies (<5000 m3), which occupy 148,000 m2 on the Mediterranean watershed, while on the Atlantic side, green fringes occupy 31,000 m2. Sierra Nevada also has 46 times higher water-efficiency in the smaller water-bodies than in the large ones; 16.4 and 335.8 times higher on the Atlantic and Mediterranean watersheds, respectively. The differences in gradient of the massif hillsides must largely explain this uneven behaviour.
Highlights
Sierra Nevada is an abrupt and relatively small (179,000 ha) but high (3479 m a.s.l.) massif, located in the western region of the Mediterranean basin (Figure 1)
The orders of value are similar, but several reasons can be found for the the differences: (i) The periods considered each analysiscan canhave havedifferent different precipitation; precipitation; (ii) thaw differences: i) The periods considered in in each analysis ii) thaw volumes can be attributed to a different period of the year, and volumes can be attributed to a different period of the year, and (iii) different methodologies case, ourour calculations referrefer to the peaks peaks of the massif, different methodologiesused
The annual timing of this thaw mainly occurs in May–June, as a function of the particular climatology of each year; the sub-surface contribution mainly occurs in July–August
Summary
Sierra Nevada is an abrupt and relatively small (179,000 ha) but high (3479 m a.s.l.) massif, located in the western region of the Mediterranean basin (Figure 1). In 1986, the central nucleus of this massif was declared Reserve of the Biosphere [1] and it is one of the 25 biodiversity hot spots [2,3,4]. Usually the content receives more attention than the container, disregarding the high degree of dependence between biota and physical substratum, both with similar risks for their subsistence. Hydrology 2019, 6, x FOR PEER REVIEW exposure is 6,northerly or southerly.
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