Abstract
Abstract. Coastal wetlands and lagoons are under pressure due to competing demands for freshwater resources and climatic changes, which may increase salinity and cause a loss of ecological functions. These pressures are particularly high in Mediterranean regions with high evaporative demand compared to precipitation. To manage such wetlands and maximize their provision of ecosystem services, their hydrologic balance must be quantified. However, multiple channels, diffuse surface water exchanges, and diverse groundwater pathways complicate the quantification of different water balance components. To overcome this difficulty, we developed a mass balance approach based on coupled water and salt balance equations to estimate currently unknown water exchange fluxes through the Gialova lagoon, southwestern Peloponnese, Greece. Our approach facilitates quantification of both saline and freshwater exchange fluxes, using measured precipitation, water depth and salinity, and estimated evaporation rates over a study period of 2 years (2016–2017). While water exchanges were dominated by evaporation and saline water inputs from the sea during the summer, precipitation and freshwater inputs were more important during the winter. About 40 % and 60 % of the freshwater inputs were from precipitation and lateral freshwater flows, respectively. Approximately 70 % of the outputs was due to evaporation, with the remaining 30 % being water flow from the lagoon to the sea. Under future drier and warmer conditions, salinity in the lagoon is expected to increase, unless freshwater inputs are enhanced by restoring hydrologic connectivity between the lagoon and the surrounding freshwater bodies. This restoration strategy would be fundamental to stabilizing the current wide seasonal fluctuations in salinity and maintain ecosystem functionality but could be challenging to implement due to expected reductions in water availability in the freshwater bodies supporting the lagoon.
Highlights
Coastal wetlands and lagoons regulate hydrologic, sediment, and contaminant exchanges between inland water bodies and the sea; they sustain biodiverse and highly productive ecosystems and provide important ecosystem services (Thorslund et al, 2017; Newton et al, 2014)
Using the Budyko curve to estimate changes in runoff from the catchments feeding the Gialova lagoon (Eq 12), we found that a reduction in precipitation, an increase in potential evapotranspiration (PET), and both changes together, respectively cause runoff and freshwater inputs to decrease by 57 %, 21 %, and 67 % from the current level
We have shown through a mass balance approach that under current climatic conditions the Gialova lagoon receives about 40 % of water inputs from precipitation and 60 % from surface and groundwater freshwater sources
Summary
Coastal wetlands and lagoons regulate hydrologic, sediment, and contaminant exchanges between inland water bodies and the sea; they sustain biodiverse and highly productive ecosystems and provide important ecosystem services (Thorslund et al, 2017; Newton et al, 2014). The maintenance of these essential functions is threatened by competing demands and climatic changes. Manzoni et al.: Understanding coastal wetland conditions and futures by closing their hydrologic balance evaporation rates These trends are expected to continue and possibly worsen as global temperatures rise
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