| 1. |
- Destouni, Georgia, et al.
(author)
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Hydro-Biogeochemical and Environmental-Management Functions of Wetland Networks in Landscapes
- 2012
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In: 9th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference, Wetlands in a Complex World. ; , s. 915-
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- A main application goal of ecohydrological science is to amplify opportunities of achieving water quality improvements, biodiversity enhancements and sustainable development, by improved understanding and use of ecosystem properties as a management tool. This paper draws on and synthesizes main result implications for the function and possible enhanced use of wetland networks in the landscape as such a tool, from a series of hydro-biogeochemical and environmental economics studies of nutrient/pollutant loading and abatement in different Swedish hydrological catchments. Results show large potential of wetland networks to reduce the cost of abating nutrient and metal loads within and from hydrological catchments, and emphasize some main research questions for further investigations of actual possibilities to realize this potential. The questions regard in particular the ability of wetland networks to extend the travel times and reduce the uncertainty of hydrological nutrient/pollutant transport through catchments.The paper further presents and discusses some main joint conclusions of the participants in a recently held International Workshop on Ecohydrology and Integrated Water Resource Management (1) at the Navarino Environmental Observatory in Messinia, Greece (2), regarding essential goals for collaborative international efforts in wetland network research. The goals include to investigate on different spatiotemporal scales and in different world regions: a) the dynamics of natural and managed wetland networks across a gradient of different climate, human disturbance, energy and organization conditions; b) the reciprocal interactions between wetland networks and associated hydrological catchments; c) how climate change and different human activities in the wetland network catchments influence these interactions (in b) and generally the ecohydrology of individual wetlands and the whole wetland networks; and d) the ecosystem services provided by networks of wetlands.
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| 2. |
- Koussis, Antonis D., et al.
(author)
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A correction for Dupuit-Forchheimer interface flow models of seawater intrusion in unconfined coastal aquifers
- 2015
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In: Journal of Hydrology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-1694 .- 1879-2707. ; 525, s. 277-285
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Interface flow models that use the Dupuit-Forchheimer (DF) approximation for assessing the freshwater lens and the seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers lack representation of the gap through which fresh groundwater discharges to the sea. In these models, the interface outcrops unrealistically at the same point as the free surface, is too shallow and intersects the aquifer base too far inland, thus overestimating an intruding seawater front. To correct this shortcoming of DF-type interface solutions for unconfined aquifers, we here adapt the outflow gap estimate of an analytical 2-D interface solution for infinitely thick aquifers to fit the 50%-salinity contour of variable-density solutions for finite-depth aquifers. We further improve the accuracy of the interface toe location predicted with depth-integrated DF interface solutions by similar to 20% (relative to the 50%-salinity contour of variable-density solutions) by combining the outflow-gap adjusted aquifer depth at the sea with a transverse-dispersion adjusted density ratio (Pool and Carrera, 2011), appropriately modified for unconfined flow. The effectiveness of the combined correction is exemplified for two regional Mediterranean aquifers, the Israel Coastal and Nile Delta aquifers.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Mazi, Katerina, et al.
(author)
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Quantifying a Sustainable Management Space for Human Use of Coastal Groundwater under Multiple Change Pressures
- 2016
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In: Water resources management. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0920-4741 .- 1573-1650. ; 30:12, s. 4063-4080
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the densely populated coastal regions of the world, loss of groundwater due to seawater intrusion, driven by changes of climate, sea level, land use and water use, may critically impact many people. We analytically investigate and quantify the limits constraining a coastal aquifer's sustainable management space, in order to avoid critical loss of the coastal groundwater resource by seawater intrusion. Limiting conditions occur when the intrusion toe reaches the pumping wells, well intrusion, or the marine-side groundwater divide, complete intrusion; in both cases the limits are functions of the seaward groundwater flow remaining after the human groundwater extractions. The study presents a screening-level approach to the quantification of the key natural and human-determined controls and sustainability limits for the human use of coastal groundwater. The physical and geometrical characteristics of the coastal aquifer along with the natural conditions for recharge and replenishment of the coastal groundwater are the key natural controls of the sustainable management space for the latter. The groundwater pumping rates and locations are the key human-determined controls of this space. The present approach to combining and accounting for both of these types of controls is simple, yet general. The approach is applicable across different scales and regions, and for historic, current and projected future conditions of changing hydro-climate, sea level, and human freshwater use. The use of this approach is also concretely demonstrated for the natural and human-determined controls and limits of the sustainable management space for two specific Mediterranean aquifers.
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| 5. |
- Mazi, Katerina, 1969-, et al.
(author)
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Tipping points for seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers under rising sea level
- 2013
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In: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9326. ; 8:1, s. 014001-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study considers different projections of climate-driven sea-level rise and uses a recently developed, generalized analytical model to investigate the responses of sea intrusion in unconfined sloping coastal aquifers to climate-driven sea-level rise. The results show high nonlinearity in these responses, implying important thresholds, or tipping points, beyond which the responses of seawater intrusion to sea-level rise shift abruptly from a stable state of mild change responses to a new stable state of large responses to small changes that can rapidly lead to full seawater intrusion into a coastal aquifer. The identified tipping points are of three types: (a) spatial, for the particular aquifers (sections) along a coastline with depths that imply critical risk of full sea intrusion in response to even small sea-level rise; (b) temporal, for the critical sea-level rise and its timing, beyond which the change responses and the risk of complete sea intrusion in an aquifer shift abruptly from low to very high; and (c) managerial, for the critical minimum values of groundwater discharge and hydraulic head that inland water management must maintain in an aquifer in order to avoid rapid loss of control and complete sea intrusion in response to even small sea-level rise. The existence of a tipping point depends on highly variable aquifer properties and groundwater conditions, in combination with more homogeneous sea conditions. The generalized analytical model used in this study facilitates parsimonious quantification and screening of sea-intrusion risks and tipping points under such spatio-temporally different condition combinations along extended coastlines.
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| 6. |
- Thorslund, Josefin, et al.
(author)
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Wetlands as large-scale nature-based solutions : Status and challenges for research, engineering and management
- 2017
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In: Ecological Engineering. - : Elsevier BV. - 0925-8574 .- 1872-6992. ; 108, s. 489-497
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Wetlands are often considered as nature-based solutions that can provide a multitude of services of great social, economic and environmental value to humankind. Changes in land-use, water-use and climate can all impact wetland functions and services. These changes occur at scales extending well beyond the local scale of an individual wetland. However, in practical applications, engineering and management decisions usually focus on individual wetland projects and local site conditions. Here, we systematically investigate if and to what extent research has addressed the large-scale dynamics of landscape systems with multiple wetlands, hereafter referred to as wetlandscapes, which are likely to be relevant for understanding impacts of regional to global change. Although knowledge in many cases is still limited, evidence suggests that the aggregated effects of multiple wetlands in the landscape can differ considerably from the functions observed at individual wetland scales. This applies to provisioning of ecosystem services such as coastal protection, biodiversity support, groundwater level and soil moisture regulation, flood regulation and contaminant retention. We show that parallel and circular flow-paths, through which wetlands are interconnected in the landscape, may largely control such scale-function differences. We suggest ways forward for addressing the mismatch between the scales at which changes take place and the scale at which observations and implementation are currently made. These suggestions can help bridge gaps between researchers and engineers, which is critical for improving wetland function-effect predictability and management.
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