Groundwater-dependent ecosystem map exposes global dryland protection needs.

Autor: Rohde MM; California Water Program, The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, CA, USA. melissa@RohdeEnvironmental.com.; State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA. melissa@RohdeEnvironmental.com.; Rohde Environmental Consulting, LLC, Seattle, WA, USA. melissa@RohdeEnvironmental.com., Albano CM; Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA., Huggins X; Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.; Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria., Klausmeyer KR; California Water Program, The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, CA, USA., Morton C; Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA., Sharman A; The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA., Zaveri E; The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA., Saito L; The Nature Conservancy, Reno, NV, USA., Freed Z; Oregon Sustainable Water Program, The Nature Conservancy, Bend, OR, USA., Howard JK; California Water Program, The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, CA, USA., Job N; Freshwater Biodiversity Programme, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town, South Africa., Richter H; The Nature Conservancy, Hereford, AZ, USA.; Resilient Rivers LLC, Hereford, AZ, USA., Toderich K; International Platform for Dryland Research and Education, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.; Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Japan., Rodella AS; The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA., Gleeson T; Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.; School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada., Huntington J; Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA., Chandanpurkar HA; Center for Sustainability, Environment, and Climate Change, FLAME University, Pune, India., Purdy AJ; California State University, Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA, USA., Famiglietti JS; School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.; School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA., Singer MB; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. singerm2@cardiff.ac.uk.; Water Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. singerm2@cardiff.ac.uk.; Earth Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA. singerm2@cardiff.ac.uk., Roberts DA; Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA., Caylor K; Earth Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.; Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.; Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), Santa Barbara, CA, USA., Stella JC; State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature [Nature] 2024 Aug; Vol. 632 (8023), pp. 101-107. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 17.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07702-8
Abstrakt: Groundwater is the most ubiquitous source of liquid freshwater globally, yet its role in supporting diverse ecosystems is rarely acknowledged 1,2 . However, the location and extent of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are unknown in many geographies, and protection measures are lacking 1,3 . Here, we map GDEs at high-resolution (roughly 30 m) and find them present on more than one-third of global drylands analysed, including important global biodiversity hotspots 4 . GDEs are more extensive and contiguous in landscapes dominated by pastoralism with lower rates of groundwater depletion, suggesting that many GDEs are likely to have already been lost due to water and land use practices. Nevertheless, 53% of GDEs exist within regions showing declining groundwater trends, which highlights the urgent need to protect GDEs from the threat of groundwater depletion. However, we found that only 21% of GDEs exist on protected lands or in jurisdictions with sustainable groundwater management policies, invoking a call to action to protect these vital ecosystems. Furthermore, we examine the linkage of GDEs with cultural and socio-economic factors in the Greater Sahel region, where GDEs play an essential role in supporting biodiversity and rural livelihoods, to explore other means for protection of GDEs in politically unstable regions. Our GDE map provides critical information for prioritizing and developing policies and protection mechanisms across various local, regional or international scales to safeguard these important ecosystems and the societies dependent on them.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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