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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 36836

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Dr. Franco Salerno

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CNR-Water Research Institute, 20861 Brugherio, Italy
Interests: hydrological processes in high mountain areas (glaciers, lakes, hydrology); climate change impact on water resources (quantity and quality); meteorological trend analysis; dynamical and statistical downscaling; adapting strategies to climate change; monitoring techniques for water resources in high elevation; ecosystem services; socio-ecosystem modelling; sustainable development of mountain community
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Dr. Diego Copetti

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CNR-Water Research Institute, 20861 Brugherio, MB, Italy
Interests: applied ecology; water quality; biogeochemistry; environmental monitoring and modelling; management of water resources; climate change impact on surface waters; sustainability; ecosystem services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The interaction between fresh water ecosystems and climate is rapidly changing because of the impact of incoming climate changes. Clear evidence of these impacts are available for the thermal regime of lakes and rivers, for the glacier ice cover and for the distribution of precipitation and runoff just to mention the most important ones. These modifications directly influence the quality and availability of the water resource. Impact on the biogeochemical cycles, on the food web and on the productivity of water ecosystems have been also documented.

The aim of this Special Issue of Water is to present contribution in the broad field of water resources and climate interactions including both the effects on water quantity and quality. Authors are stimulated to present advanced integrated research to forecast, control and manage climate related impact on the water resources with particular respect to the provision ecosystem services. Contribution focused on natural or urban/anthropized systems are both welcome. The integration of natural sciences with economic and social sciences is also very much appreciated.

Dr. Franco Salerno
Dr. Copetti Diego
Guest Editors

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Keywords

global change
freshwater ecosystem
climate change
ecological health
water quality
freshwater organism
fish habitat
biodiversity
ecosystem services
biotic interactions
resilience
ecosystem functioning
food webs

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Editorial

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9 pages, 218 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Climate–Water–Ecosystem–Interactions: Insights from Four Continent’s Case Studies

by Diego Copetti and Franco Salerno

Water 2020, 12(5), 1445; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12051445 - 19 May 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1930

Abstract

The interaction of climate with aquatic ecosystems is a multidisciplinary field of research involving water quantity and quality issues and having strong socio-economic implications. This special issue hosts 10 studies undertaken in 7 countries of 4 continents: Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. The issue provides a wide spectrum of natural and artificial case-studies and covers a broad range of climatic conditions. Most of the studies adopted a modelling (50%) or a field (40%) approach and focused on water-quantity (60%), while the remaining were equally subdivided between water-quality and biogeochemistry. Forty percent of the papers directly face climate change. The diversity of approaches and case studies is the main aspect characterizing this special issue. Despite this high diversification, in relation to water-quantity related issues, we can identify the following messages: high attention to extreme meteorological events, drought in particular, even in regions once considered rich in water (e.g., northern Italy); fragility of agricultural and water supply systems in the face of extreme weather events, in particular in low-income countries (e.g., Madagascar); more attention to climate change compared to land cover/use change but importance of natural land cover to efficiently face the incoming climate change, in particular, in agriculture ecosystems. From a water quality biogeochemistry point of view, we can point out: sensitivity of lakes to climate change with the risk of biodiversity loss; need to reduce nutrient loads to mitigate eutrophication related problems, exacerbated by climate change; in particular, reduction of nitrogen loads from agriculture run-off, to reduce N₂O emissions in large-shallow Chinese environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

Research

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18 pages, 4924 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing Changes of Water Yield in Qinghai Lake Watershed of China

by Xi-hong Lian, Yuan Qi, Hong-wei Wang, Jin-long Zhang and Rui Yang

Water 2020, 12(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010011 - 19 Dec 2019

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 4274

Abstract

Water yield is an important ecosystem service, which is directly related to human welfare and affects the sustainable development. Using the integrated valuation of environmental services and tradeoffs model (InVEST model), we simulated the dynamic change of water yield in Qinghai lake watershed, Qinghai, China, and verified the simulation results. This paper emphatically explored how precipitation change and land use/land cover change (LUCC) affected the change of water yield on the spatial and temporal scales. Before 2004, the areas of cultivated land and unused land showed a dramatic increasing tendency, while forestland and water area presented a decreasing trend. After 2004 cultivated land changed slowly, unused land decreased. Grassland revealed a general trend of decline during 1977–2018, while built-up land basically presented a linear increase. The results show that water yield fluctuated and increased during 1977–2018. From 1977 to 2000, the mean water yield in each sub-watershed showed an increasing trend and afterward a decreasing one. After 2000, the sub-watersheds basically showed an increasing tendency. There was a strong correlation, with a correlation coefficient of 0.954 ** (** correlation is significant at the 0.01 level), between precipitation and water yield. Land use/land cover change can change the hydrological state of infiltration, evapotranspiration, and water retention. Meanwhile, the correlation between built-up land and water yield was the highest, with a correlation coefficient of 0.932, followed by forestland, with a correlation coefficient of 0.897. Through the analysis of different scenarios, we found that compared with land use/land cover change, precipitation played a more dominant role in affecting water yield. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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20 pages, 2324 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Responses of Phytoplankton Communities in Selected Eutrophic Lakes to Variable Weather Conditions

by Tomasz Lenard, Wojciech Ejankowski and Małgorzata Poniewozik

Water 2019, 11(6), 1207; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11061207 - 10 Jun 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2884

Abstract

It is well-known that recent climatic changes have strongly affected aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we examined the complex factors determining the development of phytoplankton communities during the vegetative growth season in eutrophic lakes located in a temperate zone in eastern Poland. Our analysis enabled us to divide the data into two different periods: years with a cold winter and low total precipitation, and those with a mild winter and high total precipitation. The analysis showed that the soluble and total nitrogen content, concentration of chlorophyll a, total phytoplankton biomass, and biomasses of Cyanobacteria and Cryptophyceae were significantly higher in the vegetative growth season in the year after a mild winter, whereas the soluble and total phosphorus content and phytoplankton biodiversity were significantly lower in these years. Hence, climate warming indirectly led to the loss of biodiversity in the phytoplankton communities in the studied lakes of temperate zone. During this study, we also tested the effects of increases in air temperature and total precipitation on phytoplankton communities over short time periods (14 and 28 days). The results showed that the total phytoplankton biomass and the chlorophyll a concentration were only positively correlated with the air temperature. All of the features described in this study showed how sensitive lake ecosystems are to climatic fluctuations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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12 pages, 1686 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Extended-Range Runoff Forecasting Using a One-Way Coupled Climate–Hydrological Model: Case Studies of the Yiluo and Beijiang Rivers in China

by Lüliu Liu, Chan Xiao, Liangmin Du, Peiqun Zhang and Guofu Wang

Water 2019, 11(6), 1150; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11061150 - 31 May 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2417

Abstract

Extended-range runoff forecasting is important for water resources management and energy planning. Experimental extended-range runoff was hindcasted, based on an extended-range climate model, developed by National Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration, and semi-distributed hydrological model HBV-D. The skill of the runoff forecasts was explored using mean square skill score (MSSS), anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC), and areas under the relative operating characteristics curve (AUC) for three terciles for three experimental 51-day periods during flood season (June 1 to July 21, July 1 to August 20 and August 1 to September 20) for two rivers in China. The results revealed decreasing trends of the five indices, and varying length of the continuous longest skilful time slice from 3 days to 6 weeks depending on index, period and river location. In most cases, skilful abnormal terciles forecast occurred more often or with similar frequency to deterministic forecasts. It suggests that ensemble probability forecasting is a method with potential for extended-range river runoff forecast. Further, abnormal terciles are more skillful than normal terciles, and above normal are more skillful than below normal. In terms of a temporal mean of the MSSS and ACC, deterministic forecasts are skillful for both rivers in all three periods, but more skillful for the Beijiang River than for the Yiluo River in most cases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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18 pages, 6687 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of the Simple Biosphere Model 2 (SiB2) with Irrigation Module to a Typical Low-Hilly Red Soil Farmland and the Sensitivity Analysis of Modeled Energy Fluxes in Southern China

by Zhihao Jing, Yuanshu Jing, Fangmin Zhang, Rangjian Qiu and Hanggoro Wido

Water 2019, 11(6), 1128; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11061128 - 29 May 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2806

Abstract

Land surface processes are an important part of the Earth’s mass and energy cycles. The application of a land surface process model for farmland in the low-hilly red soil region of southern China continues to draw research attention. Conventional model does not perform well in the simulation of irrigated farmland, because the influence of land surface water is not considered. In this study, an off-line version of the Simple Biosphere model 2 (SiB2) was locally parameterized in a typical farmland of the low-hilly red soil region using field observations and remote sensing data. The performance of SiB2 was then evaluated through comparison to Bowen-ratio direct measurements in a second growing period of rice in 2015 (late rice from 23 July to 31 October). The results show that SiB2 underestimated latent heat flux (LE) by 16.0% and overestimated sensible heat flux (H) by 16.7%, but net radiation flux (Rn) and soil heat flux were reasonably simulated. The single factor sensitivity analysis of Rn, H, and LE modeled in SiB2 indicated that downward shortwave radiation (DSR) and downward longwave radiation (DLR) had a significant effect on Rn simulation. In driving data, DSR, DLR and wind speed (u) were the main factors that could cause a distinct change in sensible heat flux. An irrigation module was added to the original SiB2 model to simulate the influence of irrigated paddy fields according to the sensitivity analysis results of the parameters (C1, bulk boundary-layer resistance coefficient; C2, ground to canopy air-space resistance coefficient; and Ws, volumetric water content at soil surface layer). The results indicate that application of the parameterized SiB2 with irrigation module could be better in southern Chinese farmland. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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12 pages, 1268 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Production of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) in Laboratory Cultures of Arctic Sea Ice Algae

by Guiju Li, Huixiang Xie, Guisheng Song and Michel Gosselin

Water 2019, 11(5), 926; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11050926 - 01 May 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2942

Abstract

Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is highly enriched in bottom sea ice in the Arctic during ice algal blooms, giving rise to multifaceted ecological implications in both the sea ice and the underlying seawater. We conducted laboratory culture incubations to assess the potential role of ice algae in the accumulation of CDOM in Arctic sea ice. Non-axenic monocultures of Attheya septentrionalis and Nitzschia frigida and a natural ice algal assemblage (NIAA) were grown at 4 °C in an f/2 medium under cool white fluorescent light. Culture samples were collected several days apart throughout the exponential, stationary, and senescent phases, and analyzed for CDOM absorbance, chlorophyll a, and bacterial cell abundance. The cultures displayed apparent specific growth rates of algal and bacterial cells comparable to those in the field. Accumulations of CDOM were observed in all cultures during the time-course incubations, with the senescent phase showing the largest accumulations and the highest production rates. The senescent-phase production rate for NIAA was ~40% higher than that for A. septentrionalis. The chlorophyll a-normalized CDOM production rates in the cultures are comparable to those reported for Arctic first-year sea ice. The absorption spectra of CDOM in the cultures exhibited characteristic short-ultraviolet shoulders similar to those previously identified in sea ice. This study demonstrates that ice algal-derived CDOM can account for the springtime accumulation of CDOM in Arctic sea ice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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18 pages, 6583 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water Environment Variation in the Three Gorges Tributary and Its Influencing Factors on Different Scales

by Sheng Hu, Jun Xia, Xia Wu, Yingcai Wang and Fan Xia

Water 2018, 10(12), 1831; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10121831 - 12 Dec 2018

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2484

Abstract

Long River is a small tributary typical of the Three Gorges Reservoir. In order to clarify the influence of hydro-meteorological factors and human regulation of the reservoir water level on the water environment, we monitored water environment parameters at six sites along Long River for three years, and were able to assess the degree to which variation in the water environment was affected from the micro-scale to macro-scale processes. We found that the water environment parameters have obvious seasonal variation and spatial distribution patterns. From upstream to the estuary, the influence of the backwater was gradually enhanced, whereas the influence of inflow gradually weakened. The distance coefficient between the samples in the backwater area and control sites in the upstream and the Yangtze River had a significant longitudinal gradient pattern (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Through redundancy analysis (RDA) forward selection, we found that cumulative precipitation, water level, cumulative net radiation, daily average temperature, daily net radiation, and daily precipitation all had significant influences on the water environment of the Long River (global permutation test, p < 0.05). The perennial backwater area was mostly affected by water level fluctuations (explaining 39.9% of data variation), whereas the fluctuation backwater area and the upstream inflow area were most affected by cumulative precipitation (explaining 42.9% and 44.0% of data variation, respectively). On the macroscale, the contribution rate of monthly change to the variation of water environment variables reached 54.9%, and the contribution rate of geographical change to the variation of water environment variables was only 7.2%, indicating that the water environment of Long River was mainly affected by exogenous input factors driven by the monsoon climate. Furthermore, we showed that the spatial interpolation method combined with the distance coefficient can easily and efficiently describe the complicated dynamic influences of the upstream inflow and the Yangtze River backwater on the water environment in the Long River bay. The conclusions are helpful in explaining the driving mechanisms of the water environment in the tributaries of the Three Gorges Reservoir, which can provide reference for water environmental protection and management in the Three Gorges Reservoir. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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20 pages, 5063 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Factors and the Microbial Quality of Urban Drinking Water in a Low-Income Country: The Case of Madagascar

by Alexandra Bastaraud, Jean Marius Rakotondramanga, Jackson Mahazosaotra, Noror Ravaonindrina and Ronan Jambou

Water 2018, 10(10), 1450; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10101450 - 15 Oct 2018

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4390

Abstract

Access to piped water is often limited to urban areas in low-income countries, and the microbiological quality of drinking water varies due to technical and environmental constraints. To analyse the parameters that modulate the contamination of these systems, this study examines 16 years of microbial quality data for water supplied in 32 urban areas of Madagascar. A discriminant statistical approach and agglomerative hierarchical clusters were applied to environmental and climatic data. The microbial contamination varied between sites from 3.3 to 17.5%, and 78% of the supply systems showed large variations between years or months. Agglomerative hierarchical clusters (AHCs) revealed four supply system profiles that share a similar bacteriological evolution. Heavy rainfall and dry periods sustained increasing contamination, as reflected in levels of spores of sulphite-reducing clostridia (SSRC) and/or total coliforms (TC). SSRC were dominant in three profiles, with faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) dominant in the other. Principal component analysis demonstrated the main drivers of contamination: type of water source, implemented treatment, location of the site, population growth, lack of protection, agriculture, urbanization/sanitation, and flooding threats. Contamination increased over the 16-year period, reaching alarming levels. The protection of water sources should be a concern for public authorities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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14 pages, 1062 KiB

Open AccessArticle

N₂O Fluxes and Rates of Nitrification and Denitrification at the Sediment–Water Interface in Taihu Lake, China

by Dehong Liu, Jicheng Zhong, Xiaolan Zheng, Chengxin Fan, Juhua Yu and Wenhui Zhong

Water 2018, 10(7), 911; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10070911 - 10 Jul 2018

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3566

Abstract

Because of global concerns regarding pollution and eutrophication in fresh water, China’s Taihu Lake has gained attention both for these issues and as a source of nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions. In this study, we investigated N₂O fluxes and nitrification and denitrification rates at the sediment–water interface and analyzed monthly the relationships between these processes in different areas of Taihu Lake over a one-year period. Annual maximum nitrification and denitrification rate and N₂O flux were observed during June in an algae-dominated area of the lake and measured 17.80, 235.51, and 31.49 µmol N m⁻² h⁻¹, respectively. The nitrification rate ranged from 0 to 1.18 µmol N m⁻² h⁻¹ at other sampling sites, with less variation. The denitrification rate showed clear seasonal variation, with lower levels between August and January (0.01–8.57 µmol N m⁻² h⁻¹; average = 1.49 µmol N m⁻² h⁻¹) and a rapid increase between February and July (1.03–235.51 µmol N m⁻² h⁻¹; average = 41.73 µmol N m⁻² h⁻¹).The N₂O flux ranged from −0.64 to 1.5 µmol N m⁻² h⁻¹, with little variability except for a much higher rate (31.49 µmol N m⁻² h⁻¹) in June in algae-dominated areas. N₂O flux was significantly positively correlated with nitrification and denitrification rates in most lake zones. By comparing the slopes of the regression equations, we found that N₂O emissions from the sediment–water interface were influenced predominantly by nitrification, suggesting that lower N₂O fluxes from the sediment–water interface in Taihu Lake are caused primarily by lower nitrification rates. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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23 pages, 26207 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A Stakeholder Oriented Modelling Framework for the Early Detection of Shortage in Water Supply Systems

by Emanuele Romano, Nicolas Guyennon, Andrea Duro, Raffaele Giordano, Anna Bruna Petrangeli, Ivan Portoghese and Franco Salerno

Water 2018, 10(6), 762; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10060762 - 11 Jun 2018

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3478

Abstract

Management of water supply systems under shortage conditions due to drought requires computational tools able to relate the past precipitation regime over different time scales to future water resources availability. This work proposes a modelling framework to address the occurrence of shortage for water supply systems whose resource is constituted by natural or artificial reservoirs. The proposed methodology aims at identifying “management triggers” for possible mitigation measures. Emphasis is given on the use of standardized indices to promote information sharing. The implemented tool is structured into five modules: “hydrological” module; “scenarios” module; “reservoir” module; a module for the evaluation of “indices of shortage”; and a “support to early-warning” module. The whole procedure has been applied to three Italian reservoirs. For each water body, a case specific shortage early-warning system, based on standardized precipitation indices has been identified, allowing the implementation of efficient local mitigation measures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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20 pages, 4972 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rice Intensification in a Changing Environment: Impact on Water Availability in Inland Valley Landscapes in Benin

by Alexandre Danvi, Simone Giertz, Sander J. Zwart and Bernd Diekkrüger

Water 2018, 10(1), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10010074 - 15 Jan 2018

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4662

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of climate change on hydrological processes under rice intensification in three headwater inland valley watersheds characterized by different land conditions. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool was used to simulate the combined impacts of two land use scenarios defined as converting 25% and 75% of lowland savannah into rice cultivation, and two climate scenarios (A1B and B1) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. The simulations were performed based on the traditional and the rainfed-bunded rice cultivation systems and analyzed up to the year 2049 with a special focus on the period of 2030–2049. Compared to land use, climate change impact on hydrological processes was overwhelming at all watersheds. The watersheds with a high portion of cultivated areas are more sensitive to changes in climate resulting in a decrease of water yield of up to 50% (145 mm). Bunded fields cause a rise in surface runoff projected to be up to 28% (18 mm) in their lowlands, while processes were insignificantly affected at the vegetation dominated-watershed. Analyzing three watersheds instead of one as is usually done provides further insight into the natural variability and therefore gives more evidence of possible future processes and management strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate-Water-Ecosystem-Interaction)

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