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Karst Rocky Desertification and Climate Change Effect

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Erosion and Sediment Transport".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 1909

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: land use and ecosystem services; karst mountains; ecosystem service tradeoff; soil water retention; ecological restoration; soil conservation
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Guest Editor
School of Geography & Environmental Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
Interests: karst areas; land systems; conservation of water and soil resources; terrace systems

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Guest Editor
Institute of Ecological Protection and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
Interests: karst rocky desertification; vegetation succession; water and carbon cycle; soil and water conservation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the effects of karst rocky desertification and climate change on the ecosystems of karst mountainous areas, and identifies adaptation strategies such as the sustainable use and protection of terraces, the sustainable use of rocky desertification sloping farmland, and the protection of water and soil resources.

The shifting regimes of social-ecological systems (SESs) over long periods of time, in addition to their local effects and driving factors, play significant roles in future sustainability. This Special Issue is concerned with identifying the regime shifts of SESs as a result of changes in the relationships between the SES components in karst areas.

Karst habitats are characterized by extremely slow soil formation as a result of the underlying limestone; very shallow and patchy soil with low water retention capacity; and high porosity of the underlying limestone rock. Seasonal and temporary droughts occur frequently in the habitat due to uneven seasonal rainfall, shallow soil layers, and porous rock. Drought stress is a crucial factor that limits the survival, growth and distribution of plants in karst habitats. Due to the sensitivity of karst habitats, karst areas are more susceptible to climate change, such as changes in rainfall and rising temperatures. This Special Issue concentrates on the water cycles, nutrient cycles and vegetation changes in karst areas in the context of climate change, with the aim of understanding the evolution processes of karst ecosystems.

Dr. Jiangbo Gao
Prof. Dr. Yuluan Zhao
Dr. Yuguo Liu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • ecosystem services
  • karst
  • climate change
  • rocky desertification
  • vegetation change

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 21636 KiB  
Article
Hydrogeology of Karst and Metapelitic Domains of the Semi-Arid Vieira River Watershed (Brazil)—A Contribution to Groundwater Resource Management
by Apolo Pedrosa Bhering, Isabel Margarida Horta Ribeiro Antunes, Eduardo Antonio Gomes Marques, Rodrigo Sergio de Paula and Antônio Roberto Nunes Silva
Water 2023, 15(11), 2066; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15112066 - 29 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1588
Abstract
Water scarcity is a problem in Brazil’s northern semi-arid domain. Montes Claros is the most populated Minas Gerais city in this context, and its socio-economic problems are related to water consumption and management. Aiming to help assess these problems, this study presents a [...] Read more.
Water scarcity is a problem in Brazil’s northern semi-arid domain. Montes Claros is the most populated Minas Gerais city in this context, and its socio-economic problems are related to water consumption and management. Aiming to help assess these problems, this study presents a new hydrogeological characterization. The 3D geological model was developed using drilling data from 125 public wells, field campaigns and satellite images for hydrogeological interpretation. The area has two main different aquifer systems underlying the Vieira River Watershed. The first is a karstic fissured aquifer, located in the Lagoa do Jacaré limestone Formation. The second is fissured aquifer systems in metapelites from the Serra da Santa Helena and Serra da Saudade Formations, which are characterized by low hydraulic transmissivity and locally higher specific capacity zones related to their structural features or carbonate intercalations. Monitoring data from new manual and automatic methods carried out in 16 selected points highlight that variations are related to (1) hydrogeological domains, (2) oscillations related to interference from neighboring wells, and (3) seasonal variation and irregular pluviometry in the region. This is important information that can help update our hydrogeological knowledge, provide information on surface and groundwater flow dynamics, and improve water resource management, with the aim of ensuring sustainability in exploitation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Karst Rocky Desertification and Climate Change Effect)
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