Compounding Impacts of Human-Induced Water Stress and Climate Change on Water Availability

The terrestrial phase of the water cycle can be seriously impacted by water management and human water use behavior (e.g., reservoir operation, and irrigation withdrawals). Here we outline a method for assessing water availability in a changing climate, while explicitly considering anthropogenic water demand scenarios and water supply infrastructure designed to cope with climatic extremes. The framework brings a top-down and bottom-up approach to provide localized water assessment based on local water supply infrastructure and projected water demands. When our framework is applied to southeastern Australia we find that, for some combinations of climatic change and water demand, the region could experience water stress similar or worse than the epic Millennium Drought. We show considering only the influence of future climate on water supply, and neglecting future changes in water demand and water storage augmentation might lead to opposing perspectives on future water availability. While human water use can significantly exacerbate climate change impacts on water availability, if managed well, it allows societies to react and adapt to a changing climate. The methodology we present offers a unique avenue for linking climatic and hydrologic processes to water resource supply and demand management and other human interactions

Comparative fruit quality parameters of ‘Ninfa’ apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) grafted on two different rootstocks in a newly established organic orchard

The fruit quality parameters of Prunus armeniaca L. cv ‘Ninfa’ grafted on ‘Myrobalan 29C’ (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.) and ‘Real Fino’ apricot seedling (Prunus armeniaca L.) were analysed in an experimental orchard under organic management. The study was performed between 2010 and 2012 in the province of Seville (SW Spain). Colour, fruit and stone weights, firmness, soluble solid concentration, and acidity were measured for fruit quality evaluation. Trunk cross-sectional area, main branches, and fruit yield were also determined. In general, ‘Myrobalan 29C’ rootstock produced fruit slightly larger in size and with a bigger weight. By contrast, apricots on ‘Myrobalan 29C’ had less firmness and a lower solid soluble concentration than on ‘Real Fino’. There was little difference in the colour, acidity, and stone dry weights. Trees on ‘Real Fino’ had larger areas of trunk and branches but no significant differences were obtained in relation to fruit yields

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements