Identifying spatial and seasonal patterns of river water quality in a semiarid irrigated agricultural Mediterranean basin

A detailed understanding of the study area is essential to achieve key information and optimize the monitoring, analysis, and evaluation of water quality of natural ecosystems that have been highly transformed into agricultural areas. Using classification techniques like the hierarchical cluster analysis (CA) and partial triadic analysis (PTA), we assessed the sources of water pollution and the seasonal influence of human activities in water composition in a river basin from northeastern Spain. The results suggested that a strong connection existed between water quality and the seasonality of the human activities. The CA showed the spatial relationship between water chemistry and the adjacent land uses. The PTA associated the analyzed variables to their pollutant source. Electrical conductivity (EC), Cl−, SO4 2−–S, Na+, and Mg2+ ions were related with agricultural sources, whereas NH4 +–N, PT, and PO4 3−–P were linked with urban polluted sites. Concentration of NO3ˉ–N was associated with urban land use. Differences in water composition according to the irrigation intensity were also found during the irrigation season. The statistical tools used in this work, especially the PTA, allowed us to jointly analyze the spatial and seasonal components of water pollutant trends. We obtained a more comprehensive knowledge of water quality patterns in the study area, which will be essential when taking measures to minimize the effects of water pollution.This work is part of the AGUAFLASH project funded by the Program of Territorial Cooperation “Interreg IVB-SUDOE” (SOE1/P2/F146) which is funded by EU FEDER. Thanks are given to Comarca de Los Monegros for its consistent cooperation in the development of this project. We thank C. Pedrocchi, J. Cervantes, S. G. Eisman, M. García, S. Pérez and A. Barcos for their comments and their crucial assistance in the field and laboratory work. A. Calvo at CHE contributed with key formal cooperation to this work. We also wish to thank the AEMET (Spanish Meteorological Agency) for access to meteorological data. This work was also developed as Research Group E61 Aragon Goverment.Peer reviewe

Depopulation impacts on ecosystem services in Mediterranean rural areas

Despite the exponential increase in human population at global scale, some rural areas have experienced a progressive abandonment over the last decades. Under particular socioecological and policy contexts, changes in demography may promote land-use changes and, consequently, alter ecosystem services (ES) supply. However, most studies on this topic have targeted urban population increase, whereas depopulation has been rarely addressed. Here, we examined how shifts in demographic variables (human population, population density, and number of villages) affect provisioning (water supply, food and biomass production) and regulating (soil retention, water and nutrient regulation) ES in Mediterranean rural areas with contrasting environmental, so-cioeconomic and land-use contexts. When depopulation results in underuse of socio-ecological systems, we ex-pected a decrease of provisioning and an increase of regulating ES, whereas we expected the opposite pattern when it results in land-use intensification. To test this hypothesis, we compared demographic data and ES estimated with Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) linked to land-use changes between the 1950s and 2000s in three rural areas of Arag ́on (NE Spain). Generalized Additive Mixed Models and Linear Mixed-Effect Models were used to analyze demographic trends, ES changes and the relationship between them. We found severe depopulation (− 42% inhabitants) and associated land-use changes in the three areas, which was particularly evident in isolated mountainous zones (− 63% inhabitants). Depopulation trends significantly affected land use and, consequently, all of the ES evaluated. In mountainous depopulated areas, land abandonment and rewilding resulted in the increase in water regulation (>1000%) and soil retention (>400%). In contrast, agriculture was intensified in more fertile and easy-to-access lowland areas, boosting the food production service (>600%). Accordingly, the interactions among depopulation, crop production and regulating ES should be considered in the management schemes and policies targeting rural areas for a balanced and sustainable supply of ES in the long term

Una mirada interdisciplinar sobre los retos actuales de la infancia en un mundo globalizado (RETIN)

El concepto de infancia ha ido evolucionando a lo largo de la historia. En el siglo XX, especialmente en sus últimos años, se ha prestado mayor atención al desenvolvimiento de los seres humanos en esta etapa de la vida, atención que se ha concretado, entre otras cuestiones, en el interés creciente hacia los derechos de la infancia. En 1989 este proceso se ve reforzado por la aprobación de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de los niños y las niñas, que reconoce a las personas menores de 18 años de edad derechos civiles, sociales, económicos, culturales y políticos, derechos de ciudadanía en suma para el colectivo infantil, considerado previamente como puro objeto de protección. En el ámbito de las ciencias sociales se ha producido también una transformación. Desde un enfoque sociológico se considera que la infancia es un espacio temporal en la trayectoria de vida de las personas, y también el espacio social definido para el desarrollo de la vida de los niños. Se reconoce que también los niños, como grupo social, no sólo pueden actuar, sino que actúan de hecho, y se relacionan con los demás grupos sociales, modificando, construyendo y contribuyendo a los cambios que se producen en la sociedad. En este marco, el objetivo del presente proyecto es la elaboración y difusión de materiales audiovisuales pedagógicos basados en entrevistas sobre los retos actuales de la infancia en un mundo globalizado, como son: cuidados en la ciudad, infancia migrante no acompañada, desigualdades socioeconómicas, nuevas tecnologías y género

Development and analysis of the Soil Water Infiltration Global database

In this paper, we present and analyze a novel global database of soil infiltration measurements, the Soil Water Infiltration Global (SWIG) database. In total, 5023 infiltration curves were collected across all continents in the SWIG database. These data were either provided and quality checked by the scientists who performed the experiments or they were digitized from published articles. Data from 54 different countries were included in the database with major contributions from Iran, China, and the USA. In addition to its extensive geographical coverage, the collected infiltration curves cover research from 1976 to late 2017. Basic information on measurement location and method, soil properties, and land use was gathered along with the infiltration data, making the database valuable for the development of pedotransfer functions (PTFs) for estimating soil hydraulic properties, for the evaluation of infiltration measurement methods, and for developing and validating infiltration models. Soil textural information (clay, silt, and sand content) is available for 3842 out of 5023 infiltration measurements ( ∼ 76%) covering nearly all soil USDA textural classes except for the sandy clay and silt classes. Information on land use is available for 76% of the experimental sites with agricultural land use as the dominant type ( ∼ 40%). We are convinced that the SWIG database will allow for a better parameterization of the infiltration process in land surface models and for testing infiltration models. All collected data and related soil characteristics are provided online in *.xlsx and *.csv formats for reference, and we add a disclaimer that the database is for public domain use only and can be copied freely by referencing it. Supplementary data are available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.885492 (Rahmati et al., 2018). Data quality assessment is strongly advised prior to any use of this database. Finally, we would like to encourage scientists to extend and update the SWIG database by uploading new data to it

Seasonal variability of NO3 - mobilization during flood events in a Mediterranean catchment: The influence of intensive agricultural irrigation

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. The temporal variability, hysteresis loops and various factors involved in the mobilization of nitrates (NO3 -) have been studied for a 3-year period at the Flumen River basin. Multivariate techniques (cluster analysis and pearson correlation matrix) were used to establish the relationship between the water discharge and NO3 - flushing, as well as to identify the agricultural and hydrometeorological parameters that influence its different mobilization trends. The relationship between changes in the NO3 - concentration (δC) and the overall dynamic of each hysteresis loop (δR) was also analyzed in order to describe the NO3 - trends according to the water discharge. A general dilution pattern of the NO3 - concentration was noted in the Flumen River with respect to the degree of water discharge caused by irrigation return flows. While fertilization increased the NO3 - concentration, the beginning of the irrigation season contributed to its dilution. However, in case of the NO3 - load, the maximum values occurred during high flow periods in the irrigation period, which suggested the influence of the irrigation flow on the NO3 - mass. The NO3 - load increased to 2753t and 1059t during the first and second phases of the study period, respectively, with an average specific yield of 1.33tkm-2 y-1. The NO3 - transport in the first phase of the study was 1722t during the irrigation season and 1031t during the non-irrigation period. Only 348t (13%) of NO3 - was exported during the flood events. However, in the course of the second phase of the study, the NO3 - load was 733t during the irrigation season and 326t during the non-irrigation period. In this case, 610t (57%) of nitrate was transported during the floods. These results revealed the clear influence of irrigation return flows on the NO3 - response in Flumen River.This study was part of the AGUAFLASH project funded by theEU Interreg IV B SUDOE Programme (SOE1/P2/F146), which is financed by EU FEDER and has been supported by European Project LIFE09 ENV/ES/000431CREAMAgua too. We also wish to acknowledge the Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses grant used to develop part of this work. We thank the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET), the Oficina del Regante del Gobierno de Aragón and the Comarca de los Monegros-Aragón for their collaboration and data contribution. Thanks to M. Garcia and A. Barcos for their assistance in laboratory tasks and to S.G. Eisman for her essential help in field work and her contribution with her useful ideas.Peer Reviewe

A protocol to prioritize wetland restoration and creation for water quality improvement in agricultural watersheds

9 páginas, 7 figuras.[EN] With adequate planning, wetland restoration and creation can be useful tools for improving the water quality of natural ecosystems in agricultural territories. Here, a protocol for selecting wetland-restoration sites at the watershed scale is proposed as part of a demonstration project (EU Life CREAMAgua) for improving wastewater from irrigated agricultural land discharging into the Flumen River (Ebro River Valley, NE Spain). This watershed is semiarid, and 70% of its 1430-km2 area is used for irrigated agriculture. A preliminary study of the physical and chemical characteristics of the Flumen River and its watershed identified nitrates as the key water-quality characteristic in terms of data variability. The protocol consisted of five steps that encompassed scientific–technical, social and economic criteria. The first step was to select all of the sites in the watershed that had the hydrogeomorphic characteristics of a wetland. The second step was to estimate the levels of nitrate discharge through all of the tributaries discharging to the river and to select the sub-watersheds that contributed the most nitrates. The program SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool), which considers the biophysical characteristics and land uses of the watershed, including farming practices, was utilized in these first two steps. In the third step, a first-order area-removal model was used to rank wetlands for nitrate removal. The wetland sites that were estimated to be most efficient for nitrate removal were selected. These wetland sites were located in the agricultural zone within the watershed, where fertilizers and irrigation are intensively used. In the next step, the previously selected sites were considered based on a social-availability criterion (the potential to obtain at no cost the land required to restore or create wetlands at those sites). Finally, the concordance between site availability and funding was used to sequentially select 15 sites (135 ha) that would be cost-effective for the Flumen River watershed project, which provided a case study. This protocol is compared to previously published protocols with the same purpose, and the applications of this procedure are discussed in terms of up-scaling and integrating experience in land-use and agricultural policies.This study is part of the European Project Life09 ENV/ES/000431 CREAMAgua coordinated and lead by Comarca de Los Monegros-Aragón. We thank the project partners Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro, KV Consultores, Tragsa, FPJDCM, IEILM and the Government of Aragón-Dpt. Agricultura-Ganadería-Medio Ambiente and municipalities of Los Monegros for their helpful collaboration. Thanks are given to S. Perez, S.G. Eisman and A. Barcos for field and laboratory assistance. This work was supported by EU FEDER INTERREG IVB SUDOE Aguaflash.Peer reviewe

A methodological approach for spatiotemporally analyzing water-polluting effluents in agricultural landscapes using partial triadic analysis (PTA)

Multivariate techniques for two-dimensional data matrices are normally used in water quality studies. However, if the temporal dimension is included in the analysis, other statistical techniques are recommended. In this study, partial triadic analysis (PTA) was used to investigate the spatial and temporal variability in water-quality variables sampled in a northeastern Spain river basin. The results highlight the spatiality of the physical and chemical properties of water at different sites along a river over one year. PTA allowed us to clearly identify the presence of a stable spatial structure that was common to all sampling dates across the entire catchment. Variables such as electrical conductivity (EC) and Na⁺ and Clˉ ions were associated with agricultural sources, whereas total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), NH₄⁺-N concentrations and NO₂ˉ-N concentrations were linked to polluted urban sites; differences were observed between irrigated and non-irrigated periods. The concentration of NO₃ˉ-N was associated with both agricultural and urban land uses. Variables associated with urban and agricultural pollution sources were highly influenced by the seasonality of different activities conducted in the study area. In analyzing the impact of land use and fertilization management on water runoff and effluents, powerful statistical tools that can properly identify the causes of pollution in watersheds are important. PTA can efficiently summarize site-specific water chemistry patterns in an applied setting for land- and water-monitoring schemes at the landscape level. The method is recommended for land-use decision-making processes to reduce harmful environmental effects and promote sustainable watershed management.This work is a component of the AGUAFLASH project funded by the Program of Territorial Cooperation “Interreg IVB-SUDOE” (SOE1/P2/F146) and EU FEDER. The authors thank “Comarca de Los Monegros” for their continuous support and cooperation in the development of this project and C. Pedrocchi, J. Cervantes, S. G. Eismann, M. García, S. Pérez and A. Barcos for their comments and assistance during the field campaign and laboratory work. The assistance provided by Jean-Pierre Rossi in the correlogram computation is also acknowledged. Key formal cooperation during this research was provided by Mr. A. Calvo at CHE. The authors also thank AEMET (Spanish Meteorological Agency) for the meteorological data. All co-authors declare that they have no competing issues or conflicts of interest.Peer reviewe

Identifying spatial and seasonal patterns of river water quality in a semiarid irrigated agricultural Mediterranean basin

A detailed understanding of the study area is essential to achieve key information and optimize the monitoring, analysis, and evaluation of water quality of natural ecosystems that have been highly transformed into agricultural areas. Using classification techniques like the hierarchical cluster analysis (CA) and partial triadic analysis (PTA), we assessed the sources of water pollution and the seasonal influence of human activities in water composition in a river basin from northeastern Spain. The results suggested that a strong connection existed between water quality and the seasonality of the human activities. The CA showed the spatial relationship between water chemistry and the adjacent land uses. The PTA associated the analyzed variables to their pollutant source. Electrical conductivity (EC), Cl−, SO4 2−–S, Na+, and Mg2+ ions were related with agricultural sources, whereas NH4 +–N, PT, and PO4 3−–P were linked with urban polluted sites. Concentration of NO3ˉ–N was associated with urban land use. Differences in water composition according to the irrigation intensity were also found during the irrigation season. The statistical tools used in this work, especially the PTA, allowed us to jointly analyze the spatial and seasonal components of water pollutant trends. We obtained a more comprehensive knowledge of water quality patterns in the study area, which will be essential when taking measures to minimize the effects of water pollution.This work is part of the AGUAFLASH project funded by the Program of Territorial Cooperation “Interreg IVB-SUDOE” (SOE1/P2/F146) which is funded by EU FEDER. Thanks are given to Comarca de Los Monegros for its consistent cooperation in the development of this project. We thank C. Pedrocchi, J. Cervantes, S. G. Eisman, M. García, S. Pérez and A. Barcos for their comments and their crucial assistance in the field and laboratory work. A. Calvo at CHE contributed with key formal cooperation to this work. We also wish to thank the AEMET (Spanish Meteorological Agency) for access to meteorological data. This work was also developed as Research Group E61 Aragon Goverment.Peer reviewe

Using landsat imagery for reconstructing wetlands inventory and functional status in Monegros, NE Spain

4 Pags.- 7 Figs. ESA Publication from a original contribution of authors into Congress "GlobWetland: Looking at Wetlands from Space" (Frascati, Italy. 19–20 October 2006).Wetland delimitation, necessary for efficient management, is problematic in the case of playa-lakes. The official delimitation of Gallocanta wetland, recently drawn after an agreement between farmers and regional government, is based on its present appearance, without taking into account the fluctuations related with periods wetter than the present. This study highlights the temporal changes of the lake shore facies associated with water level fluctuations and verifies the high variability in ecologically interesting border areas under pressure from agriculture, both at present and historically. A series of Landsat images covering the range of temporal fluctuations of Lake Gallocanta has provided reliable knowledge on its variability, including the delineation of shore facies and their functional status. This information will help in the management of the wetland and related areas.This research was a previous step for the project AGL2006-01283, granted by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.Peer reviewe

Prioritizing sites for ecological restoration based on ecosystem services

The data required to reproduce our analysis are included in the manuscript and are available in the Dryad Digital Repository https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8t5d4 (Comín et al., 2017).Restoration ecology that maximizes ecosystem services (ES) requires planning at large spatial scales, which are often the most meaningful for ecosystem functioning and ES supply. As economic resources to undertake ecological restoration at large scales are scarce, prioritizing sites to enhance multiple ES supply is critical. We present the Relative Aggregated Value of Ecosystem Services (RAVES) index, to prioritize sites for ecological restoration based on the assessment of multiple ES. We tested the spatial heterogeneity of ES to identify the relevant scale to managing ES and to apply the RAVES index using a local case study. We also used the RAVES index to compare three alternative restoration scenarios to enhance ES based on the availability of socio-economic resources. The highest RAVES values were found in areas with natural vegetation and in gorges with riparian forests. The lowest values were found in crop fields, steep slopes and river stretches without riparian forest. The multiscale spatial analysis indicated that most ES showed significant heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales, especially at broad (20–30 km) and very broad (40–50 km) scales. For spatial scales smaller than 2 km, only biological control showed significant heterogeneity. The optimal socio-economic conditions to enhance ES supply were met when both private and public land, together with economic funds, were available to implement ecological restoration. As most areas with low RAVES were in private lands, even with limited funds restoration of private lands would result in a large increase in RAVES. Synthesis and applications. The Relative Aggregated Value of Ecosystem Services (RAVES) index is a practical tool to hierarchically prioritize sites for ecological restoration across large spatial scales. The RAVES index integrates both ecological information and societal values by weighting ecosystem services (ES) via a multicriteria analysis and can be used in scenario analysis to identify optimal management scenarios. We highlight the importance of analysing the spatial heterogeneity of ES to identify the most relevant scale to applying the RAVES index and to managing ES via ecological restoration.We thank the students, technicians and botanists from IPE-CSIC for their help in collecting data. We are also grateful to all the local stakeholders, CHE, DGA and AISECO who kindly took part in the interviews and fieldwork. J.J.J. is supported by ARAID (Fundación Agencia Aragonesa para la Investigación y el Desarrollo, Government of Aragon, Spain). We thank Associate Editor Cate Macinnis-Ng and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.Peer reviewe