The Mediterranean basin is one of the regions of the world most vulnerable to global change and one of the “hot spots” for predicted problems in water availability. Current climate change models forecast that the Mediterranean region will register increased summer drought and stronger rainfall events. Since freshwater ecosystems deliver important services to society, water scarcity affects both ecosystems and humans. Within this context, two different research projects have assembled a multidisciplinary
team of leading scientists in the fields of hydrology, chemistry, ecology, ecotoxicology,
economy, sociology, engineering, and modeling to study the interaction of multiple stressors with respect to pressure on water resources. SCARCE (2009-2014), with the full title of “Assessing and predicting effects on water quantity and quality in Iberian Rivers caused by global change,” focuses on the Mediterranean river basins of the Iberian Peninsula. GLOBAQUA (2014-2019), with the full title “Managing the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems under water scarcity,” expands the area of concern to several Mediterranean basins in Europe. Both research projects link basic research aspects with management practices and policy implications in a single framework. SCARCE is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 program (CSD2009-00065), whereas GLOBAQUA has the financial support of the European Communities 7th Framework Programme, under Grant Agreement No. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1-Globaqua.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project SCARCE of Consolider-Ingenio 2010 program (CSD2009-00065). It has also received funding from the European Communities 7th Framework Programme under Grant Agreement No. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1-Globaqua. This work has been partly supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Group: Water and Soil Quality Unit 2009-SGR-965). Special thanks are due to all partners of the SCARCE and GLOBAQUA consortium and the peer review panels for ensuring quality results and fruitful collaboration within the projects.Peer reviewe
