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| Titel |
Evaluation of direct anthropic effects over riparian vegetation zonation in five stretches of Mediterranean rivers in Spain. |
| VerfasserIn |
Alicia Garcia, Joaquin Real, Félix Francés |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
| Datensatznummer |
250042694
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The Júcar River Basin District is one of the most important in the Mediterranean region of
Spain both for its size and for the regulation which is subjected to. The scarce water
resources and the high water demand for urban (~20%) and agricultural (~80%) uses
involve a tight balance between available water resources and demands near to 3,200
hm3/year (CHJ, 2010). This fact implies a general limitation to the development of
future anthropic or natural demands. Half of the hydrologic available resources are
extracted from groundwater, while surface reservoirs make possible the regulation
near to 1,200 hm3/year. The district system includes Mijares, Serpis, and Cabriel
rivers as three of the most relevant ones. In this work, five stretches from those
rivers have been selected in order to be a representative sample of the River Basin
District.
The objective of this work is to evaluate how hydrological regulation and agricultural
irrigation are affecting riparian vegetation compared with the results obtained by simulating
the estimated natural conditions. Thus, both dam regulation and agricultural irrigation
impacts over the riparian vegetation are analyzed in the selected stretches located in the rivers
previously mentioned.
The model employed is called RibAV. It is a useful tool based on a transpiration index that
does not take into account another factors as can be the effect of destruction by floods.
The model simulates a certain number of riparian vegetation functional types and
can be applied in a wide range of conditions across semiarid environments. By
means of this technique an evaluation of several anthropic impacts can be done
considering changes in hydrological regimes or changes in the contour climatic
conditions.
Results show that direct anthropic impacts cause a greater presence of terrestrial
vegetation against the riparian trees or adult shrubs. In a parallel way, hydrologic regulation
by dams is unfavorable for herbaceous riparian plants, restricting the riparian vegetation
presence to some immature plants. Agricultural irrigated areas around the stretch emphasize
these effects. To conclude, it has been established that hydrological regulation and
agricultural irrigation not only cause changes in the functional types of riparian
vegetation, but also modify the riparian forest structure and consequently its quality. |
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