PANAMA

Assessment of the ecological impacts of copper mining on aquatic ecosystems in Panama

This project combines field studies with ecotoxicological studies to assess the potential impact of copper mining on rivers and streams in Panama. We use a combination of techniques such as environmental DNA, behavioral experiments, LC50s, mesocosm experiments and artificial substrates. The final aim of the project is to understand if there is a toxic effect of mining activities on the aquatic organisms and if this can translate into changes in the community structure and functioning. Also, the project will explore the modulating role of natural disturbances (i.e. floods), which are common in the tropical landscape.

Start Date: 15/03/2023 – End Date: 15/03/2024

Project Leader: Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles Iglesias

Support: Nieves López-Rodríguez , José María Fernández Calero

Funding: Technology Transfer Contract

GLOBSALT

A GLOBal analysis of the impacts of freshwater SALinizaTion on aquatic biodiversity

Salts are a natural component of freshwater ecosystems (e.g. carbonates contained in rocks are dissolved by rain and washed into rivers and streams). However, through a wide variety of activities (e.g. agriculture, mining, road salting), humans have greatly increased the salt concentrations in freshwaters and altered ion balance (i.e. freshwater salinization). This directly affects aquatic life, because organisms need to maintain an internal osmotic balance to survive. GLOBSALT will compile a comprehensive database that will be used to assess the global extent of FS and its potential effects on biodiversity.

Funding: i-LINK (CSIC), project reference - ILINK22058
Non-IDAEA researchers:
Ben Kefford (University of Canberra), Michel Meybeck (Sorbonne Université), Shelley Arnott (Queens University), Sujay Kaushal (University of Maryland), Josefin Thorslund (Swedish National Research Council), Ralf Schäfer and Elisabeth Berger (University of Klobenz-Landau).

Start Date: 05/12/2022 – End Date: 05/12/2024

Project Leader: Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles Iglesias

Support: Álvaro Javier Moyano Salcedo

Funding: National Project

MACROCLIM

Uso de macroinvertebrados acuáticos como indicadores de cambio climático en ríos

Human activities have altered the Earth's natural climate. The IPCC has shown with high confidence that “a large fraction of species faces increased extinction risk due to climate change during and beyond the 21st century”. Extinction will probably be most severe in freshwater ecosystems (e.g. rivers), since they already show a much higher rate of species decline than marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Thus, it is urgent to anticipate the effects of climate change in rivers. In this regard, aquatic macroinvertebrates can be very useful indicators. However, despite their potential to monitor climate change, macroinvertebrate-based climate change indices are still lacking for most regions of Europe. These indices would help us to put in place adaptation strategies to safeguard biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and human welfare in the face of climate change.

The main objective of MACROCLIM is to develop an index to monitor climate effects on European rivers (e.g. changes in the species distribution ranges, local extinctions) based on the thermal tolerances of aquatic macroinvertebrates. MACROCLIM will exclusively focus on changes in temperature, but we acknowledge that climate change will affect river flows and this can have important implications for aquatic biodiversity. In this regard, we will coordinate efforts with the on-going H2020 project DRYvER, in which part of the MACROCLIM team is involved and that will develop strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts on drying river networks. The specific objectives of MACROCLIM are the following:

• O1: to collate a database of thermal tolerance ranges of aquatic macroinvertebrates in European rivers and of associated groups of bioecological traits (i.e. trait profile groups).
• O2: to validate the thermal tolerances and sensitivity of selected taxa.
• O3: to create a climate change index (MACROCLIM index) based on the results of O1 and O2.
• O4: to predict the future distribution of the taxa used to calculate the MACROCLIM index.
• O5: to design a network of sites for monitoring climate change in rivers using the MACROCLIM index.
• O6: to raise awareness of climate change and train stakeholders on the monitoring of climate change in rivers.

Funding: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Project reference TED2021-131206B-I00

Non-IDAEA Researchers: Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber, Ben Kefford, Maria Soria, Núria Bonada, Narcís Prat, Pau Fortuño, Ralf Schäfer, Sami Domisch, Thibault Datry and Virgilio Hermoso

Partners: Universitat de Barcelona, Universidad de Sevilla, University of Canberra, University of Klobenz-Landau, University of Vic, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Vienna), Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE)

Start Date: 01/12/2022 – End Date: 01/12/2024

Project Leader: Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles Iglesias

Researchers: Julie Crabot

Funding: National Project

Bioacuana

Distribution and vulnerability to climate change of the aquatic macroinvertebrates of the Canary Islands

This project focuses on the aquatic insect fauna of the Canary Islands archipelago, which is especially interesting for three reasons: 1) it is little known due to the lack of inventories and scientific studies; 2) includes a large number of endemisms; 3) presents a great vulnerability to hydric stress derived from climate change. The project has four specific objectives: 1) Hydrologically characterize the main bodies of surface water; 2) Generate basic information on the taxonomic and genetic diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates; 3) Determine the vulnerability of species to global climate change; 4) Identify the priority zones for the conservation of the biodiversity of aquatic insects. Thus, this project will serve to establish basic knowledge about the aquatic biodiversity of the Canary Islands, which includes a large number of endemic species, and to promote conservation strategies in anticipation of the effects of climate change.

Funding: Fundación BBVA (Ayudas a proyectos de investigación científica en Cambio Climático y Ecología y Biología de la Conservación)
Project Leader: Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles Iglesias, Núria Bonada

Start Date: 30/06/2022 – End Date: 30/06/2024

Project Leader: Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles Iglesias

Researchers: Pilar Llorens Garcia , Francesc Gallart Gallego , Jérôme Latron , Raúl Acosta Rivas

Support: José María Fernández Calero , Miriam Elena Salguero Sandoval

Funding: National Project

https://conacuana.es/

CONACAN

Conservación de la biodiversidad acuática en los Parques Nacionales de las Islas Canarias en un contexto de estrés hídrico y especies invasoras

Freshwater biodiversity is disappearing at an accelerated rate as a result of human activities. This situation is especially alarming in regions of the planet where water scarcity derived from human demand and climate change pose a risk to a large number of species. This can even lead to the loss of species that have not yet been described. In this context, protected areas play a fundamental role as reservoirs of biodiversity, which needs to be properly studied to guarantee its preservation. This project focuses on the aquatic biodiversity of three National Parks of the Canary Islands archipelago (Teide, Garajonay and Caldera de Taburiente), which is especially interesting for three reasons: 1) it is poorly described due to the lack of inventories and studies scientists; 2) it includes a large number of endemisms; and 3) it presents a great vulnerability to water scarcity. The objectives of the project are to:
1) Hydrologically characterize the main surface water bodies;
2) Generate basic information on the taxonomic and genetic diversity of the communities of aquatic insects and diatoms;
3) Evaluate the current status of aquatic invasive species;
4) Determine the vulnerability of the species to climate change; and
5) Identify priority areas for the conservation of biodiversity and for the management of invasive species in a context of water stress and climate change.
Among other things, the CONACAN project will serve to design a sampling network for aquatic biodiversity within the parks studied, to train park personnel in its study and conservation, and to propose conservation
measures for biodiversity and the management of invasive species.

Start Date: 13/04/2022 – End Date: 12/04/2026

Project Leader: Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles Iglesias

Researchers: Raúl Acosta Rivas , Julie Crabot

Support: Nieves López-Rodríguez

Funding: National Project

https://conacuana.es/

VIENTACUA

The wind as a modulating factor of the aquatic biodiversity of wetlands in Patagonia

Los humedales se encuentran entre los ecosistemas más productivos y biodiversos del planeta, dominando el área cubierta por las aguas continentales, y siendo muy valiosos como fuentes, sumideros y transformadores de una multitud de materiales químicos, biológicos y genéticos. Globalmente se están generando distintas acciones y medidas de conservación para atenuar sus pérdidas de biodiversidad y evitar o disminuir los procesos de degradación causados por los cambios ambientales. No obstante, la efectividad de estas pautas estará determinada por las características ambientales de los humedales, el conocimiento de sus organismos e interacciones en el tiempo y espacio. En este sentido, la disciplina de metacomunidades, que incluye un marco teórico para integrar múltiples factores ambientales (por ej. la dinámica local de los hábitats y su conectividad a distintas escalas) y biológicos (por ej. interacciones entre los componentes de las redes tróficas), ha logrado mejorar el entendimiento de los patrones de su biodiversidad. Para este proyecto se propone el estudio de los humedales (lagunas) de mesetas basálticas de Patagonia, bajo la premisa de que la conectividad entre los mismos dependerá de la dirección del viento. Los humedales aislados geográficamente o de depresiones, pueden considerarse islas rodeadas de una matriz terrestre, y para dispersarse entre hábitats los organismos acuáticos utilizan una variedad de estrategias, entre las que se incluye la utilización del viento. Las mesetas basálticas de la Provincia de Santa Cruz (Argentina), expuestas a fuertes vientos del oeste y conteniendo numerosos humedales, constituyen un área de estudio ideal para testar si el viento es capaz de modular la biodiversidad acuática. Esta variable de naturaleza anisotrópica, produce distintos efectos en función de su dirección. Es decir, el viento puede facilitar la dispersión de organismos a favor de su dirección, pero también actuar como una barrera cuando se dispersan en contra de su dirección dominante. Sin embargo, los organismos podrían estar adaptados al viento de tal forma que eviten sus efectos, por ejemplo sincronizando los vuelos de dispersión durante los días calma de viento o utilizando vectores de dispersión que no son tan afectados su acción (por ej. aves). Si este fuera el caso, otros factores locales como las interacciones bióticas entre los componente de la red trófica, podrían ser el principal determinante de la estructura de la metacomunidad de organismos acuáticos. Entender el rol del viento y su importancia relativa en la estructuración de los patrones de biodiversidad acuática de humedales, será fundamental para proponer pautas de conservación y de adaptación frente a los cambios ambientales.

Project Leader: Dr. Luis B. Epele
Reference: PICT-2020-SERIEA-01331
Funding: Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología, e Innovación Productiva. Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica. Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica. (Argentina)

Start Date: 01/03/2022 – End Date: 01/09/2025

Researchers: Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles Iglesias

Funding: International Project