Managing the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems under water scarcity – First GLOBAQUA Conference

GLOBAQUA (www.globaqua-project.eu) deals with the management of the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems under water scarcity. Water and water-related services are major components of the human wellbeing; yet freshwater systems are under threat by a variety of stressors (organic and inorganic pollution, geomorphological alterations, land cover change, water abstraction, invasive species and pathogens).

The relevance of water scarcity as a stressor is more important in semi-arid regions, such as the Mediterranean basin, which are characterised by highly variable river flows and the occurrence of low flows. This has resulted in increases in frequency and magnitude of extreme flow events. Further, in other European regions, water demand exceeds water availability and water scarcity has become an important management issue.

Water scarcity is most commonly associated with inappropriate water management and resulting river flow reductions. It has become one of the most important drivers of change in freshwater ecosystems. Conjoint occurrence of a myriad of stressors (chemical, geomorphological, biological) under water scarcity will produce novel and unfamiliar synergies and most likely very pronounced effects.

GLOBAQUA, and its partner projects MARS and SOLUTIONS, have assembled multidisciplinary teams of scientists in the fields of hydrology, chemistry, ecology, ecotoxicology, economy, sociology, engineering and modelling to study the interaction of multiple stressors within the frame of strong pressure on water resources. The aim is to achieve a better understanding how current management practices and policies could be improved by identifying the main drawbacks and alternatives.

This interdisciplinary conference is a platform for exchange and discussion of innovative scientific findings and methods in aquatic ecosystems research. It focuses on novel methods of environmental monitoring and modelling of various scopes, scales and structural complexity to improve process understanding in the interconnectivity and feedback mechanisms of climate (regional), land use (regional), economy, hydrology and hydraulics (catchment and river), water quality (river), biology and aquatic ecosystems (reach scale).

Further, the conference builds the bridge to the scientific assessment of implications on policy and management – it is thus structured in four sessions: stressors, receptors, implications and management & policy. Contributions are most welcome from the interested scientific community.

The meeting will include key-note lectures, invited and regular oral presentations and posters. Submission of abstracts is open to all scientists who share interest in the topics of the conference. Preference to oral presentations will be given to submissions with novel scientific findings in the listed core topics or, in particular, to presentations that focus on innovative integration of the conference topics.

Abstracts (in English) for oral and poster presentations (max 2 pages) must be submitted online before 7th November 2015. More information and details about on-line registration and abstract submission can be found at http://www.globaqua-project.eu/en/news/

The Conference will take place at the Kardinal-Döpfner-Haus (KDH), an educational centre in Freising, Germany. KDH is located in close proximity to Munich Airport and the City of Munich.

The KDH offers accomodation for conference participants at very reasonable rates. For more information please visit www.bildungszentrum-freising.de