Groundwater dynamics and water table level can greatly influence the physiological performance of plant species, composition of vegetation and ecosystem productivity. Understanding ecosystem sensitivity to hydrological changes such as groundwater decline, and the ecophysiological processes involved, are important challenges. This is particularly relevant in seasonally dry semi-arid coastal dune ecosystems of the Iberian Peninsula (such as Doñana area), where the human pressure is currently high, exacerbating climatic trends of groundwater scarcity.
Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of hydrological drought, particularly water table lowering, on a semi-arid coastal dune ecosystem, and define their vulnerability to groundwater limitation, helping to mitigate the impact of water-resources’ changes on relevant coastal ecosystems.
The project was based on physiological measures, functional diversity, vegetation structure, remote sensing, water-table depth modeling, up-scaling processes, and assessment of integrated vegetation responses to groundwater changes. Community-level assessments, integrated trait syndromes and functional approaches may better point out the vulnerability of vegetation (and habitats/ecosystem) to the reduction of groundwater resources.
The outputs of the project intend to have great implications for water management plans, by signaling vulnerable and endangered coastal areas to current and future groundwater changes. Ultimately, in the long-term, it will contribute to better outline sustainable management strategies conciliating habitat conservation and water-resources use, in semi-arid coastal dune ecosystems of the Iberian Peninsula.
