Descripción del proyecto
Un estudio más detallado sobre la salud de las aguas subterráneas
Los acuíferos costeros favorecen los ecosistemas subsuperficiales característicos en los límites terrestres y oceánicos del mundo y proporcionan fuentes de agua para más de mil millones de personas en las regiones costeras. Sin embargo, también son propensos a los efectos del cambio climático y el crecimiento de la población humana. ¿Cuáles son los precursores de la biodiversidad en los acuíferos costeros? ¿Cómo responden al cambio ambiental? El proyecto DARKEST, financiado con fondos europeos, buscará respuestas integrando una base de datos mundial de la fauna subterránea con datos geoquímicos existentes y mapas hidrogeológicos de alta resolución de los acuíferos del mundo. Al adoptar un enfoque holístico, conectará las disciplinas científicas a través de la ecología y las geociencias. El proyecto identificará comunidades biológicas que podrían servir como indicadores de la salud de los recursos hídricos subterráneos.
Objetivo
Subterranean estuaries extend inland into coastal aquifers inhabited by a surprising diversity of subterranean animals with peculiar ecological and evolutionary features. How complex ecosystems thrive in this globally distributed habitat in different hydrological and geological settings is poorly understood. This study aims to integrate a novel global database of subterranean fauna with existing geochemical data and high-resolution hydrogeology maps of the world’s aquifers, using modern statistical and modelling methods, to achieve an integrated understanding of the drivers of biodiversity in coastal aquifers and their response to global environmental change. Indeed, coastal aquifers connect the world’s oceanic and hydrologic ecosystems and provide water source for more than one billion people in coastal regions, but these habitats are among those most prone to the long-term effects of climate change and human population growth. Therefore, expected outcomes of the study will contribute to the increasing efforts to discover, describe, and sustain groundwater-dependent ecosystems and to identify biological communities that could serve as indicators of the health of groundwater resources. To achieve these goals, a holistic approach is proposed that bridges scientific disciplines across ecology and geosciences. The project also targets to build the foundation for my long-term plans, that is, to reintegrate in Europe and establish myself as a leading expert in the emerging field of Earth System Ecology. Ensuring success, I will be supervised by host Diego Fontaneto, an expert in ecology, evolution, and large-scale patterns of biodiversity of microscopic animals at the Water Research Institute of CNR in Italy. Moreover, I will benefit from interactions with secondment-host Nils Moosdorf, who has expertise in aquifer hydrogeology, data-driven geoscience, and mega-scale hydrological modelling, at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research in Germany.
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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
00185 Roma
Italia