Scarcity and multiple stressors in the Mediterranean water resources: The SCARCE and GLOBAQUA research projects Authors Alícia Navarro-Ortega Department of Environmental Chemistry IDAEA, CSIC, Barcelona, Catalonia Sergi Sabater 1.Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Catalonia. 2. Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Girona, Catalonia Damià Barceló 1.Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA, CSIC, Barcelona, Catalonia. 2. Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Catalonia. Keywords: water scarcity, Mediterranean basin, global change, interdisciplinarity, knowledge transfer Abstract The Mediterranean basin is one of the regions of the world most vulnerable to global change and one of the “hot spots” for predicted problems in water availability. Current climate change models forecast that the Mediterranean region will register increased summer drought and stronger rainfall events. Since freshwater ecosystems deliver important services to society, water scarcity affects both ecosystems and humans. Within this context, two different research projects have assembled a multidisciplinary team of leading scientists in the fields of hydrology, chemistry, ecology, ecotoxicology, economy, sociology, engineering, and modeling to study the interaction of multiple stressors with respect to pressure on water resources. SCARCE (2009-2014), with the full title of “Assessing and predicting effects on water quantity and quality in Iberian Rivers caused by global change,” focuses on the Mediterranean river basins of the Iberian Peninsula. GLOBAQUA (2014-2019), with the full title “Managing the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems under water scarcity,” expands the area of concern to several Mediterranean basins in Europe. Both research projects link basic research aspects with management practices and policy implications in a single framework. SCARCE is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 program (CSD2009-00065), whereas GLOBAQUA has the financial support of the European Communities 7th Framework Programme, under Grant Agreement No. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1-Globaqua. [Contrib Sci 10:193-205 (2014)] Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 10 No. 2 (2014) Section Research reviews License This work is subject, unless the contrary is indicated in the text, the photographs or in other illustrations, to an Attribution —Non-Commercial— No Derivative Works 3.0 Creative Commons License, the full text of which can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You are free to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work provided that the author is credited and reuse of the material is restricted to non-commercial purposes only and that no derivative works are created from the original material.
