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An ecohydrological adaptive approach to a salt lake in the semiarid grasslands of Argentina: future management perspectives

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Abstract

Past extreme hydrological events, future climate change scenarios and approaches for lake management were studied in the Argentinean Pampa. Anthropogenic climate change will impact water bodies and create enormous challenges for water management. Adaptation strategies are needed urgently to deal with the uncertainties originated by climate change on inland or coastal basins. Only a few studies have addressed practical strategies to mitigate global change impacts on lakes and practically none in South America. The purpose of this work was to discuss management options and seek better adaptive alternatives for the nature reserve Lake Chasicó, and to propose future management experiments and actions at a regional level. The ecohydrological approach is likely to increase the ecological resilience of the lake, dampen climate-driven hydrological variations and reduce eutrophication problems. Future projects should include wetland creation, fish management, water quality control, engineering work studies and education programs. Ecohydrology as an integrative natural science should be considered as a water management strategy to build ecological resilience into water bodies. The building of social-ecological resilience is also crucial for the stability of coupled human-ecological systems. The integration of natural and social sciences into sustainability approaches represents a robust strategy for adapting to climate change.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Japan Studies Service Organization (JASSO), the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst: DAAD) and the Ministry of Education of Argentina (Ministerio de Educación: ME) for financing this work, and the National Meteorological Service (Servicio Metereológico Nacional: SMN) of Argentina for precipitation data. We thank also O. Saito, D. Gondor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía, Florida 8000, Complejo CCT CONICET, Edificio E1, B8000FWB, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Germán A. Kopprio & Rubén J. Lara

  2. Laboratory of Prevention of International Epidemics, Department of Veterinary Science, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-58 Rinkuourai-Kita, Izumisano, Osaka, 598-8531, Japan

    Germán A. Kopprio

  3. Química Ambiental, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Av. Alem 1253, B8000CPB, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    R. Hugo Freije

  4. Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Fahrenheitstr. 6, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Milena Arias-Schreiber & Rubén J. Lara

Authors
  1. Germán A. Kopprio
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  2. R. Hugo Freije
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  3. Milena Arias-Schreiber
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  4. Rubén J. Lara
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Germán A. Kopprio.

Additional information

Handled by Osamu Saito, UNU-Institute for Sustainability and Peace (ISP), Japan.

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Kopprio, G.A., Freije, R.H., Arias-Schreiber, M. et al. An ecohydrological adaptive approach to a salt lake in the semiarid grasslands of Argentina: future management perspectives. Sustain Sci 9, 229–238 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-013-0207-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-013-0207-7

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