Temporary waters: biodiversity, functional ecology, vulnerability and susceptibility to climate change

2014

Temporary waters contribute to regional diversity disproportionately compared to the Earth’s surface they cover. This presentation i) describes the reasons underlying this biological diversity, ii) analyzes the importance of temporary waters as hotspots of biodiversity, iii) stresses how these ecosystems represent a valuable tool to evaluate the impact exerted by human activities on our Planet, and iv) consider the possibility to extend the principles of the Integrated Lake Basic Management developed by ILEC in order to achieve a sustainable management of these ecosystems. Moreover, temporary waters are strongly impacted by the climate change, which modifies their hydroperiod and reduces th…