“ACEQUIAS DE CAREO” OF SIERRA NEVADA (GRANADA, SOUTHERN SPAIN)
Description
Location
Sketch
Information about lithology/geochemistry:
The “acequias de careo” of Sierra Nevada (Bérchules and Mecina rivers watersheds), Granada. Spain
Main Description
- The watersheds of Bérchules, Mecina and Alhorí rivers are placed in Sierra Nevada (Biosphere Reserve and National Park), in southern Spain. An ancestral water and soil management system that enhace recharge is carried out, complining with the precepts of Ecohydrology.
- Thanks to this system, water is better regulated, and the effects of both floods and droughts are lessened, the soil is preserved, ecological diversity is increased, sustainable agriculture and hydraulic heritage are maintained, etc.
- ecological diversity is increased
- Sierra Nevada (Biosphere Reserve and National Park).
Enhance ecohydrological processes in novel ecosystem
YES
Apply complementary Ecohydrological processes in high impacted system
NO
This table presents the different categories of ecosystem services that ecosystem can provide, divided in:
Provisioning Services are ecosystem services that describe the material or energy outputs from ecosystems. They include food, water and other resources.
Food: Ecosystems provide the conditions for growing food. Food comes principally from managed agro-ecosystems but marine and freshwater systems or forests also provide food for human consumption. Wild foods from forests are often underestimated.
Regulating Services are the services that ecosystems provide by acting as regulators eg. regulating the quality of air and soil or by providing flood and disease control.
Moderation of extreme events: Extreme weather events or natural hazards include floods, storms, tsunamis, avalanches and landslides. Ecosystems and living organisms create buffers against natural disasters, thereby preventing possible damage. For example, wetlands can soak up flood water whilst trees can stabilize slopes. Coral reefs and mangroves help protect coastlines from storm damage.
Ecosystem services "that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services". These include services such as nutrient recycling, primary production and soil formation.
Habitats for species: Habitats provide everything that an individual plant or animal needs to survive: food; water; and shelter. Each ecosystem provides different habitats that can be essential for a species’ lifecycle. Migratory species including birds, fish, mammals and insects all depend upon different ecosystems during their movements.
Cultural Services corresponds nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences.
Lifezones
Life zone
Cool Temperate
Montane
Dry forest
PPT(mm/yr): 677.0
T(ºc): 13.0
| Elevation of demosite: | 2000.0 meters above sea level |
| Humidity: | Semi-Arid |
| PETr (by year): | 0.65 |
EH Principles
Quantification of the hydrological processes at catchment scale and mapping the impacts
Ecological engineering (integration, dual regulation and biotechnologies in catchment scale for enhancement of ecological potential)
ECOHYDROLOGY ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
The irrigation ditches generate pastures and maintain forest mass, supplies, agriculture and livestock
Ecohydrological Infrastructure
This water management system retains water in basins through the infiltration of water through the soil and aquifers, increasing the base flow of rivers in dry periods.
Hydrological Flow
The soil-vegetation system retains water and regulates the temperature, nutrients input and the river flow.
Phytotechnology
Major Issues
- Contaminants of agricultural origin, Hyper-regulation of the water resource (micro-reservoirs)
Which: Loss of local population,
Expected Outcomes
To recover and publicize ancestral water management techniques that are good examples of social, cultural and natural resilience
Latest Results
- Hydrological modelling, hydrogeochemical and isotopic research, satellite, and archaeological and sediment dating techniques have been applied to prove the hydrological efficiency, antiquity, and environmental success of this water management system. Through CYTED Network and training courses with AECID we are sharing the knowledge acquired (http://www.cyted.org/es/syca)
Contacts
Sergio Martos Rosillo
- s.martos@igme.es
- http://www.igme.es/
- Spanish Geological Survey
- http://www.igme.es/
Social ecohydrological system
EH Objectives
EH Methodology
Catchment Ecohydrological sub-system
Objectives
Stakeholders
Catchment Sociological sub-system
Activities