RT Journal Article
T1 Groundwater Abstraction has Caused Extensive Ecological Damage to the Doñana World Heritage Site, Spain
A1 Green, Andy J.
A1 Olías Álvarez, Manuel
A1 Díaz Delgado, Ricardo
AB Acreman et al. (Wetlands 42:63, 2022) reviewed evidence for ecological damage to the Doñana wetlands (UNESCO WorldHeritage Site [WHS] and Ramsar site), Spain, associated with intensification of groundwater use, particularly for agriculture.Acreman et al. presented a multistep methodology for evidence-based risk assessment that involves identification of conservationissues, and a systematic review of scientific evidence for ecological damage and its causes. However, they involvedfew local scientists, used a questionable methodology in stakeholder selection and involvement, used a flawed conceptualframework, and an incomplete literature review. We propose improvements to their methodology. They overlooked or misinterpretedkey evidence, and underestimated the impacts that abstraction for irrigation for red fruits (mainly strawberries), riceand other crops has had on Doñana and its biodiversity. They reported groundwater level depletion of up to 10 m in the deepaquifer, but wrongly concluded that there is no evidence for impacts on the natural marsh ecosystem, the dune ponds or theecotone. Groundwater drawdowns are actually up to 20 m, and have inverted the formerly ascending vertical hydraulic gradientin discharge areas. Phreatic levels have been lowered from 0.5 to 2 m in some areas. Groundwater abstraction has causedmultiple ecological impacts to temporary ponds and marshes in the WHS, as well as to terrestrial vegetation, and should beurgently reduced. Furthermore, Acreman et al. focused on groundwater quantity while overlooking the importance of severeimpacts on quality of both surface and groundwater, intimately connected to the use of agrochemicals for irrigated crops.
PB Springer
SN 0277-5212
SN 1943-6246 (electrónico)
YR 2024
FD 2024-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/23624
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/23624
LA eng
NO Green, A. J., Guardiola-Albert, C., Bravo-Utrera, M. Á., Bustamante, J., Camacho, A., Camacho, C., Contreras-Arribas, E., Espinar, J. L., Gil-Gil, T., Gomez-Mestre, I., Heredia-Díaz, J., Kohfahl, C., Negro, J. J., Olías, M., Revilla, E., Rodríguez-González, P. M., Rodríguez-Rodríguez, M., Ruíz-Bermudo, F., Santamaría, L., … Díaz-Delgado, R. (2024). Groundwater Abstraction has Caused Extensive Ecological Damage to the Doñana World Heritage Site, Spain. In Wetlands (Vol. 44, Issue 2). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-023-01769-1
NO Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSICagreement with Springer Nature. Part of this work (marsh hydroperiodand water depth) was funded by eLTER Plus project (INFRAIA, Horizon2020, Agreement no. 871128) and FEDER actions [SUMHAL,LIFEWATCH-2019-09-CSIC-13, POPE 2014–2020] by the Ministry ofScience, Innovation and Universities, Subtask LWE2103022: Integrationinto VRE in the framework of the CSIC Interdisciplinary ThematicPlatforms (PTI) PTI EcoBioDiv and Teledetect. PMRG was fundedby the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT),through the Individual Stimulus to Scientific Employment Programmewith the 2020.03356.CEECIND grant, Forest Research Centre by theFCT (UIDB/00239/2020) grant, and Associate Laboratory Terra byLA/P/0092/2020; and by eLTER Plus project RIFORLONG (Horizon2020, Agreement no. 871128). The authors declare that no other funds,grants, or other support were received during the preparation of thismanuscript.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 31 may 2026