After the success of
DOMIPEX, in July of 2016 begins the second J-AIL project: “A timely look at effects of agriculture on fluvial dissolved organic
matter: the role of hydrology (AGRHYDROM)”.
From now on, we will
use the J-AIL Blog to disseminate all the information about the participant
groups and the project advances and results, so we encourage you to follow the
J-AIL Blog.
The AGRHYDROM project
is going to be led by the PhD students Edurne Estévez, from the Environmental Hydraulic Institute of the
University of Cantabria, and Rubén del Campo, from the Department of Ecology
and Hydrology of the University of Murcia. Edurne’s PhD is focused on the
effect of land uses changes on stream food webs and ecosystem functioning. The
main aim of Rubén’s PhD is to analyse the interactions between terrestrial and
aquatic ecosystems on fluvial C processing, especially focused on intermittent
rivers.
The main objective of the AGRHYDROM project is to study the combined effect of
agriculture and seasonal hydrology on nutrients and DOM quantity, composition and bioavailability in temporary streams. Three samplings will be
carried out in spring, summer and autumn of 2017. The simple methodologies of
the project (just collecting water samples) allow the participation of any
researcher working in aquatic ecosystems. The are only three mandatory
conditions to joint to the project:
·
Having access to a
car for samplings.
·
Having access to
portable oxygen, conductivity and temperature meters.
·
Commiting to carry out all the 3 samplings.
Despite the
information you can find in our proposal, the characteristics of the
study sites (obligation of intermittent rivers, types of agricultural
activities, lithology of the catchment…) are
not fixed yet. Both the characteristics of streams and the final protocol
will be established in next months, depending on the study sites proposed by
the people interested in joining the AGRHYDROM project.
We have created a participation survey to gather information of potential participants and their study sites.
We encourage all of you to fulfil the survey and join us in this project. The
success will strongly depend on the site selection, so the more accurate
information regarding possible sites you provide us, the more opportunities to
success we will have.
The deadline to
fulfil the participation survey is the 31st of July.
You will have to look
for:
· Catchments with
streams affected by any kind of agricultural practices and natural forested
catchments.
· Low order streams
(1-2).
· Streams with strong marked
flow fluctuation over the year, especially a severe contraction period and a
high discharge period. Intermittent streams are preferred (streams with summer
dry phase) but are not mandatory.
Last but not least,
we want to thank the AIL for continuing with this amazing initiative of the
J-AIL projects and for letting us to continue with the DOMIPEX legacy and
coordinate this new project. Beyond scientific results, the DOMIPEX project has
demonstrated that young researchers can make excellence science through the
power of collaboration. We hope to count again with the active and invaluable
participation of all the J-AIL members and repeat DOMIPEX success!
WE HOPE YOU ALL JOIN THE AGRHYDROM TEAM!!
Edurne and Rubén
