Climate change affects ecosystems differently. There may be some that are more vulnerable due to their geographical location, others due to temperature ranges, rainfall, etc. Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) collaborated with a scientific team from Canada and discovered that the aquatic ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada have undergone changes due to global warming in the last 150 years.
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Changes in Sierra Nevada
The changes detected in Sierra Nevada are mainly due to the effects produced by climate change. Among these changes, a reduction in rainfall and an increase in temperatures can be observed, mainly.
In this natural environment, not only do these effects of climate change take place, but there has also been another determining factor of the aforementioned changes. This is an increase in the deposition of Saharan dust. Some may think, what does climate change have to do with the intrusion of Saharan dust into the ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada?
Climate change increases the frequency and intensity of droughts. A place where rainfall is less abundant triggers greater soil erosion by not having the particles rooted by the vegetation. As rainfall decreases in the Sahara and Sahel areas, the amount of Saharan dust that enters Spain increases and, therefore, is deposited in the natural environment of Sierra Nevada.
What are the effects of Saharan dust?
Research has managed to detail some of the effects of Saharan dust on this ecosystem. Among them you can see the fertilizing effect in primary production, since this dust that enters is rich in phosphorus. When entering the lagoons of Sierra Nevada during the last decades, has contributed to the further development of cladocerans like Daphnia. These animals have high requirements for calcium in their diet, which they also receive from this Saharan powder.
These lagoons that are located in Sierra Nevada, such as the Laguna de Aguas Verdes or the Laguna de Río Seco, They have provided this research group with clear indications that climate change is causing effects on all the world's ecosystems. What happens in one country may affect ecosystems in another country, since nature does not understand political barriers.
“Mainly, due to the changes observed in the biological communities and primary production that began at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, but which intensify in recent decades, and that they indicate a response on a regional scale to the climate and the deposition of Saharan dust ", according to Laura Jiménez, researcher at the UGR, who also adds that" the study confirms that the high mountain lagoons of Sierra Nevada are excellent systems to reconstruct the environmental conditions of the past of these aquatic ecosystems on a scale of centuries ”.
Study conclusions
In general, the increase in air temperature and the decrease in rainfall during these last decades are generating effects in the lagoons of Sierra Nevada. It is only necessary to see that every year the precipitations in the form of snow are more scarce. One of the effects that is being seen the most is that of advance in the removal of snow and ice, increased water temperature and a longer residence time of the water.
They also have to take into account that Saharan dust affects cladocerae communities and favors the development of certain species such as Alona quadrangularis, a more general species than others more adapted to more extreme conditions or colder environments such as Chydorus sphaericus.
Ultimately, this study represents further proof that climate change increases the intrusion of Saharan dust in the Iberian Peninsula, since droughts in the Sahara are more frequent. Therefore, this dust is changing the trophic state of the lagoons and the structure of the biological communities that live in them.