All living organisms need water, and plants are no exception. While many animals can move around to find it, most plants are rooted to the spot and have therefore had to develop astonishing ways of obtaining and storing it.
The Pyrenees region is experiencing a warming rate higher than the global average, making it a critical observatory for the impacts of climate change. Researchers from Spain, Andorra and France have begun efforts to chart the biodiversity of microorganisms living under the surface of 300 different lakes across the Pyrenees. The initiative will shed light on how invisible communities maintain the health of these unique and fragile ecosystems, helping the region prepare and adapt for the long-term impacts of climate change.
Catalonia has declared a drought-induced “state of exceptionality” , tightening the restrictions already in place on many uses of water with the aim of safeguarding the population’s water supply. The situation is serious, and simply folding our arms and hoping for rain is not enough.
Close your eyes and think of the most solid living organism you know of. Did you think of a tree? Trees are solid, still, and impervious to the passing of time, right? Well, wrong actually. In reality, the trunk of a tree beats: it shrinks in the daytime due to water loss and swells at night as it rehydrates via the tree’s roots. That beat, according to a study published recently in Nature Communications, is weakened by heatwaves.
Why can the drought that Catalonia is experiencing today not be blamed solely on climate change? Could the situation of persistent drought be a foreshadowing of what Europe will experience in the coming years? To what extent does the situation have to do with water management policies? What are the steps we need to take from now on? We are trying to provide a summary to answer these questions, about a case that is not isolated and may be the prelude to situations that will arise over the next 50 years.
CREAF-based CSIC researcher Josep Peñuelas has contributed to an article published in Nature which proposes three key indicators for gauging how well a terrestrial ecosystem is functioning and assessing its state of health or wellbeing.
