Impacts of climate, N and P deposition and land use on water as a driver of the greenhouse gases regulatory ecosystem service in headwater catchments

Catchments provide a vital ecosystem service by regulating atmospheric CO2 globally, a process strongly influenced by water, and therefore closely related to the provisioning of water service. Climate, atmospheric deposition, and land use affect the quantity and quality of water. This project aims to enhance our understanding of the role of water in headwater catchments' functioning regarding the regulation of atmospheric CO2, as well as other climate-relevant gases (CH4, N2O, BVOC). The project aims to assess the social and economic value of these ecosystem services to inform policy and decision-making.

To achieve this, the project will be organized into five work packages, which aim at:

1- Improving the consideration of CO2 regulation ecosystem services in relevant policies, conducting social and economic valuations, and fostering awareness through co-creation with researchers and stakeholders.

2- Reanalyzing, meta-analyzing, and modeling long-term data series to gain insights into the role of catchments in regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

3- Developing innovative approaches and cost-effective technology for monitoring greenhouse gas fluxes, with a focus on high-resolution measurements.

4- Conducting field measurements throughout the seasonal cycle in a network of headwater catchments across Europe, considering climate, N-P deposition gradients, and local land use effects, to determine the balance of CO2 and other climate-relevant gases inferred from their fluxes.

5- Communicating project results to policy-makers, environmental managers, authorities, the general public, and the scientific community.

The project aims to influence international policy design, generate new knowledge on the combined effects of deposition, climate, and land use on GHG regulation and water quality, improve carbon balance estimates, models, and projections, as well as enhance valuation and monitoring methods for this ecosystem service. It also intends to have influence within advisory bodies guiding emissions control policies. A policy brief will be prepared and delivered to national and local authorities at the project's conclusion.

Duration: March 2025 - February 2028

Funding Agencies: Water4All consortium AEI (Spain), AKA (Finland), FORMAS (Sweden), TACR (Czech Republic), MUR (Italy)

LOOP participants: Lluís Camarero, Lluís Gómez Gener

Coordinator: Lluís Camarero

Collaborators: Susana Bernal, Rafael Marcé, Anna Lupon, Núria Catalán, Marta Mora, Noemí Guillem (CEAB-CSIC); Jukka Pumpanen, Eerika Albrecht, Lukas Kohl, Dan Kou, Carlos Palacín, Huizhong Zhang-Turpeinen, Taija Saarela (UEF); Jan Karlsson, Gerard Rocher (UMU); Gianluca Botter, Nicola Durighetto, Paolo Peruzzo (UNIPD); Pavel Kram, Tomáš Chuman, Jan Čuřík, Nikola Derková, Pavla Holečková, Jakub Hruška, Anna Lamačová, Oldřich Myška, Filip Oulehle, Marie Plasová (CGS); Jordi Fonollosa (UPC); Andrea Butturini (UB)

Participant institutions: CEAB-CSIC, UEF, UMU, CGS, UNIPD, UPC, UB