Antoni Mas, International Center for the Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves, Assessing the effects of Global Change on ecological water quality of Mediterranean river basins, Spain Venice, 16-17 December 2021 Overall responsibility for the views and opinions expressed in the slides is taken by the authors

1. sara.martinez@ctfc.cat
International Center
for the Mediterranean
Biosphere Reserves
UNESCOMED CENTER

2. DECLARATION
November 14th, 2013
 Category II Centre under the auspices of UNESCO.
 Provide technical assistance (training, research, networking,
knowledge-sharing) to Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves (BRs).
 Only two within the Man and the Biosphere (MaB) Programme.
 Reference for public-private collaboration.
INAUGURATION
April 4th-5th, 2014
Unescomed Center
01 Presentation

3. Unescomed Center
01
Private institution:
ABERTIS FOUNDATION
International institution:
UNESCO
Academic institutions:
CTFC and UAB
Political institution:
SPANISH GOVERNMENT
Presentation

4. Unescomed Center
Location
02
 Castellet Castle, Castellet i la Gornal (Barcelona)
 Foix Natural Park
María Rosa Ferre

5. Unescomed Center
Objectives
03
 To promote conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development by
strengthening the relationships between the Mediterranean BRs.
 To become a hub of scientific knowledge and academic programs for the
dissemination of knowledge in the field of environmental sustainability.
 To promote academic and scientific collaboration among the Mediterranean
BRs.
Terres de l’Ebre Biosphere Reserve, Spain
Oasis du Sud du Maroc

6. Unescomed Center
Strategic guidelines
04
The Center’s specific goals and objectives are defined and structured in the form of
the following strategic lines:
1 / Strengthening relations between Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves
2 / Academic and research dimension
3 / Communication, training and environmental education
4 / Documentation Center
5 / Establishing cooperation North – South – East – West
6 / Strengthening links between academy, society and companies
7 / Enhancing local and regional institutional relations in the
Mediterranean scope

7. 7
ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL CHANGE
ON ECOLOGICAL WATER QUALITY OF
MEDITERRANEAN RIVER BASINS
Incollaborationandfundedby:
Assessing the effects of Global Change on ecological
water quality of Mediterranean riverbasins
Antoni Mas-Ponce
PhDinEnvironmentalScienceandTechnology
InstitutdeCiènciai TecnologiaAmbientals–
UniversitatAutònoma DeBarcelona(ICTA-UAB)
Supervisors:SòniaSànchez-Mateo (ICTA-UAB), Eduard PlaFerrer(CREAF) &Roberto Molowny-Horas(CREAF)
Tutor: EsteveCorbera(ICTA-UAB)

8. 8
Main objective
Thegeneralobjectiveofthisthesisistoimproveand widentheexisting knowledgeof theimpact ofGlobal Change on Mediterraneanfluvialsystems.
The Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) change is considered as the main driver that has influenced on the ecological quality status of Mediterranean river
basins.
This interactionrequiresan innovativeandinterdisciplinary tooltoassesstheGlobalChangeeffectsonfluvialsystems.
Specific Objectives
SO1.Toevaluatetheevolution of theecological qualitystatusin bothstudyareas.
SO2.Toassesstheinfluence of wastewatertreatmentplantseffluents ontheecological statusofBesòsriverbasin.
SO3.Toexplore themainGlobal Change effects onbothstudyareasTorderaandBesòsriverbasinsthroughLULC analysis(1993– 2016).
SO4.Toexplore relationships betweenlocal perceptionsand ecological qualitystatus.
SO5.Tobuild aninterdisciplinarytooltoassess Global Change effects on MediterraneanRiverBasins.

9. 9
Study areas
BARCELONA
BESÒS
1,038 Km2
TORDERA
898 Km2

10. 10
State oftheart
Lower course of Congost river in 1956
Lower course of Congost river in 2021
Mediterranean river basins areexposed togreat water demands tomeet the needs of the increasing population.

11. 11
In general terms, there is an increase of the qualitative values in
Headwater, except in QBR which maintains a Moderaterange.
All the indices in the Middle courses improved their qualitative levels but
onlythe IBMWP shows a correct qualitystatus (Goodand/ or High).
Finally, the indices of the Lower courses present incorrect quality status
(Moderate, Poorand/or Bad) butthere isa general improvement.
Results
Besòs river basin

12. 12
There is a qualitative improvement of all the indices studies but not
for allthe rivers sections.
Middle courses of Tordera river basin showed a decrease of QBR and IPS
values.
Results
Tordera river basin

13. 13
LULC changeanalysisof theBesòsbasin
Results
Forested (%) G&S(%) Crops (%) Urban (%)
1997 47.69 8.09 26.36 16.34
2000 45.83 12.54 21.25 19.29
2009 46.48 10.81 18.48 23.12
1997 - 2009 -1.21 2.72 -7.88 6.78

14. 14
LULC changeanalysisof theTordera basin
Results
Forested (%) G&S(%) Crops (%) Urban (%)
1997 74.92 3.55 16.07 4.64
2000 67.92 19.69 15.05 6.96
2009 71.96 7.94 10.76 8.81
1997 - 2009 -2.96 4.39 -5.31 4.17
The LULCtrends in both area aresimilar butthis analysis pointout their differences.

15. 15
26 and 13 water bodies in the Besòs and Tordera river basins were considered, respectively and two different spatial scales such as 100 metres buffer and
the return periods in 100 years.
Methods
Variablesmodelled
Stressorgroup Stressorvariable
LandUse andLand Cover
Forestedarea(%)
GrasslandandShrubs(%)
Forestedbaresoil (%)
Urbanarea(%)
ContinentalWaters(%)
Climatic variables(WaterAvailabilityIndex)
Annualmeantemperaturas(ºC)
Annualmeanprecipitations(mm)
Topographical variables
Maximmumslope (%)
Meanaltitude(m)
Social indicators
Morphologicalalteration
Punctualpollutionsources

16. 16
Modelling waterqualityindicators
A linear model was performed to find the relation of
each water quality indicator with all the variables. In
order to remove collinearity, we calculated variation
inflation factors (VIF) for all predictors and
sequentially removed those with highest VIF until all
VIF<10.
Waterqualityassessment
A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried
out to transform the large set of variables, in that case
the water quality indicators, into a smaller one that
contains most of the information in the dataset. For
this case, we analysed the interrelation between
the water quality indicators.
Statisticalanalysis
Methods

17. 17
Predictable valuesof thewater qualityindicators
Results
“M”= Modelledin buffer100m
“T”= ModelledinreturnperiodsT=100 y
1 1
7 8
6
10 10
5
3
3
5 4 3
9
9 12
12
9
1
2 3
3
3 5
8
8
4
4
6
1 2 1
1 4 3
2 1
2
1
5 5
5
5
3 2
13 13 14
12 12 13
2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1997 1997M 1997T 2000 2000M 2000T 2009 2009M 2009T 2016 2016M
BESÒS - IBMWP
High Good Moderate Poor Bad No data

18. In both cases, the biological indicators in Besòs and Tordera
river basins have identical or similar magnitudes and
directors
On the other hand, the physicochemical are more variable
butcan be interpretated asone single indicator.
Afterwards, two indicators will be created taking the
coefficients resulted of the PCA analysis: biological and
physicochemical indicators.
The indicator value is the sum of the multiplication of each
water bodybyits PCA coefficient
PCAanalysis:Biological andphysicochemicalindicators
Results
Variable Coefficient
IBMWP 0.96
IPS 0.96
Variance explained 0.915
Variable Coefficient
Conductivity 0.61
Nitrates 0.13
Ammonia 0.97
Nitrites 0.91
Phosphates 0.78
Variance explained 0.552

19. 19
To sum up the tool: a brief guideline
Assess evolution of
the ecological status of
a river basin
Analyse Global Change
drivers which alter the
fluvial system (p.ex.
LULC)
Explore other drivers
that could interact with
the ecological quality
status (climatic,
topographical, etc.)
Predict the values of
the water quality
indicators
Find out which
indicators could be
analysed as single
indicators
1 1
7 8 6
10 10
5 3 3 5 4 3
9 9 12
12
9
1
2 3
3 3 5
8 8 4
4
6
1 2 1
1 4 3
2 1
2
1
5 5 5
5 3 2
13 13 14 12 12 13
2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
BESÒS - IBMWP
High Good Moderate Poor Bad No data

20. 20
To sum up the tool: a brief guideline

21. 21
1.How couldthis research be appliedto future managementplans?
 Overall, this thesis proposes three different research frameworks (ecological quality status, LULC and public
perceptions) which can be integrated into an interdisciplinary and integrative single tool to assess the quality status
of Mediterranean fluvial systems from aGlobal Change perspective.
 The implementation of this tool could allow to detect weaknesses and strengths in the water bodies that compose
a river basin. Theseintegrative results could become a keyrelevant aspect for futureRBMP.
 Moreover, this thesis emphasizes the need of implementing long-term monitoring programs, so the compilation of
the information provided by these programs were a keypoint.
General discussion

22. Incollaborationandfundedby:
Assessing the effects of Global Change on ecological
water quality of Mediterranean riverbasins
Antoni Mas-Ponce
PhDinEnvironmentalScienceandTechnology
InstitutdeCiènciai TecnologiaAmbientals–
UniversitatAutònoma DeBarcelona(ICTA-UAB)
Supervisors:SòniaSànchez-Mateo (ICTA-UAB), Eduard PlaFerrer(CREAF) &Roberto Molowny-Horas(CREAF)
Tutor: EsteveCorbera(ICTA-UAB)
antoni.mas.ponce@uab.cat