Groundwater is a hidden global keystone ecosystem

Abstract

AbstractGroundwater is a vital ecosystem of the global water cycle, hosting unique biodiversity and providing essential services to societies. Despite being the largest unfrozen freshwater resource, in a period of depletion by extraction and pollution, groundwater environments have been repeatedly overlooked in global biodiversity conservation agendas. Disregarding the importance of groundwater as an ecosystem ignores its critical role in preserving surface biomes. To foster timely global conservation of groundwater, we propose elevating the concept of keystone species into the realm of ecosystems, claiming groundwater as a keystone ecosystem that influences the integrity of many dependent ecosystems. Our global analysis shows that over half of land surface areas (52.6%) has a medium‐to‐high interaction with groundwater, reaching up to 74.9% when deserts and high mountains are excluded. We postulate that the intrinsic transboundary features of groundwater are critical for shifting perspectives towards more holistic approaches in aquatic ecology and beyond. Furthermore, we propose eight key themes to develop a science‐policy integrated groundwater conservation agenda. Given ecosystems above and below the ground intersect at many levels, considering groundwater as an essential component of planetary health is pivotal to reduce biodiversity loss and buffer against climate change.

Autoren

Mattia Saccò
Stefano Mammola
Florian Altermatt
Roman Alther
Rossano Bolpagni
Anton Brancelj
David Brankovits
Cene Fišer
Vasilis Gerovasileiou
Christian Griebler
Simone Guareschi
Grant C Hose
Kathryn Korbel
Elisabeth Lictevout
Florian Malard
Alejandro Martínez
Matthew L Niemiller
Anne Robertson
Krizler C Tanalgo
Maria Elina Bichuette
Špela Borko
Traian Brad
Matthew A Campbell
Pedro Cardoso
Fulvio Celico
Steven JB Cooper
David Culver
Tiziana Di Lorenzo
Diana MP Galassi
Michelle T Guzik
Adam Hartland
William F Humphreys
Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira
Enrico Lunghi
Daniele Nizzoli
Giulia Perina
Rajeev Raghavan
Zoe Richards
Ana Sofia PS Reboleira
Melissa M Rohde
David Sánchez Fernández
Susanne I Schmidt
Mieke van der Heyde
Louise Weaver
Nicole E White
Maja Zagmajster
Ian Hogg
Albert Ruhi
Marthe M Gagnon
Morten E Allentoft
Robert Reinecke

DOI

10.1111/gcb.17066

eISSN

1365-2486

ISSN

1354-1013

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

1

Zeitschrift

Global Change Biology

Sprache

en

Online publication date

2023

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2024

Status

Published

Herausgeber

Wiley

Herausgeber URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17066

Datum der Datenerfassung

2024

Titel

Groundwater is a hidden global keystone ecosystem

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

30

Datenquelle: Crossref

Abstract

Groundwater is a vital ecosystem of the global water cycle, hosting unique biodiversity and providing essential services to societies. Despite being the largest unfrozen freshwater resource, in a period of depletion by extraction and pollution, groundwater environments have been repeatedly overlooked in global biodiversity conservation agendas. Disregarding the importance of groundwater as an ecosystem ignores its critical role in preserving surface biomes. To foster timely global conservation of groundwater, we propose elevating the concept of keystone species into the realm of ecosystems, claiming groundwater as a keystone ecosystem that influences the integrity of many dependent ecosystems. Our global analysis shows that over half of land surface areas (52.6%) has a medium-to-high interaction with groundwater, reaching up to 74.9% when deserts and high mountains are excluded. We postulate that the intrinsic transboundary features of groundwater are critical for shifting perspectives towards more holistic approaches in aquatic ecology and beyond. Furthermore, we propose eight key themes to develop a science-policy integrated groundwater conservation agenda. Given ecosystems above and below the ground intersect at many levels, considering groundwater as an essential component of planetary health is pivotal to reduce biodiversity loss and buffer against climate change.

Addresses

Subterranean Research and Groundwater Ecology (SuRGE) Group, Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Lab, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Autoren

Mattia Saccò
Stefano Mammola
Florian Altermatt
Roman Alther
Rossano Bolpagni
Anton Brancelj
David Brankovits
Cene Fišer
Vasilis Gerovasileiou
Christian Griebler
Simone Guareschi
Grant C Hose
Kathryn Korbel
Elisabeth Lictevout
Florian Malard
Alejandro Martínez
Matthew L Niemiller
Anne Robertson
Krizler C Tanalgo
Maria Elina Bichuette
Špela Borko
Traian Brad
Matthew A Campbell
Pedro Cardoso
Fulvio Celico
Steven JB Cooper
David Culver
Tiziana Di Lorenzo
Diana MP Galassi
Michelle T Guzik
Adam Hartland
William F Humphreys
Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira
Enrico Lunghi
Daniele Nizzoli
Giulia Perina
Rajeev Raghavan
Zoe Richards
Ana Sofia PS Reboleira
Melissa M Rohde
David Sánchez Fernández
Susanne I Schmidt
Mieke van der Heyde
Louise Weaver
Nicole E White
Maja Zagmajster
Ian Hogg
Albert Ruhi
Marthe M Gagnon
Morten E Allentoft
Robert Reinecke

DOI

10.1111/gcb.17066

eISSN

1365-2486

Externe Identifier

PubMed Identifier: 38273563

Funding acknowledgements

Biodiversa+: GA N°101052342
School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University:

Open access

false

ISSN

1354-1013

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

1

Zeitschrift

Global change biology

Schlüsselwörter

Ecosystem
Biodiversity
Fresh Water
Environmental Pollution
Groundwater

Sprache

eng

Medium

Print

Paginierung

e17066

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2024

Status

Published

Datum der Datenerfassung

2024

Titel

Groundwater is a hidden global keystone ecosystem.

Sub types

Review
Journal Article

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

30

Datenquelle: Europe PubMed Central

Abstract

Groundwater is a vital ecosystem of the global water cycle, hosting unique biodiversity and providing essential services to societies. Despite being the largest unfrozen freshwater resource, in a period of depletion by extraction and pollution, groundwater environments have been repeatedly overlooked in global biodiversity conservation agendas. Disregarding the importance of groundwater as an ecosystem ignores its critical role in preserving surface biomes. To foster timely global conservation of groundwater, we propose elevating the concept of keystone species into the realm of ecosystems, claiming groundwater as a keystone ecosystem that influences the integrity of many dependent ecosystems. Our global analysis shows that over half of land surface areas (52.6%) has a medium-to-high interaction with groundwater, reaching up to 74.9% when deserts and high mountains are excluded. We postulate that the intrinsic transboundary features of groundwater are critical for shifting perspectives towards more holistic approaches in aquatic ecology and beyond. Furthermore, we propose eight key themes to develop a science-policy integrated groundwater conservation agenda. Given ecosystems above and below the ground intersect at many levels, considering groundwater as an essential component of planetary health is pivotal to reduce biodiversity loss and buffer against climate change.

Date of acceptance

2023

Autoren

Mattia Saccò
Stefano Mammola
Florian Altermatt
Roman Alther
Rossano Bolpagni
Anton Brancelj
David Brankovits
Cene Fišer
Vasilis Gerovasileiou
Christian Griebler
Simone Guareschi
Grant C Hose
Kathryn Korbel
Elisabeth Lictevout
Florian Malard
Alejandro Martínez
Matthew L Niemiller
Anne Robertson
Krizler C Tanalgo
Maria Elina Bichuette
Špela Borko
Traian Brad
Matthew A Campbell
Pedro Cardoso
Fulvio Celico
Steven JB Cooper
David Culver
Tiziana Di Lorenzo
Diana MP Galassi
Michelle T Guzik
Adam Hartland
William F Humphreys
Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira
Enrico Lunghi
Daniele Nizzoli
Giulia Perina
Rajeev Raghavan
Zoe Richards
Ana Sofia PS Reboleira
Melissa M Rohde
David Sánchez Fernández
Susanne I Schmidt
Mieke van der Heyde
Louise Weaver
Nicole E White
Maja Zagmajster
Ian Hogg
Albert Ruhi
Marthe M Gagnon
Morten E Allentoft
Robert Reinecke

Autoren-URL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38273563

DOI

10.1111/gcb.17066

eISSN

1365-2486

Funding acknowledgements

Biodiversa+: GA N°101052342
School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University:

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

1

Zeitschrift

Glob Chang Biol

Schlüsselwörter

biodiversity
biomes
climate change
conservation
ecology
ecosystems
groundwater-dependent ecosystem
subterranean
water cycle
Ecosystem
Biodiversity
Groundwater
Fresh Water
Environmental Pollution

Sprache

eng

Country

England

Paginierung

e17066

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2024

Status

Published

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2024

Titel

Groundwater is a hidden global keystone ecosystem.

Sub types

Journal Article
Review

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

30

Datenquelle: PubMed

Groundwater is a hidden global keystone ecosystem

Werkzeuge