Groundwater and Ecosystems

Groundwater resources are facing increasing pressure from consuming and contaminating activities. There is a growing awareness that the quantitative and qualitative preservation of groundwater resources is a global need, not only to safeguard their future use for public supply and irrigation, but also to protect those ecosystems that depend partially or entirely on groundwater to maintain their species composition and natural ecological processes. Known as groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs), they have been a fast-growing field of research during the last two decades.
This book is intended to provide a diverse overview of important studies on groundwater and ecosystems, including a toolbox for assessing the ecological water requirements for GDEs, and relevant case studies on groundwater/surface-water interactions, as well as the role of nutrients in groundwater for GDEs and ecosystem dependence (vegetation and cave fauna) on groundwater. Case studies are from Australia (nine studies) and Europe (12 studies from nine countries) as well as Argentina, Canada and South Africa.
This book is of interest to everybody dealing with groundwater and its relationship with ecosystems. It is highly relevant for researchers, managers and decision-makers in the field of water and environment. It provides up-to-date information on crucial factors and parameters that need to be considered when studying groundwater-ecosystem relationships in different environments worldwide.

Luis Ribeiro graduated in Mining Engineering at the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST) of the Technical University of Lisbon (UTL) in Lisbon, Portugal in 1978 and completed his PhD in Mining Engineering (Hydrogeology) at IST-UTL in 1992. He is currently Associate Professor at IST, Director of the Geo-Systems Centre/CVRM, and President of the Portuguese Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH). He was also President of the Scientific Committee of XXXV IAH Congress “Groundwater and Ecosystems” held in Lisbon in 2007.

Tibor Y. Stigter completed his MSc in Geographical Hydrology in 1997 at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands and his PhD in Engineering Sciences (Hydrogeology) in 2005 at the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST), Lisbon, Portugal. He has worked and taught classes at the Universidade do Algarve (UALG) in Faro, Portugal. He currently holds a Researcher position from IST, working on groundwater, contamination, climate change and sustainability. As a member of the Geo-Systems Centre/CVRM, he works both at IST and UALG, coordinating research projects and supervising MSc and PhD students.

M. Teresa Condesso de Melo graduated in Geology from the University of Coimbra, Portugal in 1992, completed her MSc in Groundwater Hydrology at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain in 1996 and her PhD in Geosciences (Hydrogeology) with a sandwich PhD project at the Hydrogeology Group of the British Geological Survey (BGS), Wallingford, UK and the University of Aveiro (UA), Aveiro, Portugal in 2002. In 2006 she became a Guest Professor of hydrogeology at the University of Aveiro, and she now holds a research position at the Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST), Lisbon, Portugal.

Born in 1961 in Sardoal, Portugal, Antonio Chambel obtained his PhD in Geology, specialising in Hydrogeology, at the University of Evora, Portugal, in 1999. He is currently teacher in the University of Evora and ERASMUS teacher in the Universities of Prague, Czech Republic, and Huelva, Spain, as well as researcher of the Geophysics Centre of Evora. He is Vice-President ofProgramme and Science Coordination for the International Association of Hydrogeologists and Technical Director of Hydrogeologists Without Borders. He specialises in groundwater prospecting, hydrogeology of hard rocks, relations between groundwater and ecosystems, hydrogeological mapping and aquifer contamination. He has also focussed on legislation and water and environmental management, including the river basin management plans for Portugal.

Jose Paulo Monteiro currently holds a position as Professor at the Universidade of the Algarve. He obtained his PhD in hydrogeology in 2001 at the Faculty of Sciences of the Universite de Neuchatel, Switzerland and his MSc in hydrogeology in 1993, at the Faculty of Sciences of the Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. His main research topics are modelling and monitoring porous, fractured and karstic coastal aquifers, aquifer-ocean and river-aquifer interfaces; hydraulics of water wells; groundwater dependent ecosystems and integrated water resources management.

Albino Medeiros graduated in Applied Economic Geology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal in 1993 and completed his MSc in Engineering Geology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa - UNL, Portugal in 1999. In 2005 he became a Guest Professor of Groundwater Modelling at the Earth Sciences Department of UNL. Currently he is a hydrogeologist at the Grandewater – Hidrogeologia Aplicada, Lda with development work in Portugal and Africa (Angola and Mozambique).