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Water resources and associated ecosystems are becoming highly endangered due to ongoing global environmental changes. Spatial ecological modelling is a promising toolbox for understanding the past, present and future distribution and diversity patterns in groundwater-dependent ecosystems, such as fens, springs, streams, reed beds or wet grasslands. Still, the lack of detailed water chemistry maps prevents the use of reasonable models to be applied on continental and global scales. Being major determinants of biological composition and diversity of groundwater-dependent ecosystems, groundwater pH and calcium are of utmost importance. Here we developed an up-to-date European map of groundwater pH and Ca, based on 7577 measurements of near-surface groundwater pH and calcium distributed across Europe. In comparison to the existing European groundwater maps, we included several times more sites, especially in the regions rich in spring and fen habitats, and filled the apparent gaps in eastern and southeastern Europe. We used random forest models and regression kriging to create continuous maps of water pH and calcium at the continental scale, which is freely available also as a raster map (Hájek et al., 2020b; 10.5281/zenodo.4139912). Lithology had a higher importance than climate for both pH and calcium. The previously recognised latitudinal and altitudinal gradients were rediscovered with much refined regional patterns, as associated with bedrock variation. For ecological models of distribution and diversity of many terrestrial ecosystems, our new map based on field groundwater measurements is more suitable than maps of soil pH, which mirror not only bedrock chemistry but also vegetation-dependent soil processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources and associated ecosystems are becoming highly endangered due to ongoing global environmental changes. Spatial ecological modelling is a widely used tool for understanding the past, present and future distribution and diversity patterns in groundwater-dependent ecosystems, such as fens, springs, streams, reed beds or wet grasslands. Still, the lack of detailed water chemistry maps prevents their reasonable use on continental and global scales. Being major determinants of biological composition and diversity of groundwater-dependent ecosystems, groundwater pH and calcium are of utmost importance. Here we developed the up-to-date European map of groundwater pH and Ca, based on 7,577 measurements of near-surface groundwater pH and calcium distributed across Europe. In comparison to the existing European groundwater maps, we included a several times larger number of sites, especially in the regions rich in spring and fen habitats, and filled the apparent gaps in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. We used Random Forest models and regression kriging to create continuous maps of water pH and calcium at the continental scale, which is freely available also as a raster map (Hájek et al. 2020; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4139912). Lithology had higher importance than climate for both pH and calcium. The previously recognised latitudinal and altitudinal gradients were rediscovered with much refined regional patterns, as associated with bedrock variation. For ecological models of distribution and diversity of groundwater-dependent, but also other terrestrial, ecosystems, the new map is more suitable than previously used maps of soil pH, unlike which it mirrors bedrock chemistry more than vegetation-dependent soil processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate projection presents we will note an increase of floods, wildfires, heatwaves, and droughts are the result of overlapping interacting physical processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Next to natural causes of fires – lightning, availability of flammable fuel, dry conditions to allow fire spread – human activity is highly important. Unfortunately, palaeoecological and historical data regarding past vegetation and hydrological changes or fire activity that could be helpful in management are often neglected when preparing management and nature conservation plans. Here, we present how palaeoecological data can be used in forest management planning. Historical fire regimes, plant flammability, fuel load and data regarding land cover changes and anthropogenic influence should be considered in forest management and when designing more effective fire suppression strategies in the future. Our study region – the Tuchola Pinewoods – is located in northern Poland where since ca. 1700 CE, due to political conflicts and administrative changes, the management of the forest has changed substantially. Those management changes led to a transformation in forest composition from mixed broadleaf-dominated forest to a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) monoculture. Based on palaeoecological investigations, historical documents and cartographic materials, we show that in the past 300 years, the Tuchola Pinewoods witnessed not only disastrous fires, but also windfalls by tornados and insect outbreaks. We will provide a critical review of past forest management and future research directions related to the impacts of fire risk land management and ecosystem services: (a) habitat composition and structure (biodiversity), (b) natural water management, and (c) mitigation of climate changes. The long-term understanding of past forest management and disturbance will help to better adapt to future projections of increased disturbance in a warmer world. The research was funded by the National Science Centre (Poland) – grants 2015/17/B/ST10/01656 and 2015/17/B/ST10/03430. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]