2024-03-28T08:13:06Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/888022016-11-23T09:18:16Zcom_10261_75com_10261_6col_10261_328
urn:hdl:10261/88802
Distribution, morphology and habitats of saline wetlands: a case study from Monegros, Spain
Castañeda del Álamo, Carmen
Herrero Isern, Juan
Conesa Mor, Josep Antoni
Desert
Endorheic
Halophytes
Karstic
Playa-lake
18 Pags., 8 Figs., 5 Tabls. The definitive version is available at: http://www.geologica-acta.com/
Wetlands in semiarid regions have received less attention than wetlands in humid-temperate areas, and the
limited amount of information has resulted in little regulatory recognition. A comprehensive map of the saline
wetlands that occur in karstic depressions in the semiarid region of Monegros, NE Spain, was developed
from historical data, topography, and surveys of vascular flora. Playa-lakes and other saline depressions are
expressions of solution dolines largely founded on groundwater dynamics and favored by the limestone and
gypsum-rich substrate. Substrate composition, groundwater dynamics, and the network of infilled valleys are
key factors in the distribution of the wetlands. In spite of the anthropogenic imprint, wetlands morphometrics
are the expression of geological processes. Significant correlations were found between basin area and depth,
and between elongation and substrate composition. The predominantly subelongated shape of the Monegros
saline wetlands reflects their origin and a geometry strongly influenced by fractures. Grouping these saline
wetlands based on geological and vegetation features, provide a predictable relationship of surficial processes
with the occurrence of otherwise complex and undetectable hydrological connectivity. Our ten geologybased
Groups showed a high intra-group variation in depth, elongation, and vegetation cover. The eight
vegetation-based categories mirror the gradation in flooding frequency and the soil salinity of the Monegros
saline wetlands. The significant contrasts existing in-between the groups of wetlands and the disclosure
of their causal factors provides a functional perspective at the landscape scale. This approach will help
to monitor the ongoing environmental alterations associated with new on-farm irrigation developments.
2013-12
artículo
Castañeda C, Herrero J, Conesa JA. Distribution, morphology and habitats of saline wetlands: a case study from Monegros, Spain. Geologica Acta 11 (4): 371-388 (2013)
1695-6133
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/88802
10.1344/105.000002055
eng
http://dx.doi.org/10.1344/105.000002055
openAccess
Universidad de Barcelona
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)