Scientists map fragmented toolkit for fighting lake pollution across watersheds
Researchers reviewed 49 integrated models designed to predict and control nutrient pollution in lakes and reservoirs, finding a patchwork of disconnected tools with uneven global coverage. The analysis reveals a critical gap: most regions lack locally-adapted models to guide water infrastructure investments and pollution control strategies.
Originaltitel: Integrated models of nutrient dynamics in lake and reservoir watersheds: A systematic review and integrated modelling decision pathway
<p>Eutrophication of inland water bodies is a serious environmental threat. This review explores current integrated models for lake and reservoir ecosystems that focus on nutrient dynamics at a catchment scale. Many studies applied either watershed or lake/reservoir models, however, 49 studies were finally selected that combined both. We derived a list of 21 watershed models, 23 lake/reservoir models, and 6 hybrid models in different sets of combinations, with a range of objectives (e.g. understanding the natural processes, predicting, and analysing climate change and land-use scenarios, or evaluating the different management options). Some integrated models had multiple applications whereas others were only applied once, with an uneven global geographical distribution.</p><p>To aid model selection by future users, we present a support tool discriminating the models by their featuresand application fields. This study encourages the development of open-source tools aiding interdisciplinary collaborations and further research in the field of integrated modelling.</p>