Aqua temporaria incognita

It has been 12 years since Bishop et al. (2008) wrote the Invited Commentary “Aqua Incognita: the unknown headwaters.” They highlighted that “In most regions, the overwhelming majority of stream length lies beyond the frontiers of any systematic documentation and would have to be represented as a blank space on the assessment map. This means that for the majority of streams that support aquatic life, a systematic understanding is lacking on water quality, habitat, biota, specific discharge, or even how many kilometres of such streams are there. This blank space is so vast that it deserves a name to help us at least to remember that it is there. We propose calling it ‘Aqua Incognita’” (Bishop et al., 2008, p. 1239). We continue to agree with this statement and the need to understand headwater streams better. In this commentary, we want to draw attention to a particular type of headwater stream that is even less frequently examined: headwater streams that flow intermittently, that is, the Aqua Temporaria Incognita. Question 3 of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology (Blöschl et al., 2019) focuses on ephemeral dryland streams. We argue that this focus needs broadening to headwater temporary streams because they are ubiquitous in all climates. Headwater temporary streams feed larger perennial streams and are particularly sensitive to climate change and other human influences (Jaeger, Olden, & Pelland, 2014; Pumo, Caracciolo, Viola, & Noto, 2016; Reynolds, Shafroth, & LeRoy Poff, 2015). Their effective management and protection, therefore, requires an understanding of both natural and artificial causes of intermittence.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	van Meerveld, H. J. Ilja, Sauquet, Eric, Gallart Gallego, Francesc, Sefton, Catherine, Seibert, Jan, Bishop, Kevin
Other Authors:	Gallart Gallego, Francesc [0000-0002-7050-2204]
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Wiley-Blackwell 2020-11-17
Subjects:	Headwaters, Water,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/226507
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