Winders

WINDERS proposes a multidisciplinary approach combining radioactive and stable tracers, microbiological assessments, geophysical techniques, and modeling tools to address these objectives.

The project results will advance our understanding of the direct and indirect impacts of human activities on the vulnerability of Mar Menor. We will develop a broad conceptual model that quantifies the relative contribution of the different solute sources to lagoon waters, including the yet overlooked sediment resuspension and the already considered sources (i.e., streams, groundwater discharge, atmospheric deposition). This conceptual model will improve our ability to understand the drivers of the current degradation of the Mar Menor.

WINDERS will allow informing public institutions and stakeholders to substantiate policies and strategies to improve the management of coastal water resources and ecosystems and to enhance the resilience of Mar Menor to future global and climate changes, a knowledge that can be extended to other coastal Mediterranean lagoons and other vulnerable coastal systems.