Knowledge for action

The Knowledge for action series provides professionals in biodiversity sector (instructors, students, scientists, engineers, managers, etc.) with information on recent research and science-advice work.

A hardcopy of each document may be requested as long as stocks last. Please justify your request when writing to veronique.barre [a] afbiodiversite.fr

Structural characteristics of priority abstractions of use in designing protection systems |

The legal texts stipulate that an action plan must be defined and implemented for priority abstractions with the local stakeholders. In this difficult situation, the local stakeholders are all looking for effective, practical solutions in the field. To assist in this work, a study covering the entire country was carried out to gain information on suitable strategies taking into account specific, local conditions.

KFA2013_PriorityAbstractions_couv

Mapping techniques and hydrogeological models to characterise seawater intrusion in french coastal aquifers and asses the potential impact of sea-level rise |

Natural seawater intrusion, whether coupled with an anthropogenic influence or not, risks contaminating the freshwater contained in the underground reservoirs. This document presents, via examples, a number of tools that can be used to qualify seawater intrusion and the potential impact of a sea-level rise on salinity levels in coastal aquifers.

KFA2013_SeawaterIntrusion_Aquifers_couv

Improving control over nutrients by restoring river hydromorphology |

Scientific research on the relations between hydromorphology and nutrient-transformation processes has increased over the past few years. This review of the literature presents the most noteworthy aspects of current knowledge and a number of examples.

KFA2013_Improving-control-over-nutrients_couv

Observed trends in river flow rates in France |

On the whole, water resources in France are sufficient, however, there are significant differences between regions and times of year. Local shortages have increasingly led to restrictive measures on water usage. Why do water shortages occur? Are water resources in fact becoming more rare? Is this situation linked to excessive human usage or climate change? This document studies the fluctuations in water resources caused by climate factors in order to answer these questions.

KFA2013_RiverFlowRates-France_couv

Assessing the ecological services of aquatic environments. Scientific, political and operational issues |

In a context of climate change and biodiversity loss, the notion of ecological services has rapidly gained ground in political debates. The goal of good ecological status, set by the European water framework directive in 2000, has led to major efforts to preserve and restore aquatic environments. The ecological services provided by aquatic environments are now a topic of growing interest to water managers and, more generally, to all stakeholders in society interested in the quality and sustainable management of aquatic environments.

KFA2011_Ecological-services_couv