Aquatic ecosystems provide a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), including as a source for drinking water, food, and biodiversity. Climate change will greatly affect aquatic ecosystems in Switzerland (FOEN, 2021). Some studies have highlighted the potential impact of climate change on fish recruitment, water runoff, and hydropower production (Brunner et al., 2019; Junker et al., 2015; Tobias et al., 2023). As such, there is an increasing need to better understand how climate change – in addition to anthropogenic impacts - will affect aquatic ecosystem services in the future, and to render this understanding and knowledge available for stakeholders to prepare adaptation plans.
The aim of this project is to assess the impacts of climate change on three key aquatic ecosystem services (AES). As a result of a consultation and outcome of a first workshop, the three key aquatic ecosystem sfunctions had been identified to be included in the model: as (1) water quantity (water yield), (2) sediment retention, and (3) nutrient retention. This selection is also supported by a recent review on aquatic ecosystems services, which highlights that the provision of high-quality water, and access to safe water is increasingly under threat (Ferreira et al., 2023). Following the development of new models and gathering data of already existing models, the AquaREL-App has been designed to render and display the information gained from these models in an adapted manner to answer these stakeholders' specific needs.
Ongoing climate change causes soils to retain fewer sediments and nutrients, which degrades water quality—partly due to more frequent heavy rainfall events. At the same time, climate change affects water availability.
The AquaREL app (soon available online) shows whether and to what extent water quality and water availability are changing in different regions. The app is aimed at professionals in public administration, businesses, planning and consulting offices, researchers, and the interested public.