Towards an enhancement of the climate change mitigation capacity of inland saline shallow lakes through hydrological regime and vegetation management: a modelling approach

Inland saline shallow lakes play a role in the carbon and greenhouse gases exchange with the atmosphere and their climate regulation capacity is highly influenced by their ecological status and management. Our aim was to evaluate, through numerical modelling, the behaviour of representative saline shallow lakes, the influence of the lake management on the metabolic rates and the carbon balance under different management scenarios. The possible effects of management actions were modelled in relation to water regime and vegetation cover, showing the importance of the temporary flooding pattern and the key role of marginal vegetation for the carbon and greenhouse gas balances. Management recommendations mostly rely on recovering natural hydrological conditions.