Environmental Earth Sciences Special Issue Sustainable Water Management in Central Asia

Transcription

1 Environmental Earth Sciences Special Issue Sustainable Water Management in Central Asia Call for Abstracts Deadline: 31 December 2012 Call for Papers Deadline: 15 June First Call -

2 Table of Contents 1. Context About Environmental Earth Sciences Scope of the Special Issue Thematic Focus of Potential Papers Geographic Focus of the Special Issue Editorial Board for the EES Special Issue Call for Papers...6 7a: Notification of Interest...7 7b: Submission of Abstracts...7 7c: Submission of Full Paper Context Large parts of Central Asia are characterized by a highly continental climate, and therefore limited ground and surface water resources. In such a setting, the combined impacts of global climate change, increasing water demand and inappropriate water management may lead to reduced water availability, the degradation of water quality and aquatic ecosystems and a growing competition over water resources. Experiences from the past demonstrate that this is not merely a theoretical scenario. The shrinking of the Aral Sea, mostly due to excessive water withdrawals from the rivers feeding the endorheic lake, has become famous as one of the worst man-made environmental disasters. The desiccation of large parts of the Aral Sea has not only changed the region's climate and ecosystems, but also brought severe socioeconomic and public health implications. Until today, regional water cycles and the vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems in Central Asia remain to be poorly understood. One important reason is data scarcity, which is caused by a sparse monitoring network and a lack of longterm data sets at many hydrometeorological stations. While the decline of most Central Asian economies following the collapse of the Soviet Union coincided with a decay of water and wastewater infrastructures, the more recent economic growth is associated with increasing water abstractions particularly in the agricultural and mining sectors. In the light of a complex set of existing and newly emerging stressors and challenges, focused research and interventions as well as integrated concepts are needed to come to scientifically underpinned management strategies. 2

3 2. About Environmental Earth Sciences Environmental Earth Sciences is an international multidisciplinary journal concerned with all aspects of interaction between humans, natural ecosystems and environmental resources. 3

4 3. Scope of the Special Issue The EES special issue Sustainable Water Resources Management in Central Asia aims at providing an indepth insight into current research on the state of water resources and aquatic ecosystems in Central Asia and perspectives for their sustainable management. Through a balanced collection of individual papers, the special issue outlines the problems and challenges related to water resources management which are of particular relevance in the Central Asian context; discusses monitoring concepts for a geographically large but water- and data-scarce region; presents and analyses recent, historical and modelled data from various sources which are necessary to assess the state of water-resources and ecosystems and improve the understanding of ongoing natural and manmade processes; addresses realities, needs and best-practice perspectives related to water governance; introduces to technical solutions and integrative water management concepts which are innovative and adapted to the needs of the region. In addition to a balanced coverage of the thematic fields mentioned below, the special issue aims at a mix of regional/local scale case studies and large scale overviews; articles co-authored by scientists from throughout Central Asia and other parts of the world; both papers with a narrow thematic focus and integrated approaches (e.g., interdisciplinary research, transsectoral perspectives). 4. Thematic Focus of Potential Papers Potential papers may either focus on individual topics or present more comprehensive interdisciplinary and transsectoral approaches. Suggested topics include: Water availability: quantification of water resources, including components and processes related to the hydrological system (e.g. precipitation, runoff generation, surface flow dynamics, groundwater regeneration and flow,...); assessment and prediction tools (e.g. coupled climatological-hydrological models; remote sensing,...) 4

5 Water quality: nutrient and sediment fluxes; chemical pollutants and their sources; monitoring and modelling approaches; emerging pollutants and pathogens; pollution impacts (on biota, human health,...) Ecosystem status: indicators for aquatic ecosystem health; links between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems; holisitic assessment of ecosystem status; vulnerability and resilience of aquatic ecosystems Water (body) usage: quantification of water use (including future scenarios); competing interests; problems associated with particular uses (e.g. mining sector, fishery,...) Water management: water governance - current vs. best practice; technical options - adapted and innovative technologies; capacity development - needs and strategies; participatory approaches Concepts/strategies and their implementation: integrated monitoring concepts; integrated water resources management (IWRM), river basin management (RBM), urban water resources management (UWRM); traditional management approaches When relevant in the context of sustainable water resources management in Central Asia, papers dealing with topics not mentioned above may also be considered for publication; in this case, you should point out the relevance of your paper in the context of the special issue when submitting your abstract. You will then receive a feedback from the editorial board. 5. Geographic Focus of the Special Issue In the absence of a universally accepted definition of the region's spatial extent, the EES special issue will consider papers dealing with Central Asia in the widest sense. In accordance with the UNESCO definition, the main focus will be on the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia and their border regions with Russia and China, i.e. southern Siberia and Inner Mongolia. In a wider sense, Central Asia includes the northern parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. 5

6 6. Editorial Board for the EES Special Issue In addition to the journal's editorial board (refer to the journal's webpage), an international team of guest editors is currently being set up to coordinate the EES special issue. Dr. Daniel Karthe Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research Magdeburg, Germany Prof. Dr. Sergey Chalov Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov State University Moscow, Russia Prof. Dr. Dietrich Borchardt Faculty of Forest, Geo and Hydrosciences Technical University of Dresden, Germany Two additional co-editors representing important scientific institutions in Central Asia are currently being idetified. For enquiries, please contact 7. Call for Papers The editorial team invites contributions which are relevant in the light of the scope and focus outlined in the previous sections. Both original research papers (case studies) and review papers are acceptable. In order to be eligible, contributions must focus on water resources in Central Asia. While comparative studies and papers with a methodological focus are possible, their particular relevance for Central Asia must become clear. Contributions from bi- or multilateral teams, comprising scientists from within and outside Central Asia, are particularly welcome. If you are interested to contribute, please note the following three-step procedure and the associated deadlines: (a) Notification of working title by 15 November 2012 (b) Submission of abstract by 31 December 2012 (c) Submission of full paper by 15 June

7 Whereas it is possible to directly submit an abstract any time before the deadline (31 December 2012), you are strongly advised to send a prior notification of your interest by 15 November 2012 if you plan to submit an abstract between that date and the submission deadline for abstracts. In case of a large number of prospective papers on a particular topic, abstracts received without notification prior to 15 November 2012 may have to be considered. 7a: Notification of Interest As a first step, please select a working title for your paper and one (max. two) corresponding author(s). Send this information to ees@ufz.de and in copy (cc) to daniel.karthe@ufz.de. Please indicate EES Special Issue SWRM in Central Asia as the subject of your . Select the working title of your paper in a way that it is as self-explanatory as possible. If the study relates to a particular site or geographical location, please mention the geographical name including country in the paper title. Please note: You will be able to change your working title and the name of the corresponding author(s) when submitting your abstract. OPENING: 15 August 2012 DEADLINE: 15 November 2012 By 20 November 2012, the corresponding authors will be notified by . You will receive a list with prospective papers (including yours). In case that there is a considerable imbalance between the topics, you will also be notified accordingly. 7b: Submission of Abstracts In a second step, please submit a short abstract (1/2 page) containing the names and affiliations of the prospective authors; contact information (minimum: addresses) for two corresponding authors; the topic of your research and particular methodology used; information about the study area (name, particular characteristics) the key findings of your research Your abstract should point out the relevance of your paper in the context of the EES special issue. 7

8 Abstracts may be submitted in either of the following formats: Microsoft Word (*.DOC or *.DOCX) OpenOffice / Libre Office (*.ODT or *.SXW) Other common document formats (*.RTF or *.PDF) Send your abstract to ees@ufz.de and in copy (cc) to daniel.karthe@ufz.de. Abstracts will be reviewed by the special issue's editorial board. The corresponding authors mentioned in the abstracts will receive a short feedback in January OPENING: 15 August 2012 DEADLINE: 31 December c: Submission of Full Paper Carefully read the instructions for authors which you may find online at For your convenience, you may also download an MS Word template on this site. Papers should consist of no more than 7500 words and generally should contain no more than 8 figures. Before submitting your paper, you will need to create a user account and then submit all relevant files online at OPENING: 15 March 2013 DEADLINE: 15 June 2013 Please note: Infractions against generally acceptable standards for research and publication of results, such as falsification of data or plagiarism, are taken very seriously. Your paper will then be reviewed according to the standards of Environmental Earth Sciences. You will be requested to name two reviewers; another two reviewers will be selected by the journal's editorial board. Expect to revise your paper promptly after review. 8