Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD) is recognized as a fundamental hydrological resource that supports many coastal biogeochemical cycles and can play an important role in social-ecological systems. Coastal services provided by ecosystems dependent on SGD can be analyzed under the Ecosystem Services Framework, which enables identifying and discussing both benefits and threats to coastal societies resulting from SGD outcomes. Due to the lack of academic literature on this matter, here we explore the academic and local knowledge of the social perception toward SGD and its ecosystem services (ES). This research is conducted through two case studies, the island of Mallorca and the Region of Salento, to unravel the similarities and particularities of each Mediterranean society regarding the SGD-ES identified and their historical evolution. Such evolution transitions from the management of the fresh groundwaters for human consumption to the exploitation by the tourism industry of cultural ecosystem services related to the same discharge. Combing traditional and academic knowledge are key to accessing society's perception of most cultural ES. Therefore, SGD-ES studies are extremely locally-dependent, and thus regional or global require an in-depth understanding of all areas comprehended in the study. Overall, this research presents to the academic community new insights from traditional knowledge and an opportunity to integrate interdisciplinarity into a study subject that has usually only been looked from the prism of natural sciences.

Primary Presenter: Aaron Alorda-Kleinglass, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (aaron.alorda@gmail.com)

Authors:

Isabel Ruiz-Mallén, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya  (iruiz_mallen@uoc.edu)

Valntí Rodellas, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona  (valenti.rodellas@uab.cat)

Marc Diego-Feliu, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona  ()

Sergio Rossi, University of Salento  ()

Genuario Belmonte, University of Salento  ()

Matteo Putignano, University of Salento  ()

Pere Amer, Universitat de Barcelona  ()

Jordi Garcia-Orellana, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona  ()