Una vision paleolimnológica de tres lagos kársticos (Zoñar, Estanya y Taravilla): Evolución sedimentaria y paleohidrológica, clima e impacto humano e implicaciones para la gestión y conservación

A paleolimnological perspective of three Spanish karstic lakes (Taravilla, Zoñar and Estanya): sedimentological and hydrological evolution, climate and human impact and implications for management and restoration policies. We synthesize the available, published paleolimnological information based on sediment core analyses from three Spanish karstic lakes: Taravilla in the Iberian Range (Guadalajara province), Estanya in the Pre-Prepirinean Range (Huesca province) and Zoñar in the Guadalquivir Basin (Córdoba province). The time span ranges from the last 21000 years in Estanya, about 4000 years in Zoñar and 2000 years in Taravilla. The multidisciplinary study shows large depositional changes in the lakes mostly related to water level and hydrochemical fluctuations and changes in the watershed. Climate change has been the main forcing to explain the hydrological changes in the lakes. Human impact in the watershed and the lakes has been documented since Iberian-Roman times and it has increased since the Medieval Ages with a much higher sediment delivery to the lakes. Lake sediment sequences contain detailed archives of global changes in the past, needed to understand the natural climate variability and the dynamics of the lacustrine systems. These data will help to implement conservation and restoration policies of aquatic ecosystems and also strategies for adaptation to future climate changes.