DelegatePack_DroughtConference_20-21March2019

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Posters Nikos Mastrantonas, Simon Parry & Jamie Hannaford CEH Luke Harrington University of Oxford Drought Libraries for enhanced resilience in long term water resource planning in the UK Long-term planning of water resources has been a key requirement of the providers of water supplies, and this is extremely important nowadays. In the UK, the water companies are required to produce management plans on a fiveyear cycle, ensuring consideration has been given for both present and future demands and constraints. Moreover, there is a need to test water supply systems against the ‘worst historical’ drought event and consider those ‘beyond historical’ that might occur in future. However there is no agreed methodology for determining the worst historical event, and each water company may use different datasets to reach an answer. Given this lack of consistency, there is interest in rationalising the approach to answer questions relating to drought affecting multiple neighbouring water companies and around the feasibility of large-scale water transfers. This need is addressed by the UK Droughts & Water Scarcity Programme, which supports improved decision-making and communication in relation to droughts and water scarcity for a range of sectors. Capitalising on new improved national-scale data for extensive historical and future timeframes, consistently derived ‘drought libraries’ are developed. These drought libraries are sets of events across a range of severities, durations and spatial domains, facilitating the exploration of questions around the temporal and spatial coherence of drought. Due to the extended historic period (to 1862), the libraries provide the opportunity to characterise recent events in their wider historical context. Moreover, information about possible future droughts, with climate model projections up to 2099, can inform stakeholders on the expected severity of future events. This study demonstrates the applicability of the drought libraries through case study catchments in southern England. The results show the severity of a specific historical drought event varying notably across different rainfall accumulation periods, showing that reference events should be carefully selected. Moreover, the future projections indicate that the drought hazard will be intensified in this part of the UK. The application of nationally consistent drought libraries in assessments of resilience to past, present and future droughts will maximise the benefit in managing the UK’s national water resources, and begin to address some of the critical questions around how to reconcile the often competing demands from society, economy and environment. Wiza Mphande Harper Adams University Elucidating Drought Mitigation with Antitranspirants in Spring Wheat Drought stress has a negative effect on crop yield performance. If drought occurs during reproductive development, application of antitranspirants improves grain yield in wheat as was shown by Kettlewell et al. (2010). However, the mechanism by which this is achieved has not been established. The possible explanation could be the negative effect of ABA on pollen development, as drought triggers increased biosynthesis of this phytohormone (Lee and Luan 2012). In 2018, a field experiment was conducted in the Flatt Nook Field at Harper Adams University (52°46′N, 2°25′W), Shropshire, UK. Drought stress conditions were simulated using polythene tunnels erected over experimental plots. Application of Vapor Gard, a film antitranspirant, to spring wheat at three growth stages, GS33, GS45 and GS51, reduced the endogenous concentration of abscisic acid in flag leaves and improved grain yield. These results suggest that drought amelioration by antitranspirants is related to reduced biosynthesis or increased catabolism of abscisic acid. This research has potential to enhance knowledge about drought signalling and designing genetic techniques for drought tolerance in crop breeding research. Further work is required to determine the effect of Vapor Gard on the relationship between abscisic acid and pollen and ovary development. Hattie Roberts, Kirsti Ashworth & Ian Dodd Lancaster University Felicity Hayes CEH Brassica napus. L (oilseed rape; canola) is the third most important oilseed crop worldwide, and the most valuable in Europe, with its products used for food, fodder and fuel. B. napus is considered a thirsty crop, with drought and high temperatures decreasing seed size and pod number, hence yield . There is increasing concern over its productivity and continued economic viability as “Mediterranean” conditions spread northwards through Europe. Here we report on the growth rate, leaf gas exchange and morphology of a spring cultivar of B. napus (cv. Click), grown indoors in semicontrolled environment growth chambers, and subjected to three different water regimes. Three watering regimes were implemented 1) well-watered (WW) plants, which were re-watered with 100% of evapotranspiration lost daily; 2) deficit irrigation (DI) wherein plants were watered at 50% evapotranspiration volume daily; 3) drought and rewatering (DRW) irrigation wherein plants were watered at 50% cumulative evapotranspiration volume every five days. We also collected samples of plant volatiles emitted from the leaves. These volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are synthesised and released in response to abiotic stresses such as drought and are thought to protect plant metabolism and functioning under oxidative stress. We investigated whether these volatiles help maintain productivity during the application of stress or promote rapid recovery of functioning and growth on removal of the stress, i.e. on rewatering. Final above-ground masses and leaf area of the both deficit irrigation and plants exposed drought and rewatering were significantly smaller than well-watered plants, with photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance also significantly higher in well-watered than deficit irrigation and drought-exposed plants. The emission of certain volatiles was correlated with water availability.
Posters Sevilay Topcu Cukurova University Strategic Comparison of Past and Future Droughts in Turkey Turkey is strongly and increasingly exposed to drought. Historically, serious droughts occurred as in 1804 and 1876 causing the loss of agricultural production and livestock as well as the migration of affected farmers. Drought-related famines and diseases in 1876 claimed an estimated 200,000 lives. More recently, serious drought events occurred in 1928, 1973, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1998-2001, 2007, 2008, 2013 and 2017. The present study analyses i) the spatial and temporal dimensions of historical droughts in Turkey, ii) to predict the potential intensity, frequency and duration of droughts for the future (2070-2100) iii) to compare the past and future drought occurrences with a view to developing appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies. We used the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to assess drought characteristics. Rainfall datasets for the reference period, 1960-1990, were acquired from 51 stations (representative of regions with different rainfall regimes in the country) of the Turkish State Meteorological Service. The future rainfall series for the 2070-2100 period were simulated using a regional climate model (RegCM4) for IPCC’s SRES-A2 scenario conditions. To determine the likely changes between reference and future periods, the projected future rainfall series was compared with the average rainfall amount derived from the reference period in SPI calculations. Finally, maps were drawn to determine the changes in spatial patterns of droughts. The study results showed that drought conditions are diverse in Turkey, and increasing trends for intensity, frequency and duration were detected. At regional scale, the Eastern part of Marmara, Black Sea Region and northern and eastern parts of the East Anatolia Regions are characterized by wetter conditions. Particularly severe drought conditions are expected in the Western Mediterranean and Aegean Regions, although other regions of the country will also likely be confronted with more frequent, intense and long lasting droughts. Most rain-fed and irrigated areas and surface water resources are located in the drought-vulnerable regions of the country. Industrial, touristic, urban and other water uses will also be affected by the worsened conditions in Turkey. Results of this and similar studies have been integrated into the national drought strategy and action plans to combat desertification and drought in Turkey. Harry West, Nevil Quinn, Michael Horswell & Paul White UWE Examining spatial variations in the utility of SPI as a 3-month-ahead environmental drought indicator Droughts are a common meteorological phenomenon and a significant natural hazard. Despite this we lack a common understanding of the definition of a drought event and a detailed understanding of drought onset and termination. In its simplest form however a drought can be defined as a deficit of rainfall relative to normal conditions. This rainfall deficit will eventually propagate through the hydrological system into terrestrial water storage and streamflow. Using the latest available hydro-meteorological datasets from the UK Droughts & Water Scarcity Programme, this paper aims to examine the relationship between rainfall deficit (quantified by the standardised precipitation index for a range of accumulation periods ranging from 1 to 12 months) and environmental drought (quantified by the standardised streamflow index) in 303 catchments across Great Britain. Through this we identify the rainfall deficit accumulation periods that are associated with the more severe environmental droughts, and in doing so identify the role of local catchment characteristics (quantified by the base flow index) in moderating drought frequency and severity. By developing a spatial understanding of the relationship between rainfall deficit accumulation and environmental drought, we identify and map the variation in critical SPI accumulation thresholds for estimating environmental drought risk over the forthcoming 1 to 3 months. The intention is that this will provide water resource managers with a simple tool to aid effective decision making in drought event management. Jie Xiang, Martin Hare, Ivan Grove & Peter Kettlewell Harper Adams University Understanding mitigation of drought damage to rapeseed from spraying film antitranspirants Considering predicted impacts of climate change, the expansion of rapeseed in the major producing countries in temperate regions, where it is well-adapted, has been reinforcing the need for future tolerance to abiotic stresses such as water deficit. A number of studies have shown that drought has been exacerbated by climate change with multiple effects on agriculture, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) has become the third most important oilseed crop around the world for edible oil, fodder and biofuel production after soybean (Glycine max L.) and palm oil (Elaeis guineensis L.). It is more sensitive to water stress compared to other crops such as wheat and barley, especially at its critical reproductive stages. There is increasing evidence that film antitranspirants can improve the yield of crops subjected to drought compared to unsprayed treatments. Nevertheless, the mechanisms by which antitranspirants can mitigate against yield loss are not clear. Therefore, a series of experiments will investigate the underlying mechanism by which film antitranspirants increase the yield of rapeseed under drought conditions, especially the stomatal functions. Additionally, the data will be related to the mathematical models of gas exchange from the stomata to exploit the role of film antitranspirants on the regulation of gaseous exchange in rapeseed.
Page 1 and 2: Drought and Water Scarcity: address
Page 3 and 4: Contents 2 4 5 6 7 8 12 13 27 32 33
Page 5 and 6: UK Drought & Water Scarcity Program
Page 7 and 8: Audio Anecdotes “A lot of the hea
Page 9 and 10: Wednesday 20 th March Afternoon Pro
Page 11 and 12: Thursday 21 st March Afternoon Prog
Page 13 and 14: Speakers Day 1: Plenary - The Piche
Page 15 and 16: Speakers Day 1: Parallel Session 1
Page 21 and 22: Speakers Day 2: Plenary - The Piche
Page 28 and 29: Posters Peter Cook, Emily Black & A
Page 32 and 33: The Projects Find out more about th
Page 34 and 35: DWS Projects historicdroughts.ceh.a
Page 36 and 37: DWS Projects mariusdroughtproject.o
Page 38 and 39: Datasets The NERC UK Drought and Wa
Page 40 and 41: Download About Drought Briefing Not
Page 42 and 43: Delegates (cont) First Name Last Na
Page 44 and 45: Delegates (cont) First Name Last Na
Page 46: Thank you for attending the About D

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