GLOWA: Global Change and the Hydrological Cycle

Since 2001, Katja Tielbörger has been actively involved in the GLOWA Jordan River project.

GLOWA Jordan River is an interdisciplinary project addressing the future of the water scarce Jordan River basin under the impact of climate and global change.

Water scarcity has been a feature of life in the Jordan River basin from time immemorial. Over the last century the situation has become gradually more severe because of the increasing population of the region, its development for agriculture and changes in rainfall patterns and consequent droughts. The potential impact of climate change and land use change on the region is likely to be very damaging unless steps are taken.

The forty research teams taking part in GLOWA Jordan River, whose membership is made up of scientists and stakeholders from Germany, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, are working in the belief that their findings will help ensure that future management of the water resources of the area is effective and will provide a good example of improved water management.

Funding has now ended. However, the good work that has been done over the course of the last decade continues within the Plant Ecology Group in Tübingen.

Projects either directly related or inspired by the work done in the Eastern Mediterranean include:

• Interpreting Climate and Grazing manipulation studies
• Determining plant strategies of species within the Eastern Mediterranean
• Understanding the role of soil biota, plant-plant interactions, and herbivore defense under climate change