Project coordination

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Jun. Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Berger

I coordinate the project SaliDraa جوج and believe that a positive and constructive working environment that values the strength of each team member is key to success. Within the project my main research interests are related to the significance of biodiversity for the functioning of desert rivers and the services they provide to society.

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Dr. Lisa Bossenbroek

Within the SaliDraa جوج project I’m interested in shedding light on the social and ecological impact of environmental change and altering water flows, and wish to analyze how these might exacerbate old social and gender inequalities whilst irreversibly damaging ecologies.

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Ass. Prof. Dr. Mohammed Naimi

My research work focuses on the ecology and conservation of aquatic and semi-aquatic vertebrates. Within the framework of the Salidraa جوج project, I seek to study the impact of water salinity and climate change on the population ecology, reproduction, diet, morphology and physiological adaptation of these vertebrates.

PhD students

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Imane Mahjoubi

I am studying and assessing ecosystem services in the Drâa River Basin, in order to facilitate their integration into the decision-making process as a strategy that aims for conservation and maintenance of the Drâa social-ecological system.

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Luis Miguel Silva Novoa Sanchez

I am studying the key water and land-related conflicts occurring in the Drâa river basin, to get insights that help us to better understand what drives these conflicts. For this purpose, I use an actor-based conflict analysis approach.

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Dr. Nils Kaczmarek

I am analyzing the effects of salinity, flow intermittency and other environmental and anthropogenic stressors on macroinvertebrate traits and biodiversity to study the water quality of the Drâa river basin. Furthermore, I am interested in metabarcoding and remote sensing techniques.

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Abdelghani Aabid

I am focusing on the effect of water salinity, environmental and anthropogenic stressor on the ecosystem functions and processes of the Draa river. Also, the ecosystem functioning-ecosystem services linkage.

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Khawla Lazrak

I am working on salinity impacts on water quality and benthic algae communities.

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Chaimaa Guerwane

I'm working on the monitoring of sustainable land use and water resources in Morocco and particularly in the Draa River Basin using Earth Observations based on sustainable development indicators. Within the framework of Salidraa juj, I will assess land cover changes linked to urbanization, land degradation, and water demand using remote sensing of earth observation.

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Mokhtar Belasri

I am working on the macroinvertebrates of rivers in the Drâa basin.

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Maren Nothof

My research aim in the Salidraajuj project is the assessment of the structural and functional diversity of the microbial aquatic community through metabarcoding and metatranscriptomics. I am interested in the effects of changing environmental conditions, especially changes in salinity, on community composition and resulting stress adaptation strategies of the organisms.

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Abdelghani Guechchani

My research objective within the SaliDraaJuj project is to study the effects of different environmental features on fish in the Moroccan desert and in particular in the Draa basin, and to investigate the social aspects between humans and fish

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Yassine Marouane

I work on physical chemistry, microbiological water quality, and the impact if urbanisation, agricultuiral activities on river water and soil in the Draa River Basin.

Research partners

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Prof. Dr. Oliver Frör

I am an environmental economist at the University of Koblenz-Landau. In the context of the Salidraa project, I work on the identification and valuation of ecosystem services related to water use in the Draa watershed and explore the threats to ecosystem services by increasing salinization in the area. Together with the other members of the Salidraa team, I aim at providing information about ecosystem services that is useful for decision makers.

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Prof. Dr. Loudiki Mohammed

My current scientific activities target the implementation of water quality biomonitoring systems and aquatic ecosystems rehabilitation in arid climate as well as the research of green bioprocesses for the control, mitigation and treatment of water contaminated by harmful algal blooms especially cyanoHABs in lakes and reservoirs.

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Prof Dr. Ralf Schäfer

I am an aquatic ecologist who works on the responses of freshwater ecosystems to stressors such as pollution and climate change. In the project, I supervise the ecological studies regarding the impact of salinisation and climate change on the Draa river system and the consequences for ecosystem functioning.

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Jun. Prof Dr. Janpeter Schilling

I am a geographer focusing my research work on conflicts linked to environmental resources. Within SaliDrâa جوج, my aim is to understand landuse and potential tensions around it in the Drâa valley.

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Adil Moumane

I am a native of Draa river region, an environmental geographer at Ibn Tofail University Morocco and a member of the Friends of the environment association Zagora (NGO). I study the impact of the global change on the local indigenous knowledge of Draa River Oases. And I monitor the long term impact of land use and land change on the Draa valley ecosystem.

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Jun. Prof. Dr. Sabine Filker

I am a molecular ecologist from the University of Kaiserslautern and my main research focuses on the diversity and ecophysiology of extremophile microorganisms. Within the Salidraajuj project, we´re investigating the effects of multiple stressors on microbial biodiversity, ecosystem function and performance of aquatic habitats.

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Prof. Dr. Thorsten Stoeck

I am an ecologist from the University of Kaiserslautern and the research of my group focuses on the diversity and ecology of aquatic microbial communities in the context of climate change, ecosystem function and environmental monitoring. In this project, I supervise the identification of region-/system specific bioindicator species, which, in the future, might act as basis for environmental health assessment and management.

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Prof Dr. Mohamed Ghamizi

I am a researcher in hydrobiology interested in studies of aquatic biodiversity on taxonomic, biogeographic and bioecological aspects . For the salidraa Juj project I supervise PhD students on macroinvertebrates and fish to assess the diversity, responses to salinity and monitor biological quality of water and riparian environment

Prof. Dr. Mohammed Znari

Practical partners

Agence du bassin Hydraulique Ouarzazate
(ABH)

Agence Nationale de développement des zones Oasiennes et d’Arganier
(ANDZOA)

Association les Amis de l’Environnement – Zagora
(AAE)

Direction Provinciale des eaux et forêts de Ouarzazate
(DPEFLCD)

Office National de l’Eau et de l’Electricité
(ONEE)

Office Régional de Mise en Valeur Agricole de Ourzazate
(ORMVAO)

Délegation Provinciale de Tourisme
(DPT)

Advisory board

Prof. Nuria Bonada

(University of Barcelona, Spain)

 Prof. Gerhard Roller

(TH Bingen, Germany)

Prof. Mohamed Mahdi

(Ecole Nationale d’Agriculture, Meknes)

Dr. Stefan Liehr

(ISOE- Institute for Socio-Ecological Research, Frankfurt, Germany)

Prof. Marcel Kuper

(CIRAD Agricultural Research for development, France)

Students and student assistants

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Elyssa Dubois

I study the microbial community structure of the Draa river via
metabarcoding