Skip to main content

Ecohydrological Processes and Ecosystem Services

This article collection aims at bridging the knowledge gap between ecohydrological processes and ecosystem services. We are seeking the submission of papers including topics such as ecohydrological recovery processes in degraded territorial or aquatic ecosystems; coupling processes and balances of water, carbon, and energy fluxes in natural or managed ecosystems; ecohydrological projections of ecosystem responses to climate change, land use change, and other human disturbances (e.g., wildland fires, urbanization); advances in understanding the links between ecohydrological processes and ecosystem services under different environmental and socioeconomical settings.

Water is essential to life on Earth. Ecohydrology, the study of interactions between ecological and hydrological processes, is fundamental to our understanding and quantification of water-related services provided by ecosystems. Our knowledge of ecohydrology is incomplete due to the complex nature of ecosystems, which are constantly changing under multiple stresses from air pollution to climate change, from deforestation to urbanization, and from soil erosion to soil pollution in the Anthropocene. Linking ecohydrological processes (e.g., evapotranspiration, streamflow, groundwater recharge) to ecosystem services (e.g. carbon sequestration, water quality improvement, biodiversity conservation, regulation of water and nutrient cycles, heat island mitigation) is critical to the advancement of ecosystem science and restoration ecology at multiple scales, from a single species to the entire globe.

Edited by: Dr Ge Sun, Dr Dennis Hallema, Dr Heidi Asbjornsen

  1. Construction activities in and along urban streams increase the sediment input into surface waters, causing an overall decline in water quality and aquatic ecosystems. In this case study, we investigate the wa...

    Authors: Bin Zhu, Daniel S. Smith, Anthony P. Benaquista, Dylan M. Rossi, Betsy M. Kadapuram, Man Lok Yu, Andrew S. Partlow and Nathan R. Burtch
    Citation: Ecological Processes 2018 7:11
  2. Forest cover in Hungary has increased from 1.1 to 2.0 million hectares during the last century. The EU (European Union) promotes further afforestation; thus, 15,000–18,000 ha are being forested each year, main...

    Authors: Zoltán Gribovszki, Péter Kalicz, Kitti Balog, András Szabó, Tibor Tóth, Péter Csáfordi, Mohamed Metwaly and Sándor Szalai
    Citation: Ecological Processes 2017 6:39
  3. In the Northeastern U.S., drought is expected to increase in frequency over the next century, and therefore, the responses of trees to drought are important to understand. There is recent debate about whether ...

    Authors: Adam P. Coble, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Z. Carter Berry, Katie A. Jennings, Cameron D. McIntire, John L. Campbell, Lindsey E. Rustad, Pamela H. Templer and Heidi Asbjornsen
    Citation: Ecological Processes 2017 6:34
  4. We quantified the effects of the site factors pH and nitrate (NO3) concentration in soil solution and groundwater level on the vegetation of terrestrial ecosystems for the Netherlands in response to changes in at...

    Authors: J. Kros, J. P. Mol-Dijkstra, G. W. W. Wamelink, G. J. Reinds, A. van Hinsberg and W. de Vries
    Citation: Ecological Processes 2016 5:22
  5. Grazing is an important management tool for maintaining healthy ecosystems and improving rangelands productivity. However, its effectiveness for this purpose is dependent on timing and frequency of grazing, as...

    Authors: Priscilla K. Lalampaa, Oliver V. Wasonga, Daniel I. Rubenstein and Jesse T. Njoka
    Citation: Ecological Processes 2016 5:17
  6. The effects of land use and land cover (LULC) on groundwater recharge and surface runoff and how these are affected by LULC changes are of interest for sustainable water resources management. However, there is...

    Authors: S. O. Owuor, K. Butterbach-Bahl, A. C. Guzha, M. C. Rufino, D. E. Pelster, E. Díaz-Pinés and L. Breuer
    Citation: Ecological Processes 2016 5:16