Ecohydrology: fusing concepts and scales

'Hydrology and Water Resources Development in a Vulnerable Environment’ is the topic of the current phase of IHP-V. To ascertain sustainable use of landscape resources, ecohydrological processes in the surficial environment must be studied. The objectives of Project 2.3 are the interactions between river systems, floodplains, and wetlands. The gap between hydrology and ecology must be closed to understand the hydrological cycle in different ecosystems and to gain more detailed information on the plant and animal communities that influence the flow of water and its contents. Project 2.4 aims at the comprehensive assessment of the surficial ecohydrological processes on a global scale. Through experimental research, flow of water, sediments, nutrients, and pollutants in different scales, climates and geographic regions must be studied. Non-structural measures for construction and management should be evaluated with respect to environmental quality enhancement, and water ecosystem vulnerability should be assessed. It is the incitement to collect hydrological and ecological data in a more balanced way. Efficient lines of research in ecohydrology start with getting to know the partner's concepts and to begin to think in the partner's scales. This will indicate the start of genuine integrated research with all partners joined in an interdisciplinary network.