Ecohydrology: process-oriented thinking towards sustainable river basins

Abstract

Regarding recent progress in climatic change, the decline of water resources, degradation of soils and changes in demographic dynamics, this paper postulates that attempts to maintain the good ecological status of the biosphere based on the classic paradigm of nature-oriented thinking, embodied by conservation and restoration of nature, have to be expanded by environmental process-oriented thinking. Insofar as water has been a major driving factor of biosphere evolution and productivity, any profound understanding of fundamental ecological processes, such as hydrology and nutrient (C, N, P) cycles, on the scale of entire basins should be based on highlighting the biota response to various water pulse patterns in certain geographical regions, understanding of the role of biotic structure and the interactions present in shaping water and nutrient dynamics. This knowledge of ecohydrology principles provides the scientific background for regulating the processes and interactions for: enhancing water resources, maintaining and restoring biodiversity, providing ecosystem services for societies and building resilience to climatic and anthropogenic impacts (WBSR), from the molecular to landscape scale. The above four goals will be instrumental in the harmonization of biosphere potential and satisfaction of the needs of humanity postulated during EcoSummit 2012 and expressed in the Columbus Declaration. Process-oriented thinking should create the fundamentals for the integration of ecohydrology with environmental biotechnologies, hydro-technical and civil engineering.