A review of the ecohydrology discipline: Progress, challenges, and future directions in China

Abstract

In recent decades, the ecohydrology discipline was developed to provide theoretical and technical foundations for the protection and restoration of complex ecological systems (e.g., mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, and lakes), and to further ecological civilization construction and green development in China. In this study, the progress and challenges of the ecohydrology discipline are elaborated, and the future development directions are proposed according to international scientific frontiers and national ecological civilization construction demands. Overall, the main discipline directions are to develop new ecohydrological monitoring methods, to comprehensively understand ecohydrological mechanisms and their basic theories, to promote integration of multi-scale and multi-variable models by considering both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and to encourage multidisciplinary integration, particularly with the social sciences. Furthermore, the future research interests in China include: combining multi-source information, constructing comprehensive monitoring systems, studying spatiotemporal patterns of key ecohydrological variables and their variation characteristics, developing integrated models of ecological, hydrological, and economic processes, estimating their uncertainty; and conducting interdisciplinary studies that include the natural and social sciences. The application prospects in China are further explored for a variety of ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, rivers, lakes, wetlands, farmlands, and cities. This study will provide a reference to support the development of the ecohydrology discipline in China, and will provide a solid theoretical and technical foundation for the implementation of national ecological civilization construction.

Changing Climate Threatens Irrigation Benefits of Maize Gross Primary Productivity in China

“…Although irrigation water availability was partly accounted for through the automatically extracted water from surface runoff ( I runoff ), future water availability is also related to the surface streamflow ( I external ) and groundwater stored in the aquifers, all of which will be affected by climate change. Besides, as the growing population and more attention to ecological civilization construction in China, future water availability for irrigation will be even more threatened (Xia et al., 2021). We conservatively assume that future irrigation water availability will be the same as the historical.…”

“…However, these studies were limited to the local cropping sites at the field scale and seldom quantified the irrigation contribution to GPP due to difficulties in carrying out control experiments (non‐irrigated) at larger scales (Suyker & Verma, 2012; Wagle et al., 2017). The lack of comprehensive long‐term flux observations at ecosystem‐level particularly for agroecosystem monitoring also impedes the expandability of irrigation contribution from field scale to regional scale (Xia et al., 2021; Xiao et al., 2013). Although the extensive croplands are strong contributors to regional carbon budget in China (Lei & Yang, 2010; Piao et al., 2009), the role of irrigation in affecting crop GPP such as maize at regional or national scale has rarely been explored to the best of our knowledge.…”

Recent Advances in Modern Hydrogeology: Promoting Harmony between Nature and Humanity

“…Modern hydrogeology is a multifaceted discipline that explores the relationships between groundwater and various natural elements, such as geology, soil, ecosystems, and climate [11,12]. It also investigates the interplay between groundwater and human activities, including aspects such as human health, groundwater pollution remediation, and groundwater resource management [13,14].…”

Initiatives on exploring the mechanism of eco‐hydrological response to land surface change and adaptive regulation in the Yellow River Basin

“…Conceptual models primarily rely on the concept of hydrological models and incorporate empirical crop growth modules to establish simple and empirical functions for calculating vegetation growth (Gao et al, 2018; Xu & Zhao, 2016). These models typically lack mechanistic descriptions of plant growth and vegetation‐hydrological interactions (Xia et al, 2020). In contrast, semi‐physically based models and physically based models apply physiological and ecological processes to describe plant physiological processes (e.g., photosynthesis and evapotranspiration) (Yohannes et al, 2021).…”