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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecohyd

Short Communication

Ecohydrology as an important concept and tool in

environmental management
Sven Erik Jrgensen *
Copenhagen University, Institute A, Section of Environmental Chemistry, University Park 2, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Ecohydrology is a sub-discipline of ecological engineering and can be considered as one of
Received 24 April 2015 several important ecological disciplines which contributes to build an important bridge
between ecology and environmental management to so to say use our ecological
Accepted 24 April 2015 knowledge to make a better environmental management.
Available online xxx It is expected that ecohydrology will have an increasing application in our effort to
abate the eutrophication and utilize wetlands better to control the global and regional
Keywords: carbon, water and nutrient cycling in our effort to increase the sustainability of the
Ecohydrology
environmental, social and economic development.
Environmental management
2015 European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of Polish Academy of
Ecological disciplines
Sciences. Published by Elsevier Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction toward using ecology to solve environmental problems

were developed: ecological modeling, ecological engineer-
The rst global green wave was started in the early-mid ing or ecotechnology, ecological economics, assessment of
sixties as a result of Rachel Carsons book The Silent ecosystems health by ecological indicators and assessment
Spring. Previously, pollution was considered entirely a of ecosystem services used by the society and systems
technological problem that would have to be solved by the ecology. These sub-disciplines built a bridge from ecology
use of environmental technology, but Rachel Carsons book to environmental management (see Fig. 1). Ecological
started a discussion about the deterioration of nature due engineering or ecotechnology, focusing on how nature
to pollution and that nature should be the focus of our could help us to solve the environmental problems and
concern about the consequences of pollution. It increased how we could help nature to resist the consequences of
the interest for a wider knowledge about how the natural pollution, became an important tool box in our effort to
systems ecosystemsare working and how they are solve the environmental problems. Ecohydrology, inte-
affected by pollution. It implied that ecology came into grating hydrology and ecology, is an important ecotech-
focus. Before hardly anybody knew the scientic eld nological discipline and provides crucial tools that have
ecology, but after the rst green wave everybody learnt the been able to solve several environmental problems by very
meaning of the new word ecology and used it in cost-moderate methods. Due to the very cost-moderate
discussions about pollution abatement. To make a long methods that have been used particularly to solve non-
story short, during the last three decades of the 20th point pollution problems, which often provide more than
century, several new ecological sub-disciplines aimed 50% nutrients load throughout catchment to reservoirs,
lakes and seas, the experience of using ecohydrology as a
powerful environmental management concept and tool is
* Tel.: +45 44480600; fax: +45 44480682. so promising that it is expected that this ecological eld
E-mail address: [email protected] will continue to develop and be applied to solve a wider

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecohyd.2015.04.005
1642-3593/ 2015 European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of Polish Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Jrgensen, S.E., Ecohydrology as an important concept and tool in environmental
management. Ecohydrol. Hydrobiol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecohyd.2015.04.005
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Fig. 1. During the last three decades of the 20th century, several ecological sub-disciplines were developed to facilitate the application of ecological
considerations in environmental management. They formed literally a bridge between the scientic discipline, ecology and the environmental
management that was urgently needed to abate the pollution and environmental problems.

and wider spectrum of environmental problems in the wetlands to resist ooding. Which role play the
coming decades. In addition, ecohydrology will be impor- biomass, its growth pattern, diversity and seasonal
tant in our effort to solve the emerging climatic problems: variations for this buffer capacity.
increased temperature, changed precipitation pattern and 3) The carbon cycling in wetlands have been examined and
more frequently extreme weather conditions (heavy rain determined but only little research has been done on
and hurricane and in some cases drought). The next section how it would be possible to increase the carbon
will try to concretize the environmental problems and sequestration of wetlands and thereby contribute to
questions that will be expected to be the focus of an overall lower release of green house gases to the
ecohydrology during the coming decades and accelerate atmosphere. It is most probably that the hydrology of
the development of ecohydrology. wetlands will have a major inuence on the carbon
cycling. Which water level as function of time is for
instance giving the optimum carbon sequestration?
2. The development of ecohydrology Would it be possible to manage the vegetation, its
growth pattern and seasonal changes to increase the
The environmental problems that will be the focus of carbon sequestration?
ecohydrology in the coming decades are listed below with 4) Very little is known about the overall inuence of
indication of the problems or questions and their wetlands, lakes and reservoirs as function of time and the
environmental and ecohydrological context: water level on the climate. With other words: Can we
inuence the climate by a wider use of ecohydrology?
1) The hydrological retention time and its seasonal 5) Many small ecosystems, for instance ponds and ditches
uctuations can to a high extent be controlled. It is a and small wetlands in the landscape, have an important
prerequisite for the application of ecohydrology in role for the health of the larger ecosystems in the
environmental management. The principle has been landscape and the hydrology of the small ecosystems is
applied to reduce the eutrophication of lakes and most probably important for the overall health of the
reservoirs, but can be used much more widely and on entire landscape, too. The role of the pattern of ecotones
several ecosystems, for instance wetlands, rivers, and small and larger ecosystems for the health of the
streams, estuaries and lagoons, too. landscape has to be assessed and quantied better,
2) Wetlands are important buffers against ooding, but it which could encourage a better landscape protection. It
is necessary to examine the factors that determine the would require an extended ecohydrological knowledge
buffer capacity of wetlands to be able to design and research.

Please cite this article in press as: Jrgensen, S.E., Ecohydrology as an important concept and tool in environmental
management. Ecohydrol. Hydrobiol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecohyd.2015.04.005
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6) The sustainability of the ecosystems is increasingly climatic changes that are expected as a result of the
important and that it is the prerequisite for the increased concentrations of green house gases in the
maintenance of the ecosystem services. Ecohydrology atmosphere.
needs to play an important role in the assessment and
quantication of ecosystem sustainability and in this
Conict of interest
context also the factors that determine the sustainabili-
ty, because water is the prerequisite for all life. Most
None declared.
probably the hydrological cycle of the ecosystems is
extremely important for the ecosystems sustainability,
and it would require good ecohydrological research to Ethical statement
reveal the interactions between the hydrological cycle
and the sustainability of ecosystems. None.

3. Conclusions
Financial disclosure
Ecohydrology will probably play an increasingly
important role in environmental management in the None declared.
coming decade, because it is a powerful and cost-moderate
concept and tool in environmental management. More- Acknowledgements
over, it could be used directly to obtain a reduced emission
of green house gases and probably also to moderate the None.

Please cite this article in press as: Jrgensen, S.E., Ecohydrology as an important concept and tool in environmental
management. Ecohydrol. Hydrobiol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecohyd.2015.04.005