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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Biohydrology research after Landau 2013 conference

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Biohydrology gives a new view on hydrological research. The impact of biota on hydrological processes was a disregarded topic in the early years of hydrology research. It has been present since the 1960s, but as a „Cinderella“ research topic. It emerged as a new aspect of the hydrological processes after the 1980s. In the 21st century, it has become a well established research topic, bringing new knowledge to aid understanding on how biota influence the hydrological cycle and the rates of hydrological processes. The importance of biohydrology research is growing, and the number of conferences, publications and research projects is being doubled every decade. The 4th Biohydrology conference, held in Landau on 21–24 May 2013, addressed many contemporary issues surrounding water scarcity, climate change and increased pressure on land. Under the motto „Bio Meets Hydrology“, it has brought together ideas and conceptions of environmental specialists from biological, chemical and physical sciences with the hydrological sciences to discuss and to merge methods and conceptions. The conference focussed on the interaction between biological and hydrological systems, including positive impacts such as water harnessing and flood mitigation, and negative aspects including threats to food production, water repellency and environmental degradation through unsustainable land use practices. In this forum, designed to get different disciplines working together, experts from hydrology, ecology, soil science, biology, geography, forestry and engineering met, and acquired new ideas for their research. Results of the most recent and advanced biohydrology research published in Special sections on biohydrology in Biologia 2013 and 2014, as well as in the Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics, are presented in this preface to the Thematic issue on biohydrology. The impact of vegetation cover on soil hydrological processes was the most frequent theme studied. In the first of 6 papers dealing with the biological soil crust (BSC), Canton et al. (this issue) evaluated the dynamics of organic carbon (OC) losses by water erosion as affected by BSC. Runoff and erosion rates, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and organic carbon bonded to sediments (SdOC) were measured during the simulated rain. The results showed different SdOC and DOC for the different BSCs and also that the presence of BSCs substantially decreased total organic carbon (TOC) compared to physical soil crusts. Within BSCs, TOC losses decreased as BSCs developed, and erosion rates were lower. Crust removal caused a strong increase in water erosion and TOC losses. Drahorad et al. (2013) estimated the changes in surface structure and wettability during BSC development on