A new look at ecohydrology trends
A new paper led by SERS PhD student Mackenzie Jones in Dr. Chantel Markle’s Lab takes a global look at how researchers are studying the interactions between ecology and hydrology, an interdisciplinary field known as ecohydrology. Until the last few decades, ecohydrology research largely focused on vegetation, and while the number of papers including water-wildlife interactions had grown, there was still an underrepresentation of wildlife studies within the literature. Therefore, Mackenzie’s research explores the extent to which vertebrates (i.e., bird, fish, reptile, mammal and amphibian) were being studied and highlighted opportunities for future research.
Published in the journal Ecohydrology, the scoping review synthesized findings of 189 peer-reviewed articles from 1989–2023 and identified large imbalances across species, ecosystems, countries, seasons, and methods. Notably, the team found that most research was on fish in river systems, with far fewer studies focusing on mammals, reptiles, amphibians, or marine and terrestrial environments. The paper also revealed that there was limited inclusion of winter data among wildlife ecohydrology articles, and even fewer that collect data during critical seasons such as breeding or nesting. Of the data that was collected in articles, most was obtained from field-based studies using traditional approaches, such as observational methods, pointing to an opportunity to integrate more transformative monitoring tools and techniques within the discipline. Given the growing concerns of climate change on hydrological processes, and the cascading effects on ecological communities, Mackenzie and co-authors suggest there has never been a more crucial time to study ecohydrology.
To help make the findings more accessible, Mackenzie and co-authors partnered with Fuse Consulting Inc. to develop an infographic that visually communicates the key messages and future research opportunities (see below).
Interested in learning more? You can read the paper to find out how we can advance wildlife ecohydrology research and how it can help guide future conservation and management efforts.
Jones, M.A., Steblaj, V., Schang, K., Ross, M. and Markle, C.E. 2025. “Water, Wildlife and the World: A Global Synthesis of Trends in Wildlife Ecohydrology Research.” Ecohydrology 18: e70122.
