This volume considers river basins and drainage networks in the light of their scaling and multi-scaling properties, and the dynamics responsible for their development.

Ecohydrology of Water-Controlled Ecosystems addresses the connections between the hydrologic cycle and plant ecosystems, with special emphasis on arid and semi-arid climates. This important topic is treated by building suitable mathematical models of the physics involved and then applying them to study the ecosystem structure and its response to rainfall and climate forcing in different parts of the world, including savannas, grasslands and forests. It investigates the vegetation response to water stress (drought), the hydrologic control on cycles of soil nutrients, and the dynamics of plant competition for water. The book also offers insights into processes closely related to soil moisture dynamics, such as soil-atmosphere interaction and soil gas emissions. This book will appeal to advanced students and researchers from a large range of disciplines, including environmental science, hydrology, ecology, earth science, civil and environmental engineering, agriculture and atmospheric science.

River networks are critically important ecosystems. This interdisciplinary book provides an integrated ecohydrological framework blending laboratory, field, and theoretical evidence that changes our understanding of river networks as ecological corridors. It describes how the physical structure of the river environment impacts biodiversity, species invasions, population dynamics, and the spread of waterborne disease. State-of-the-art research on the ecological roles of the structure of river networks is summarized, including important studies on the spread and control of waterborne diseases, biodiversity loss due to water resource management, and invasions by non-native species. Practical implications of this research are illustrated with numerous examples throughout. This is an invaluable go-to reference for graduate students and researchers interested in river ecology and hydrology, and the links between the two. Describing new related research on spatially-explicit modeling of the spread of waterborne disease, this book will also be of great interest to epidemiologists and public health managers.