Introduction

Abstract

Ecohydrology is a new challenging approach to aquatic ecosystems management that considers dual regulation between biota and hydrology, at the entire river basin scale, as the key to restoration and long term sustainability of aquatic ecosystems health. Managing human-environmental systems, such as river basins, is strongly accompanied by several decisions about the intensity of human actions, which potentially affect natural or nature-near ecological systems. At river basin, upstream uses of water impact on the ecohydrologic functioning of downstream ecosystem, and on the tradeoffs between provision of upstream and downstream ecosystem services. This chapter introduces the the importance of integrating the concept of ecosystem goods and services with the ecohydrology approach, for the management of water resources from riverine do estuarine and coastal ecosystems.