Editorial and preface to thematic issue on biohydrology

Biohydrology of low flows in the humid Ethiopian highlands: The Gilgel Abay catchment

“…Despite the importance little information is available how the low flow is changing in time as a function of climate, anthropogenic and biological factors in the landscape (Baveye 2013;Lichner 2013). This information is specifically needed in the Lake Tana Beles growth corridor in the northern Ethiopia highlands where water use has been rapidly expanding in the last twenty years.…”

Addressing key challenges to interdisciplinary research on water-related issues: Biologists’ engagement and funding structure

“…Building on, to some extent, and definitely complementing the very interesting research done in the area in recent years (Dekker et al 2006;Hallett et al 2009Hallett et al , 2010Budagovskyi & Novak 2011;Nagy 2011;Amiri et al 2012;Hribik et al 2012;Lichner et al 2012;Lichner 2013), the authors of these articles explore a number of topics related to the influence of biological processes on the dynamics of the water cycle and on water resources, and in some cases to the opposite effect, at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Many of the issues addressed have particular importance in the context of global climate change, given how little is known at the moment about the temperature dependence of their biological component, likely to be significantly larger than that of their hydrological aspects.…”