Ecohydrology

In association with partners Equinox Environmental, AQ2 has developed an innovative approach to assessing ecohydrological systems. The approach complements routine hydrological modelling and vegetation surveys. It also allows the characterisation and quantification of ecohydrological systems, including:

• Key ecohydrological elements such as riparian vegetation, aquatic zone, vadose zone and groundwater zone (also including key water fluxes like transpiration that support those elements).
• Water sources that support ecohydrological fluxes (remembering that the presence of tree species is not a reliable indicator of groundwater use).
• Measurement of leaf water potential that provides insights into tree water status and forms the basis of our multi-criteria analysis.
• Quantification of key water fluxes and links to riparian tree metrics such as health indices and stem-basal area.
•  Integrated models (i.e. changing groundwater levels and their impact on other fluxes or elements such as plant-available water).