Vadose Zone Ecohydrology: Bridging Soil, Water, and Vegetation Dynamics
A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecohydrology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 138
Special Issue Editors
Interests: ecohydrology; vadose zone hydrology; vegetation and land use; reforestation and afforestation; semiarid environments; infiltration and runoff; groundwater recharge; stable isotopes
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The vadose zone serves as a critical interface between the atmosphere and groundwater, governing the flow and storage of water that is essential for ecosystem functioning and resilience. Understanding soil water dynamics within this zone is vital for effective water resource management, particularly given the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities. Changes in land use and cover, species composition, and management practices are altering water fluxes in the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum, with significant implications for key processes such as evapotranspiration, infiltration, deep drainage, and groundwater recharge. These changes influence not only hydrological and biogeochemical cycles but also the stability and resilience of ecosystems.
This Special Issue of Water aims to advance our understanding of soil–water–vegetation interactions in the vadose zone. We invite contributions focused on the monitoring and modeling of soil water dynamics under changing vegetation and land uses, responses to climate variability, and ecohydrological feedback across scales. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The impacts of vegetation on infiltration, surface runoff, and subsurface water dynamics.
- Groundwater recharge processes and their links to vadose zone hydrology.
- The ecohydrology of invasive species and their effects on soil water dynamics.
- The role of soil water on soil carbon, nutrient cycling, and microbial activity.
- Root zone dynamics and their influence on water uptake and subsurface hydrology.
- Rock moisture dynamics and the interplay between vegetation, weathering, and vadose zone processes.
- Extreme events (e.g., droughts, floods, wildfires) and their effects on vadose zone water storage and movement.
- The coupling of hydrological and ecological processes in changing environments.
Dr. Pedro Leite
Dr. Qiuwen Zhou
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- root zone hydrology
- ecohydrological feedbacks
- soil–plant–atmosphere continuum
- soil and rock water dynamics
- infiltration and surface runoff
- invasive species
- isotopic analysis
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