Opportunities for Translational Water Research in Global Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract

Academic researchers and practitioners in water resources disciplines are calling for solution-oriented and actionable hydrological science, recently encompassed by the term translational water research (TWR). Here, we argue that the interdisciplinary field of biodiversity conservation science (also known as conservation biology) presents several critical opportunities for highly impactful TWR that can contribute not only to addressing the ongoing freshwater biodiversity crisis but also to informing the robust application of Nature-based Solutions and other Ecosystem-based Adaptation strategies for water management. In this review, we expand upon established theory and practice in ecohydrology, environmental flows, and water management to identify opportunities for TWR in biodiversity conservation, and highlight reciprocal opportunities for ecology and conservation to contribute to achieving water management and sustainable-development objectives. We expand established framings of TWR to include viewing water as a habitat for non-human life and an ecological driver and explain how these viewpoints lead to opportunities for impactful applied hydrological research. We also examine the formal conceptualizations of applied ecohydrology and IWRM for their connections to biological conservation, leveraging the conceptual foundations of environmental flows research and practice to demonstrate how they form the basis for integrating conservation biology and hydrology for TWR. We conclude with a description of opportunities for productive TWR integrating biodiversity conservation science and water resources research, dividing these into conservation science per se and ecosystem-based approaches through which conservation goals can be accomplished as a co-benefit.