Abstract:

Hydroecology is a new science field that studies the crosscutting areas between ecology and hydrology.Its research aims to understand the structure and function of hydrological factors and ecosystem，to achieve the balance between the water needs of society and the environment.It is scientific foundation of water resource management.So hydroecology provides opportunities for restoration and enhancement of the capacity of ecosystems against human impacts at various spatial and temporal scales.Hydroecology has been great development since 1992 during the Dublin International Conference on Water and Environment，and then became a hot spot of research soon in oversea.At the present the freshwater resources are becoming the most limiting factor not only for development but even for persistence of some communities in many areas of the world.In China，up to now，freshwater management dealt mostly with economic needs for shipping and hydropower and the elimination of threats such as floods，droughts and source pollution，the conflict is increasing between constructing dam and protecting environment.Ecosystem is very vulnerable and water resource is sparse in the western China，problems of ecosystem protection are severer，so hydroecology is more important.The paper systematicly introduced progress of hydroecology，discussed its definition，researching field，achievement and prospect.Because river and stream are the critical research area central of hydroecology，and dams have been constructed in many rivers in China，especially in the upstream of the Yangtze River，the paper calls more attention to ecological effect of dam，and emphasizes the use of hydrocology to ecological problem of dam construction.

Key words: hydroecology/ progress/ prospect/ river/ dam/ ecosystem