Environmental tracers and indicators bringing together groundwater, surface water and groundwater-dependent ecosystems: importance of scale in choosing relevant tools

Groundwater–surface water (GW–SW) interactions cover a broad range of hydrogeological and biological processes and are controlled by natural and anthropogenic factors at various spatio-temporal scales, from watershed to hyporheic/hypolentic zone. Understanding these processes is vital in the protection of groundwater-dependent ecosystems increasingly required in water resources legislation across the world. The use of environmental tracers and indicators that are relevant simultaneously for groundwater, surface water and biocenoses–biotope interactions constitutes a powerful tool to succeed in the management task. However, tracer type must be chosen according to the scale of interest and tracer use thus requires a good conceptual understanding of the processes to be evaluated. This paper reviews various GW–SW interaction processes and their drivers and, based on available knowledge, systemises application of conservative tracers and semi-conservative and reactive environmental indicators at different spatial scales. Biocenoses–biotopes relationships are viewed as a possible transition tool between scales. Relation between principal application of the environmental tracers and indicators, examples and guidelines are further proposed for examining GW–SW interactions from a hydrogeological and biological point of view by demonstrating the usability of the tracers/indicators and providing recommendations for the scientific community and decision makers.