Abstract: Quantitatively modeling the relationships between ecological patterns and hydrological mechanisms is a key research field for ecologists, hydrologists, and wetland investigators. This paper introduced the conception, principles, and multidisciplinary characteristics of hydroecology, summarized the research progress in hydroecological modeling of wetlands, and discussed the problems existed in present hydroecological modeling, such as scale confliction, lack of efficient validation methods, and indetermination of variables due to model uncertainty. It was indicated that because of its interdisciplinary feature, hydroecological modeling would more coupled with updated geo-scientific techniques, and the present mathematic hydroecological models would be replaced by those with more physical principles. A conceptional hydroecological model of inland floodplain wetlands based on habitat wetness was presented, and an outline of catchment scale-hydroecological model supported by RS and GIS methods was designed.

Key words: East China Sea, Prorocentrum dentatum, Red tide