Dryland ecosystems cover over 45% of the land area on Earth and host more than two billion people. The already fragile delivery of services by these ecosystems is increasingly threatened by global environmental change. Understanding the factors and mechanisms that govern dryland dynamics and their response to changing environmental conditions and antrhropogenic pressures is therefore of utmost importance. The scientific aim of this Action, ECOHYDRY, was to address the ecohydrological processes that determine the stability, resilience and restoration potential of dryland ecosystems. In particular, ECOHYDRY aimed to contribute to the research field of catastrophic ecosystem shifts (i.e. sudden and not easily reversible change in the ecosystem state in response to a gradual increase in pressure) by investigating critical processes and factors such as ecohydrological feedbacks and functional diversity. For achieving its goals, the project used a novel methodological approach coupling mathematical models and field manipulative experiments of dryland ecosystem dynamics. The societal aim of ECOHYDRY was to provide useful and scientifically-sound information to adapt and increase the resilience of dryland ecosystems to global change impacts, including reliable early warning indicators of dryland degradation. In this way, the project directly addressed the two cross-cutting priorities of sustainable development and climate action established by the H2020 Work Programme, reinforcing the already large European competitiveness in dryland research and management.