Applications of forest hydrological science to watershed management in the 21st century.

Vose, James M.; Martin, Katherine L.; Barten, Paul K.

doi:10.1079/9781780646602.0240

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…We recommend that strategies for watershed management are more likely to be successful if they adopt risk‐based assessments of a range of future senarios and include regular updating (Golladay et al, ). It is likely that the simultaneous effects of LULC and CCs will impact critical water supplies before many of the model uncertainties, particularly for precipitation projections, will be resolved; therefore, planning will need to incorporate risk (Vose, Martin, & Barten, in press). The complexities of LU and CCs are likely to result in a range of possible futures across ecosystem processes, including productivity, carbon, and nutrient cycling, as vegetation responds to multiple factors of change and increased variability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Watershed impacts of climate and land use changes depend on magnitude and land use context

et al. 2017

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Human population growth and urban development are affecting climate, land use, and the ecosystem services provided to society, including the supply of freshwater. We investigated the effects of land use and climate change on water resources in the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin of North Carolina, United States. Current and projected land uses were modeled at high resolution for three watersheds representing a forested to urban land use gradient by melding the National Land Cover Dataset with data from the U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis. Forecasts for 2051-2060 of regional land use and climate for scenarios of low (B2) and moderately high (A1B) rates of change, coupled with multiple global circulation models (MIROC, CSIRO, and Hadley), were used to inform a distributed ecohydrological model.Our results identified increases in water yields across the study watersheds, primarily due to forecasts of increased precipitation. Climate change was a more dominant factor for future water yield relative to land use change across all land uses (forested, urban, and mixed). When land use change was high (27% of forested land use was converted to urban development), it amplified the impacts of climate change on both the magnitude and timing of water yield.Our fine-scale (30-m) distributed combined modeling approach of land use and climate change identified changes in watershed hydrology at scales relevant for management, emphasizing the need for modeling efforts that integrate the effects of biophysical (climate) and social economic (land use) changes on the projection of future water resource scenarios.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Watershed impacts of climate and land use changes depend on magnitude and land use context

et al. 2017

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“…The forestry community is facing large global environmental and socioeconomic challenges, such as climate change and urbanization, to meet the ever increasing demand for ecosystem services from forest ecosystems. Traditional watershed management is facing new challenges as rapid and compounded environmental, economic, and social change contribute to an increasingly uncertain future [19]. Our knowledge of ecohydrological response to extreme stressors (e.g., drought) is lacking, so current modeling tools may be insufficient to project the impacts of climate change on ecosystem functions at the scales needed in forest management.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the most observable changes is hydrologic intensification: the increased frequency of hydrologic extremes such as low and high flows. For example, studies have detected both decreasing and increasing flows in the southern U.S. and the changes were attributed, at least in part, to greater precipitation variability [19]. While changes in annual mean (or totals) values in metrics such as streamflow and groundwater recharge are important, a greater challenge is posed by changes in hydrologic extremes.…”

Section: Emerging Global Environmental Threats To Forest Water Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, wetter conditions, fire suppression, and the maturation of much of the forest following widespread harvests during the 20th century in the southern U.S. have resulting in forest "mesophication", a process of shifting species dominance to more xeric conditions. Mesophication caused an increase in evapotranspiration and an decrease in water yield [19].…”

Section: Rapid and Complex Environmental Changes Are Difficult To Undmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Forest Management Challenges for Sustaining Water Resources in the Anthropocene

Sun

Vose

2016

Forests

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Abstract:The Earth has entered the Anthropocene epoch that is dominated by humans who demand unprecedented quantities of goods and services from forests. The science of forest hydrology and watershed management generated during the past century provides a basic understanding of relationships among forests and water and offers management principles that maximize the benefits of forests for people while sustaining watershed ecosystems. However, the rapid pace of changes in climate, disturbance regimes, invasive species, human population growth, and land use expected in the 21st century is likely to create substantial challenges for watershed management that may require new approaches, models, and best management practices. These challenges are likely to be complex and large scale, involving a combination of direct and indirect biophysical watershed responses, as well as socioeconomic impacts and feedbacks. We discuss the complex relationships between forests and water in a rapidly changing environment, examine the trade-offs and conflicts between water and other resources, and propose new management approaches for sustaining water resources in the Anthropocene.

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“…; semi-ring porous) and fourfold greater than for oaks (Quercus spp. ; ring porous xylem) [65]. The combination of shallow groundwater and high available energy in the Atlantic coastal plain region results in high ET rates [61].…”

Section: Groundwater Extractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coastal Forests and Groundwater: Using Case Studies to Understand the Effects of Drivers and Stressors for Resource Management

2017

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Abstract:Forests are receiving more attention for the ecosystem goods and services they provide and the potential change agents that may affect forest health and productivity. Highlighting case examples from coastal forests in South Carolina, USA, we describe groundwater processes with respect to stressors and potential responses of a wetland-rich forested landscape, the roles that this area has served, and the need for water resource data to inform forest management decisions. Forested lands in the southeastern U.S. coastal plain provide a rich set of goods and services for the region, and in one case, the Francis Marion National Forest acts as a buffer to urbanization from the surrounding Charleston metropolitan area. Information from two decades of studies in the forested watersheds there may inform scientists and managers in other coastal forested systems. The common hydrological theme in this region, which has a higher average annual rainfall (1370 mm) than the annual potential evapotranspiration (PET = 1135 mm), is a shallow (<3 m) water table condition that supports a large range of natural wetlands and also creates management challenges across the region. Modest changes in the position of the water table can lead to either groundwater flooding and concomitant management challenges for forest services, or ecosystem stresses related to dry conditions in wetlands during times of below-normal precipitation or due to groundwater withdrawal. Development pressures have also stressed forest resources through the extraction of materials such as timber and sand mining, and the conversion to housing construction materials. These areas are also targeted for land development, to meet housing demands. In this paper, we discuss the role of groundwater in coastal forests and highlight opportunities for collaborative studies to better inform forest resource management.

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Applications of forest hydrological science to watershed management in the 21st century.

Cited by 5 publications

References 70 publications

Watershed impacts of climate and land use changes depend on magnitude and land use context

Watershed impacts of climate and land use changes depend on magnitude and land use context

Forest Management Challenges for Sustaining Water Resources in the Anthropocene

Coastal Forests and Groundwater: Using Case Studies to Understand the Effects of Drivers and Stressors for Resource Management

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