Effect of Forest Management Practices on Water Balance Across a Water–Energy Gradient in the Upper Kings River Basin, USA

IF 2.5 3区 环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY
Ecohydrology Pub Date : 2025-02-05 DOI:10.1002/eco.2753
Stefano Casirati, Martha H. Conklin, Saswata Nandi, Mohammad Safeeq
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Abstract

Headwater watersheds and forests play a crucial role in ensuring water security for the western United States. Reducing forest biomass from the current overgrown forests can mitigate the severity and impact of wildfires and offer additional competing ecohydrological benefits. A reduction in canopy interception and transpiration following forest treatments can lead to an increase in available water for the remaining trees and runoff. However, the impact of forest management on water balance can be highly variable due to differences in climate, topography, location and vegetation. In this study, we used the Soil Water Assessment Tool Plus model to investigate how decisions regarding location, intensity and scale of forest treatments can affect both evapotranspiration and streamflow in a large watershed such as the upper Kings River Basin (3998 km2). The model was parameterized using a multiobjective calibration of streamflow, snow water equivalent and evapotranspiration. Various forest treatment scenarios were simulated across different years and regions in the landscape. Modelling results show that during dry years, streamflow gains from biomass reduction are primarily originated from energy-limited regions (i.e., 82% of total streamflow increase in the first year). In water-limited regions, the water is prioritized for sustaining remaining trees, improving forest health and recharging subsurface storage, rather than increasing streamflow. During wet years, the contribution to streamflow from biomass reduction comes from both energy- and water-limited areas. These findings emphasize the importance of evaluating forest treatments on a larger scale. The competing benefits for forests and downstream users are driven by the energy and water limitations of the vegetation targeted by forest treatments, as well as the climate variability that modulates the water availability and forest recovery time.

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来源期刊
Ecohydrology
Ecohydrology 环境科学-生态学
CiteScore
5.10
自引率
7.70%
发文量
116
审稿时长
24 months
期刊介绍: Ecohydrology is an international journal publishing original scientific and review papers that aim to improve understanding of processes at the interface between ecology and hydrology and associated applications related to environmental management. Ecohydrology seeks to increase interdisciplinary insights by placing particular emphasis on interactions and associated feedbacks in both space and time between ecological systems and the hydrological cycle. Research contributions are solicited from disciplines focusing on the physical, ecological, biological, biogeochemical, geomorphological, drainage basin, mathematical and methodological aspects of ecohydrology. Research in both terrestrial and aquatic systems is of interest provided it explicitly links ecological systems and the hydrologic cycle; research such as aquatic ecological, channel engineering, or ecological or hydrological modelling is less appropriate for the journal unless it specifically addresses the criteria above. Manuscripts describing individual case studies are of interest in cases where broader insights are discussed beyond site- and species-specific results.
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