The protective function of forests for water quality and water-related hazards, as well as adequate water supplies for forest ecosystems in Europe, are potentially at risk due to changing climate and changing land-management practices. Water budgets of forest ecosystems are heavily dependent on climate and forest structure. The latter is determined by the management measures applied in the forestry sector. Various developments of forest management strategies, imposed on a background of changing climate, are considered in assessing the overall future of forest–water interactions in Europe. Synthesizing recent research on the interactions of forest management and the water regime of forests in Europe and beyond, the book makes an important contribution to the ongoing dialogue between scientists dealing with different scales of forest-water interactions. This collaborative endeavour, which covers geographic and climatic gradients from Iceland to Israel and from southern Spain to Estonia and Finland, was made possible through the COST Action "Forest Management and the Water Cycle (FORMAN)", which was launched in 2007 (http://www.forestandwater.eu/). The book will be of particular interest to the research community involved in forest ecosystem research and forest hydrology, as well as landscape ecologists and hydrologists in general. It will also provide reference material for forest practitioners and planners in hydrology and land use.

Due to its height, density, and thickness of crown canopy; fluffy forest floor; large root system; and horizontal distribution; forest is the most distinguished type of vegetation on the earth. In the U.S., forests occupy about 30 percent of the total territory. Yet this 30 percent of land area produces about 60 percent of total surface runoff, the major water resource area of the country. Any human activity in forested areas will inevitably disturb forest floors and destroy forest canopies, consequently affecting the quantity, quality, and timing of water resources. Thoroughly updated and expanded, Forest Hydrology: An Introduction to Water and Forests, Third Edition discusses the concepts, principles, and processes of forest and forest activity impacts on the occurrence, distribution, and circulation of water and the aquatic environment. Brings water resources and forest-water relations into a single, comprehensive textbook Focuses on the concepts, processes, and general principles in forest hydrology Covers functions, properties, and science of water; water distribution; forests and precipitation, vaporization, stream flow, and stream sediment Discusses watershed management planning and practical applications of forest hydrology in resource management In a single textbook, Forest Hydrology: An Introduction to Water and Forests, Third Edition comprehensively covers water and water resources issues, forest characteristics relevant to the environment, forest impacts in the hydrological cycle, watershed research, watershed management planning, and hydrologic measurements. With the addition of new chapters, new issues, and appendices, this new edition is a valuable resource for upper-level undergraduates in forest hydrology courses as well as professionals involved in water resources management and decision-making in forested watersheds.

Although a few texts on forest hydrology are available, they cover very little, if any, background on water resources. On the other hand, books dealing with water resources do not cover topics on forest-water relations. The one exception to this is Forest Hydrology: An Introduction to Water and Forests. Now with the publication of a revised edition, this volume adds information from recent studies to go even further in providing an introduction to forest hydrology that brings water resources and forest-water relations into a single practical and comprehensive volume Focusing on processes and general principles, the first six chapters provide an introduction and basic background in water and water resources, while the last seven chapters look at the impact of forests on water. Between these two groupings is a chapter that serves as an entry to the study of forest impacts on water resources, describing forests and forest characteristics important to water circulation, sediment movement, and stream habitat. This second edition also features new information on forests and flooding, forest and stream habitat, snow vaporization processes, and GIS methods in hydrology research, examples on evaporation estimates, and a new appendix on forest interception measurements. Employing examples and case studies, the book provides tools to help natural resource managers play an active role in policymaking and land-use planning, and in developing partnerships with stakeholders. It also offers unique perspectives for addressing urban sprawl.

Between 2008 and 2011, FAO organised many events on forests and water as part of the follow-up to the Shiga Declaration and the second Warsaw Resolution. These events provided new, up-to-date insights into the topic. This publication synthesises the main outcomes and recommendations resulting from this process and presents a comprehensive and practical international forests and water agenda to address future courses of action.

Many people worldwide lack adequate access to clean water to meet basic needs, and many important economic activities, such as energy production and agriculture, also require water. Climate change is likely to aggravate water stress. As temperatures rise, ecosystems and the human, plant, and animal communities that depend on them will need more water to maintain their health and to thrive. Forests and trees are integral to the global water cycle and therefore vital for water security – they regulate water quantity, quality, and timing and provide protective functions against (for example) soil and coastal erosion, flooding, and avalanches. Forested watersheds provide 75 percent of our freshwater, delivering water to over half the world’s population. The purpose of A Guide to Forest–Water Management is to improve the global information base on the protective functions of forests for soil and water. It reviews emerging techniques and methodologies, provides guidance and recommendations on how to manage forests for their water ecosystem services, and offers insights into the business and economic cases for managing forests for water ecosystem services. Intact native forests and well-managed planted forests can be a relatively cheap approach to water management while generating multiple co-benefits. Water security is a significant global challenge, but this paper argues that water-centered forests can provide nature-based solutions to ensuring global water resilience.

Trees have been around for more than 370 million years, and today there are about 80 thousand species of them, occupying 3.5 billion hectares worldwide, including 250 million ha of commercial plantations. While forests can provide tremendous environmental, social, and economic benefits to nations, they also affect the hydrologic cycle in different ways. As the demand for water grows and local precipitation patterns change due to global warming, plantation forestry has encountered an increasing number of water-related conflicts worldwide. This document provides a country-by-country summary of the current state of knowledge on the relationship between forest management and water resources. Based on available research publications, the Editor-in-Chief of this document contacted local scientists from countries where the impact of forest management on water resources is an issue, inviting them to submit a chapter.

Are forests beneficial or prejudicial to the functions and uses of water? Is it possible to concomitantly sustain forestry activities and to protect downstream water uses, particularly drinking water supply? For most scientists and practitioners, but also for a wider audience, woodland areas benefit from a very positive image. In fact, they often maintain or improve the quality of water resources, in addition to benefits for biodiversity, landscapes, and recreational activities, among others. Regarding the quantitative aspect of water resources, the issue is more often discussed with positive arguments for less runoff, and less floods and erosion, but also a decrease of water resource availability due to the higher evapotranspiration of forests in comparison with other landcovers. In order to answer these issues, and as a result of the LIFE+ SEMEAU Project and International Conference, the book brings together international contributions from the forestry and water resource communities, including scientists, consultants, managers, operators, and project owners, from the point of view of a scientific approach, as well as a regulatory and socio-economic perspective, and both from Drinking Water and Natural Mineral Water standpoints. The book will also contribute to facilitating dialogue between foresters and those responsible for managing water resources, and making protective actions for water resources in forested areas simpler, more efficient and proactive. To this end, it comprises 32 different original contributions with about 50 co-authors, structured in seven parts. The introductory chapters have been specifically drafted to provide forestry and water professionals with a shared base of hydrological and forestry language. The book also includes a number of case studies in various countries, to properly illustrate the subjects under consideration. It is written in English, but the chapters' titles and abstracts are translated in French.

The United Nations has declared 2018-2028 as the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development. This is a timely designation. In an increasingly thirsty world, the subject of forest-water interactions is of critical importance to the achievement of sustainability goals. The central underlying tenet of this book is that the hydrologic community can conduct better science and make a more meaningful impact to the world’s water crisis if scientists are: (1) better equipped to utilize new methods and harness big data from either or both high-frequency sensors and long-term research watersheds; and (2) aware of new developments in our process-based understanding of the hydrological cycle in both natural and urban settings. Accordingly, this forward-looking book delves into forest-water interactions from multiple methodological, statistical, and process-based perspectives (with some chapters featuring data sets and open-source R code), concluding with a chapter on future forest hydrology under global change. Thus, this book describes the opportunities of convergence in high-frequency sensing, big data, and open source software to catalyze more comprehensive understanding of forest-water interactions. The book will be of interest to researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates in an array of disciplines, including hydrology, forestry, ecology, botany, and environmental engineering.